Freelancer dissapointing?

Wed Apr 23, 2003 10:58 am by Jodo_Kast

I'm probably going to get flamed for this, but does anyone else find freelancer rather boring once the campaign is done? There's really not much replay value imo... I spent maybe 20 hours playing the singleplayer, and now all I find interesting in the game is attempting to edit it to see what I can do to it... the game itself really doesn't have a whole lot to it after the campaign's over. Sure, you can try and hunt down every last starsystem, and find every jumphole, but that gets boring /fast/, and sure, you can work up to that TItan fight with all the l33t weapons, etc, etc... but that comes FAR too easily (took me longer to find the corsair base than it did to make the money to buy the fighter... and this was right after I ended the campaing with a couple hundered credits to my name)... and sure, you can start running trade routes, but again, once you've got your titan, or maybe even (shudder) a dromedary, what then?
I just wish there was something more to /do/ in the game... Has anyone here ever played Escape Velocity(or EV:Override and the newest. EV:Nova, which is even better)? (I've also heard Privateer 2 was another good title in this regard but I've never played it)
I spent half my highschool career playing that game, and the only reason I'm not STILL playing it is cause it's Macintosh only.
Sure, it's 2d (although freelancer is effectivly 2d as well- and I'm not talking graphics) ) . Sure, its like 8 years old. And it did have it's own problems... but the gameplay itself is far more engaging imo. Random ships woul hail you, offering missions, or requesting aid. You could hail other ships and request aid. Or order them to heave to and prepare to be boarded. You had a finite amount of fuel, and had to manage it appropriatly (being stuck in an empty system with no fuel sucks... and then the sweet sight of a freighter convoy jumping in, and the pilots kindly refueling you for only 5x the actual price of the fuel, just enough to get you to the next system)... massive cruiser formats jumping in and engaging the planetary defenders. I could go on in this vein for quite a while, but my point is this: the game lacks depth. I just hope modders can add some complexity.

Let the flames begin

Jodo Kast

Wed Apr 23, 2003 12:06 pm by Hengist

Some good points.

All of which could be forgiven (IMO) if the multiplayer aspect offered more Human v Human conflict as opposed to just Coop play. By that I mean that people could actually join factions and fight each other for control of certain areas of space... Hey this sounds like the orginal design specification for Freelancer, the bit that was dropped. I posted about this earlier, I just hope the mod people can do something with the online play, because as you said, once you've got to level 38 the trading aspect doesn't have the same motivation to continue with it.

Hengist.

Wed Apr 23, 2003 12:07 pm by Murgen

I started playing the mp and picked up the sp only after I explored about 75 % of the fl universe in mp-mode. The sp is entertaining but I expected more of it.

Some others here stated the game would benefit with more balance and making the steps between the missions longer. Personally I would have liked the opportunity to upgrade my fighter more but esp in the Rheinland and Bundesshuh base I was refused because a purchase was for level 20 and higher.

The best thing about Freelancer after finishing the sp is the almost unlimited space to setup multiplayer ladders and competitions. I stay away from mods and addons until the serverpatch is released but as founder and leader of a clan I will put together a ladder. The main disadvantage is a missing melee-mode. But we can make a workaround quite easily.

House of the Templar Knights.

Non Nobis Domine, Non Nobis Sed Nomini, Tuo Da Gloriam

Wed Apr 23, 2003 1:20 pm by OddjobXL

I think all these critiques are valid and I've already posted some of my issues too but I will say this in defense of Freelancer - if you're the sort who likes to explore for the sake of exploring or gets curious about settings then there is quite a life for Freelancer in SP. I agree that missions are boring and the lack of variety in types of encounters in space can be numbing. For now, at least, I'm still more curious about who's out there and how they relate to each other (chatting with NPCsand getting context, learning secrets, discovering trade routes, touring new systems and bases) than I am bored by the lack of mission variety. I'm not just playing to get a powerful ship or 'beat' a mission I'm getting powerful ships and beating missions in order to make the cash I need to bribe or muscle my way through the universe. How long before the lack of variety in actual gameplay wears down my curiousity I don't know but, while there are tons of things I'd like to be done differently, I've gotten my money's worth a dozen hours ago.

Edited by - OddjobXL on 23-04-2003 14:22:02

Wed Apr 23, 2003 1:48 pm by Mercenary

i'm not that far in SP, but i haven't found the story mode boring at all. In fact, it's really gripped me and stimulated my interest for the game. I still want to explore the game and find every nook and cranny. Then once that is over i intend to play the game and specialise as a pirate or merchant.. or even smuggler. I hope by the time i've gotten close to this, a patch or add-on is released that's add a bit more life into an already fantastic game (particularly more mision types, customisable ships and improved multiplay).

Thu Apr 24, 2003 3:19 am by Unpro

Replay the game with some of the mods....

In future , all games will come with a development kit

..and I just wonder, where do I buy one of those?...

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