Wed Mar 05, 2003 10:54 pm
Privateer lovers, this is OUR game. Minor spoilers
My unbiased review: First of all, I hate computer games. Specifically, I have a love/hate relationship with computer games. I am frequently disappointed, but I keep coming back for more. I gobble up the hype, but the game never lives up to my expectations.
Not so with Freelancer. Sure, with any game of this scope, there will be things that I would have done differently. But a successful game delivers a couple positive surprises for every one disappointment.
Freelancer delivers 10 serendipitys for every one disappointment, probably the best ratio I've ever seen.
MY HISTORY:
Privateer 1 and add on, were AWESOME. They are one of the few games that ever captured my imagination. The universe, the combat, the openendedness. I've spent the last 10 years trying to get back the "magic" of Privateer.
Privateer 2 was a steaming pile of dung. Nuff' said.
XBTF had no soul. The combat was bland, no real mouse support, no real story. Too openended, too much working. Some good ideas, poor implementation.
XBTF Xtension - some reviewer said made it "more like Privateer" so I tracked it down in England (Never was sold in the states) and that too, had no soul, no real mouse support (IIRC, no mouse support at all).
X2 - From what I've seen, and now that I have a TRUE sequel to Privateer, I'm not sure I'm interested, especially if I get another slap in the face and they don't include Mouse support.
IWAR2 - I passed on IWAR. A reviewer said IWAR2 was "kind of like Privateer" so, of course, I bought it. It was fun, beautiful and the story was good, but still the magic was not there. Again, no mouse support. I bought a very nice joystick and got used to using it, but I still prefer a well implemented mouse support.
MOUSE SUPPORT:
I prefer Mouse support. Today many games stopped supporting the mouse. Xwing and Tie Fighter supported the mouse, then Xwing vs. Tie fighter did not and many flight sims do not. The way the mouse works in Freelancer is elegant, easy to learn and still gives me pleanty of different ways to fly my ship based on my style. I feel like I'm piloting a ship, its awesome.
OPENENDEDNESS:
This universe is HUGE. At first, you are restricted to only a few systems, but there is a lot to see. Lots of hidden areas, hidden jumpholes, bases, abandoned ships, Battleships with rare ships you can buy, etc. You have to progress in the single player campaign to open up more systems, but each system has so much to see it would take days of solid playtime to see it all. I'm 20 play hours into this game and have seen maybe 15% of the universe. When you level up and the campaign missions start blinking for your attention, you can (apparently) ignore them as long as you want and continue to explore. Early in the game there are still a lot of places that I simply cannot go. Just too dangerous. You can sneak around those places if you really want too, but thats the way I like it, while your low level, some places SHOULD make me nervous!
TRAVEL:
The trade lanes are excellent. There are many times I get pulled out by a disruptor and need to run for my life. Very scary sometimes, but there are things you can do like go into formation with other neutral partys for protection. The hidden warp holes are great! I could see playing as a pirate and just using the hidden lanes to get from system to system.
COMBAT:
Again, excellent. You can bob, side to side, hit reverse and have a bogey fly past you, hide behind an asteroid, drop a mine, fire a torpedo, load up with missles, load up with energy weapons, find hard to aquire ships for sale on the far side of a planet at a Battleship (in Bretonia... minor spoiler there). You can do cargo runs for cash or take different missions for cash.
MISSIONS:
Yes, they could use more variety. Good excuse for an addon pack and/or a patch. But I do like the campaign missions, decent storyline and for variety I like to do cargo runs and explore the many, many wastelands and find hidden ships, bases, etc.
ECONOMICS:
There are a lot of commodoties that will probably never get bought, simply because they don't pay much. But while you are doing campaign missions, you can check whats for sale and make a few credits by seeing what is needed where you are going. PLUS: each commodoties shows you how much its worth and where! Its excellent. However, it will only show you prices at stations you have visited, giving you another reason to explore.
I could go on, but I'll stop. IN short, the magic is back. I love this game, and I am NOT easy to please
Me no gun
Not so with Freelancer. Sure, with any game of this scope, there will be things that I would have done differently. But a successful game delivers a couple positive surprises for every one disappointment.
Freelancer delivers 10 serendipitys for every one disappointment, probably the best ratio I've ever seen.
MY HISTORY:
Privateer 1 and add on, were AWESOME. They are one of the few games that ever captured my imagination. The universe, the combat, the openendedness. I've spent the last 10 years trying to get back the "magic" of Privateer.
Privateer 2 was a steaming pile of dung. Nuff' said.
XBTF had no soul. The combat was bland, no real mouse support, no real story. Too openended, too much working. Some good ideas, poor implementation.
XBTF Xtension - some reviewer said made it "more like Privateer" so I tracked it down in England (Never was sold in the states) and that too, had no soul, no real mouse support (IIRC, no mouse support at all).
X2 - From what I've seen, and now that I have a TRUE sequel to Privateer, I'm not sure I'm interested, especially if I get another slap in the face and they don't include Mouse support.
IWAR2 - I passed on IWAR. A reviewer said IWAR2 was "kind of like Privateer" so, of course, I bought it. It was fun, beautiful and the story was good, but still the magic was not there. Again, no mouse support. I bought a very nice joystick and got used to using it, but I still prefer a well implemented mouse support.
MOUSE SUPPORT:
I prefer Mouse support. Today many games stopped supporting the mouse. Xwing and Tie Fighter supported the mouse, then Xwing vs. Tie fighter did not and many flight sims do not. The way the mouse works in Freelancer is elegant, easy to learn and still gives me pleanty of different ways to fly my ship based on my style. I feel like I'm piloting a ship, its awesome.
OPENENDEDNESS:
This universe is HUGE. At first, you are restricted to only a few systems, but there is a lot to see. Lots of hidden areas, hidden jumpholes, bases, abandoned ships, Battleships with rare ships you can buy, etc. You have to progress in the single player campaign to open up more systems, but each system has so much to see it would take days of solid playtime to see it all. I'm 20 play hours into this game and have seen maybe 15% of the universe. When you level up and the campaign missions start blinking for your attention, you can (apparently) ignore them as long as you want and continue to explore. Early in the game there are still a lot of places that I simply cannot go. Just too dangerous. You can sneak around those places if you really want too, but thats the way I like it, while your low level, some places SHOULD make me nervous!
TRAVEL:
The trade lanes are excellent. There are many times I get pulled out by a disruptor and need to run for my life. Very scary sometimes, but there are things you can do like go into formation with other neutral partys for protection. The hidden warp holes are great! I could see playing as a pirate and just using the hidden lanes to get from system to system.
COMBAT:
Again, excellent. You can bob, side to side, hit reverse and have a bogey fly past you, hide behind an asteroid, drop a mine, fire a torpedo, load up with missles, load up with energy weapons, find hard to aquire ships for sale on the far side of a planet at a Battleship (in Bretonia... minor spoiler there). You can do cargo runs for cash or take different missions for cash.
MISSIONS:
Yes, they could use more variety. Good excuse for an addon pack and/or a patch. But I do like the campaign missions, decent storyline and for variety I like to do cargo runs and explore the many, many wastelands and find hidden ships, bases, etc.
ECONOMICS:
There are a lot of commodoties that will probably never get bought, simply because they don't pay much. But while you are doing campaign missions, you can check whats for sale and make a few credits by seeing what is needed where you are going. PLUS: each commodoties shows you how much its worth and where! Its excellent. However, it will only show you prices at stations you have visited, giving you another reason to explore.
I could go on, but I'll stop. IN short, the magic is back. I love this game, and I am NOT easy to please
Me no gun
