Mon Apr 28, 2003 1:32 pm by OddjobXL
Gig: I'll admit Freelancer is growing on me (SP post-campaign - MP doesn't do much) but I think you're missing the point when folks ask for realism.
Most gamers have a threshold for suspension of disbelief (enough details and consistency that a player isn't constantly being reminded the experience is an illusion). Now, if your life experience is videogames and comic books you'll probably have a much lower threshold for suspension of disbelief. If your experience is space simulators and a wide range of reading you'll have a different threshold for suspension of disbelief.
Can things that have never existed be simulated? Of course. That's the point of military wargame and scientific testing simulations. You take things that are real and modellable and project those traits into the situations you're curious about. For computer games a high level of accuracy isn't quite as important but the principle is the same. A game designer making games for knowledgable people just needs to ask himself "What would it be like to?" His job is answering that question in a way that both rings true and entertains. He also needs to look at precident in game design to understand what's already been done and how to build on it or correct shortcomings.
What does that mean for Freelancer? Well, if you take this line of thinking as a litmus test it does better than you might think. If you discount the SP campaign, as scripted campaigns in trading space sims are beside the point, and just look at the gameplay and setting there's something there. The complexities of political relationships between factions and the detail that's given to the factions, places and overall setting is unprecidented (at least outside of strategy games). The visual realization, while not scientifically accurate, is a good projection of 'locality.' You get a good feeling for each region much like an sailing captain might and you learn to navigate it by a combination of exploration and word of mouth (via NPCs). That's a pretty interesting projection of the old tall ships era of exploration, trade and piracy. And, besides, it looks much cooler than a black void.
Where Freelancer doesn't do so well is in living up to gameplay standards.
Essentially you have this sublime universe to explore and you're exploring it in an ship straight out of Defender. Point and shoot. The progression, as noted above, is more modelled on a 1970's roleplaying game than any attempt at creating an experience as immersive inside the cockpit as outside it.
Imagine yourself as Han Solo, he's the rolemodel for this entire genre of games. What was the Millenium Falcon experience like for him? Point and shoot? No, there was daring maneuvering, calculating jump paths, fixing damage during battle, managing (screaming at) Chewy, and over time fixing and tweaking up his beloved and customized ship. Oh, and he had a friggin' cockpit to sit in. These last two - keeping a ship over time and getting to know it inside and out, as intimately and with as much effort as you get to know the Freelancer setting, should be the Freelancer experience. And you really do need a cockpit with functional displays (as well as padlocks and pan views) to create the sense of piloting. Instead you have a disposable trophy and a limited upgrade or modification path as there is only one way to go - bigger faster and stronger. No trade offs, no compromises, no way you'll ever want a different ship than one of the three big boys at the endgame.
The economy is entirely static which is definitely a throwback to, well, I don't know. Almost every space-sim trading game has had a dynamic economy - that's always been the point.
Anyhow, I don't know much about Eve and I'm skeptical about MMORPGs but who knows. Freelancer is a wonderful game, unprecidentedly good, in several respects and I'll just pretend the silly and annoying and repetative (did I mention missions yet?) stuff aint there while I focus on the positive.
All that and not one mention of joysticks (which, in truth, I'd prefer but I can live without if they get the other stuff right).
Edited by - OddjobXL on 28-04-2003 14:36:09
