Tue Apr 29, 2003 4:47 pm
Finally finished Freelancer SP Campaign
And overall I had a blast with it. I came out of the gates having a great time, got a little bogged down in the middle (lost some interest), then became a big fan of it again as I neared the ending. Anyway, I thought I would add a few thoughts.
As for the SP campaign, the story was a little weak and cliche, but the missions were a lot of fun. Don't know if that makes sense, but what I mean is while the cutscenes were telling a story I'd already heard before, the missions themselves were different enough to hold my interest. I thought the last one or two were particularly fun. One thing, and I'm a little surprised I feel this way, I'm glad the SP campaign was as short as it was. I really don't see how they could have stretched that type of story any further (given the specific type of gameplay Freelancer has) without it starting to feel like they were stretching it out.
I think part of what my problem was in the middle portions was that I suddenly felt obligated to go exploring but to be honest, I don't really have much fun exploring by myself. So I stopped, only took local combat missions for money between story missions, and didn't pay any attention to where I was being led. The story missions are linear and lead you specifically where you have to go, so I just tuned out and followed the waypoints. Now basically I've saved seeing the entire Freelancer universe for multiplayer, I just need to talk a few friends into picking up the game to go scout around. I have a lot more fun doing the exploring aspects with people, otherwise I feel like I'm sitting there by myself going down a checklist of things to see.
Overall, this game was a blast. It may not be the space sim I leave on my hard drive permanently (although it might depending on whether or not my friends pick it up and enjoy it), but it has a lot more shelf life than I expected. One review said that this game begs for an expansion and I couldn't agree more. This game needs more customization of ships, more differences between the ships (which fans are doign with mods, but I think an official inclusion might have more impact), and less difference in difficulty between areas. Again, I haven't explored much, but it seems like the areas around Manhattan are easy, Rhineland hard. Maybe areas around the planets should be easy and the areas away from planets harder, regardless of what system you're in. I've read some people say that once you get going, there's no real reason to be anywhere besides Rhineland space. Not sure if that's true, but if so, that could be a problem.
Anyway, sorry for the ramble. Overall, I really think Freelancer accomplishes what it set out to do (once Roberts left and the priorities changed). My other space sim at the moment is Battlecruiser Millennium Gold. Fun, but a lot of work. Sometimes my friends and I just want to jump in and fly for some mindless fun and action. And there's enough there for when we want some thinking as well (sure not much, but just enough).
As for the SP campaign, the story was a little weak and cliche, but the missions were a lot of fun. Don't know if that makes sense, but what I mean is while the cutscenes were telling a story I'd already heard before, the missions themselves were different enough to hold my interest. I thought the last one or two were particularly fun. One thing, and I'm a little surprised I feel this way, I'm glad the SP campaign was as short as it was. I really don't see how they could have stretched that type of story any further (given the specific type of gameplay Freelancer has) without it starting to feel like they were stretching it out.
I think part of what my problem was in the middle portions was that I suddenly felt obligated to go exploring but to be honest, I don't really have much fun exploring by myself. So I stopped, only took local combat missions for money between story missions, and didn't pay any attention to where I was being led. The story missions are linear and lead you specifically where you have to go, so I just tuned out and followed the waypoints. Now basically I've saved seeing the entire Freelancer universe for multiplayer, I just need to talk a few friends into picking up the game to go scout around. I have a lot more fun doing the exploring aspects with people, otherwise I feel like I'm sitting there by myself going down a checklist of things to see.
Overall, this game was a blast. It may not be the space sim I leave on my hard drive permanently (although it might depending on whether or not my friends pick it up and enjoy it), but it has a lot more shelf life than I expected. One review said that this game begs for an expansion and I couldn't agree more. This game needs more customization of ships, more differences between the ships (which fans are doign with mods, but I think an official inclusion might have more impact), and less difference in difficulty between areas. Again, I haven't explored much, but it seems like the areas around Manhattan are easy, Rhineland hard. Maybe areas around the planets should be easy and the areas away from planets harder, regardless of what system you're in. I've read some people say that once you get going, there's no real reason to be anywhere besides Rhineland space. Not sure if that's true, but if so, that could be a problem.
Anyway, sorry for the ramble. Overall, I really think Freelancer accomplishes what it set out to do (once Roberts left and the priorities changed). My other space sim at the moment is Battlecruiser Millennium Gold. Fun, but a lot of work. Sometimes my friends and I just want to jump in and fly for some mindless fun and action. And there's enough there for when we want some thinking as well (sure not much, but just enough).