Freelancer

Rating:
Summary: Are you sure?
Review: On my guardian's computer (I'm a boarder) the game works like a dream. No problems. The game is an excellent one. The story is a tiny bit short, but I think that it is very cool, with all the aliens and stuff (but they don't fight). The sounds are great, and so were the graphics. Some reckon the graphics were pretty crap, but I don't agree. I like the idea of the use of a mouse because when I use the joystick, I find it 'too' responsive. That way the system is very good for aiming. The joystick would give the feel of unlimited spinning and it's good, but not my cup of tea. I just can't wait for a sequel! (if one is even coming!)

And with the voice acting, okay, it does get dull when you just repeat and repeat, but, guys, you can MISS IT OUT!! Press escape when they talk, or when you dock. It'll speed things up.

Rating:
Summary: Great game!!
Review: I don't like the other's critical views. So what if you can't use a joystick?? This was made to be a RPG, not some kind of space sim. I don't care if you don't find this review useful, 'cause I'm the kind of guy who appreciates a good game. OK, the open-ended approach is a bit different, but I reckon this is good as you can continue experimenting with the game (especially when trying out different alliances). The game is easy, yes, but the cool effects, sound and graphics are more than good enough to satisfy me. And, to tell you the truth, I've hardly used a joystick in my whole life, just letting mine collect dust over all those years... And, be careful with your shields, guys, because I hate it when the enemy blew off 2 of my guns. Luckily they were only an 'Advanced Stunpulse' and a 'Lavablade Mk III', but I liked them a lot, they were with me for ages (sigh). The story mission is excellent, and I think that the story is a bit Sci-Fi, and I like that. It reminds me of the 'Animorphs' series, which involve an alien race called the 'Yeerks'. These guys take over the person's mind! Hmm... I just hope there is a sequel, and hopefully the sequel can include the option for a joystick, for all you crazy critics!!!

Rating:
Summary: Space Combat is Alive and Well!!
Review: This game isn't Wing commander or even Privatter(although it tries to be) but it is better than any space combat game to make it to thw market in the last 4 years. Keep in the mind this is just my own opinion.

You're name is Edison Trent, when your home is blown up you are left stranded without a ship(flat broke) on Planet Manhaten in the Liberty system. You are forced take jobs in order to survive hence the title of the game.

Something strange starts to happen, other surviors of the attack start to vanish or die in "accidents" and you start to wonder what the hell is going on.

You'll find out

The Game
Now I know those of you who are used to using the joystick are scared about this whole mouse control concept and I know that the joystick is a sacred cow and you don't feel someone should go around shooting it. The concept takes a little getting used to but it does offer you more control over your ship.

Cons
The Graphics need some work
Conversations get very repeditive
While the cutsceans are impressive some of the vocice acting needs a little work.
For those of you who have your heart set on a vast multiplayer enviroment don't bother. in the final product it is almost redundant.

I'm still giving the game 5 stars because it is just that fun to play.

Rating:
Summary: Lack of Joystick Control
Review: Just be aware when buying this game, that the flight control system forces you to use the mouse. There is no support in the game for using a joystick in the flight/combat portions.

Rating:
Summary: All About dogfights
Review: First, to give you my perspective - mid 30s male who plays games about 10 hours a week.

Second - this game is all about a great engine for having dogfights in 3D space. Initially, it is very impressive and you feel like the Red Baron. But after a while it becomes a bit dull. They Keyboard flight and battles are not very difficult, but the endless rounds of air fights get tedious.

Now, if you are a big flight simulator fan, then you might really enjoy this game. But if you want something different - some puzzles, some other form of fighting, something else, this game will leave you feeling empty.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent in the short term, flawed in the long term
Review: First of all graphics and audio are top notch, although you'll get the same lines when you are in search of a mission on star or planet bases. There's not much character development nor interaction .
Despite these flaws I totally am for the control design. It takes a while to get the hang of it, but soon you will see that this was one of the better design choices.
The main plot is very good, although you can complete the main story in about 10 to 20 hours.
The open ended nature of the game leaves something to be desired. You know that you'll get the same missions over and over again. Do not get me wrong, but I found that after the main story ended there is not many things to do, which you haven't done before. Still, there is always plenty of opportunity to upgrade your ship...
Perhaps the designers should have given the option to purchase a base or to run your own trade shop.
As it stands, FREELANCER is stil a very good game but flawed in its open ended approach.

Rating:
Summary: A great start but needs work!
Review: I loved this game. What annoyed me is that you never gained enough money and experience to get some of the really tough, powerful ships till AFTER you had made it though the storyline and where doing whatever you wanted to make money. Those much more powerful ships would have been a big blessing during the storyline. I personally really enjoyed the storyline!

I must say that flying with the mouse, also used to aim your weapons at the same time was a great twist and I really enjoyed it. But, I was really ticked off at not being able to roll the ship and do some break-away type moves. There 2 ways I always seemed to die. Massive frontal flood of incoming fire, or getting hit from above and behind where being able to roll the ship and get away would have been dang nice! Other'n that I loved the flight control!!

My other complaint is this. After you make it though the storyline, and after doing about 10 hours of whatever you want this game gets really boring even with the multiplayer mode. If your an outlaw I personally found it difficult because law enforcement can lock down all the hyper gates and your [stuck] cause you can't get places to sell what you've captured. I also didn't like it that there where installations you couldn't distroy! Also the biggest military type ship you could get was a "very heavy fighter" you couldn't get a gunboat, or a bomber, a destroyer, crusier or a battleship. Nor could you get any cargo ship bigger than a tiny little one man freighter! You couldn't get a heavy haller or a massive container carrier or anthing in between. These complaints of mine if fixed would make a GREAT sequal!!!

But other than that this game is a very enjoyable way to forget doing real work! =P Especially if you hav real live people to play with and against!

Rating:
Summary: Finally!
Review: Finally! I was a HUGE FAN of the Wing Commander/Privateer series. Now it's back in the form of Freelancer! Woo-Hoo! This time 'round, it's even BETTER! The open ended play coupled with the multi-player mode makes this, in my book, one of the best space sims of all time!

A Definate MUST HAVE for space sim fans.

Rating:
Summary: A bit of a dissapointment
Review: Well... It looks like ELITE, it smells like ELITE but.. It ISN'T, definitely, ELITE! ELITE was an old time classic, a game that set an era, ages ago. Freelancer tries to capture its spirit but fails. Microsoft seems to have the "gift" of turning to CRAP everything they set their hands on (like the Battletech series, it stopped being an awfull good tactical mech combat game to start being a lousy "shoot every mech that moves game" the moment Microsoft bought the license).
First... Freelancer crashes a lot due to (apparently) sound problems (it might be my PC, but then why does this game crashes ten times more than any other I have?... Microsoft at its best...
Second... This game features an "awesome" 150 unique places to land... Guys, YEARS ago, ELITE had THOUSANDS of places to go (and ran on 48K of RAM) I really don't care if the tables at some sleazy bar in a dark corner of the galaxy are different from all the other 149 tables, I would rather have the same tables but with different markets, and gear to buy... DATA! people, DATA is what matters, not just pretty graphics!!
Third. Why can't I land on planets and skim the surface, I could do that in ELITE II. I don't care if the mountains are rendered with fractals or are made of "building blocks", clever programming can build thousands of places out of almost "nothing", and we would get the "flying simulator" feel, which is so important to add depth to the game.
Fourth. The distances in space are RIDICULOUS!!! I can see all planets, with a naked eye, in a system!! I can even see them bigger than I see the moon watching through my bedroom's window, at night. I mean, how close are they to each other? Most of them are earth-like planets, you know, not too big, and at a TINY distance like 10 million km I should see little more than a dot of light! If you say that they are closer than this than it's the whole physics of the planetary systems that are a MESS.
Fifth. In ELITE II the planets had orbits, ok, they were ROUND orbits but, still, they had orbits. These planets here seem frozen in space and the travel system... No comments... FIXED TUBES in space, Now that's cool, explain to me how they keep them with the planets moving around the sun! I can cope with a jump gate but a travel tube in space is a bit too much.
To end it. Much more would there be to say but, just to finish. The graphics are OK, the combat is too "shoot'em up" but has some nice touches, still, it should be viewd from INSIDE the cockpit, not from OUTSIDE. The story plot adds a nice touch to it but it should be flexible, not "do this, go there, do that..."
there should be a way to program a trade route, together with all the buys and sells along the way and run it indefinitely until intercepted by badies, at which point an alert would sound to call the player. This way valuable playing time would be saved for those who like to trade but don't like to watch the endless repetitive docking sequences and moving between jump gates. ELITE didn't have this feature but programming this at 2003 you had the obligation to do better... Still, it reminds me of the great all time favourite, ELITE, so I give it a 3 star, otherwise it would get 2.

Rating:
Summary: Game Good for Younger Players
Review: Note that there is a demo available for this game, and you will definitely want to download and play it before buying the game.

Freelancer might be a good game for players in the 6-12 year old range. The violence is all indirect (ship-to-ship, rather than person-to-person), and the game dynamics are simple: mouse-driven spaceflight and an economic system with one decision point. One possible area where the game might not work for younger people is that there is quite a bit of down-time, as moving from point A to point B can easily consume 30% to 50% of total playtime. So if your youngster has a short attention span, this one might not keep them occupied enough.

For more advanced gamers, I think the game will not have enough depth to last very long. There are a lot of places to go in the game universe, the graphics are good, and the single player game is very open-ended so that you can fly an unlimited number of missions as you evolve your character, earn money, improve your ship, and so forth. I personally thought the voice acting was fine.

But the economic system is very simplistic. Every item you buy takes up the same amount of room in your ship. (You can carry 20 of something, whether it is refrigerators or marbles.) This means that you always want the item with the largest profit margin per unit.

The simplicity of the flight system didn't bother me. I have played other games with very simple flight systems (such as Magic Carpet), and have had a lot of fun. In some cases, a simpler system is better. But there was something missing in the Freelancer experience, I'm not sure what. It just never really excited me.

My other complaint was that I spent too much time moving around. Transitioning between space and planet-side, and moving from one waypoint to the next probably consumed a third or a half of my total game time. The game does have good visuals, and there are quite a few random encounters with enemy fighters (more than I really cared for), but ultimately I wound up feeling bored.

Your mileage may vary, which is one of the great things about demos. Freelancer's demo is high quality, and it gives you a solid look at the game, so you can decide for yourself if you like it or not.