Video Games : Freelancer

List Price: $19.99

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Amazon Maximum Age: 20 years
Amazon Minimum Age: 144 months
Binding: CD-ROM
Brand: Microsoft
EAN: 0805529221543
ESRB Age Rating: Teen
Label: Microsoft
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Publisher: Microsoft
Release Date: March 04, 2003
Sales Rank: 747
Studio: Microsoft

Features:

Open-Ended Universe - Play missions randomly or follow the storyline. The universe is open for exploration, and the game evolves based on the decisions you make. Demolish pirate bases or supply depots and watch the political fallout. Lane Hackers go after cargo vessels if you disable trade lanes. Support your local cop...or not. The choice is yours but the universe won't wait for you.
Dynamic Reputation - Your choice in missions, your successes, your failures...they all change your reputation constantly. Play as a Naval Officer and everyone associated with the Navy will treat you better. Become a pirate and hunt down cargo vessels and youll soon have friends in low places. The missions youre offered and the technology you have access to all depend on who you become.
Distinctive Styles of Play - Chase the almighty dollar, disrupt the corrupt government, enforce the law, chase human prey...every game is different. Want access to easy money? Become a Lane Hacker: take dowenemies blind. Politics and intrigue are everywhere in the universe. If you have what it takes to be a CEO here on Earth....
Intuitive Interface - Master the intricacies of space combat via mouse. Don't have a joystick? Hate all those buttons anyway? A mouse and a keyboard puts you in the game.

Accessories:

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Eight hundred years prior to the start of our story, bitter conflict divided all of mankind. A handful of colonists struck out on their own to begin anew - far away from the Earth and its turmoil. Several ships were launched with enough equipment and supplies to give the hundreds onboard a fighting chance - but since the area around far-off Sirius had never been surveyed, no one really knew what to expect. What they found was

Amazon.com Review:
In the open-ended space action/adventure game Freelancer you play a ne'er-do-well with a lucky streak, one of two survivors of a space disaster. Penniless and shipless, you venture around a space dock until you find a ship and a job. You'll encounter a heady mix of canned missions that follow one main quest, and a million opportunities to make money or aggravate the various factions that co-exist in the universe. Like an online role-playing game, or Bethesda's Morrowind, you determine who your enemies are and who your friends are by your own actions, and, in another nod to role-playing, you can customize your ship with guns, rockets, and equipment just as you would customize a RPG character with swords, bows, and magic items. Best of all, you can play cooperatively with friends or fight it out with enemies online.

The backstory posits a future where various countries, divided by both nationality and, seemingly, race, have boarded massive colony ships and ventured into a wormhole that appeared within reach of our crude space technology. They found themselves in a galaxy far, far away and they got stuck there when the wormhole collapsed. They quickly colonized new home worlds and named everything with familiar locales that make navigation a breeze. In the American sectors you'll feel at home entering the New York system and landing at a spaceport called Manhattan, for example. While contrived, this device is used beautifully and it's far better than having to memorize a bunch of sci-fi names and remembering where they are, perfect for a massive universe such as this one.

Though Freelancer is set in space, it is technically not a space simulation. The game was designed to be accessible to casual gamers. For example, Freelancer makes you use the mouse for ship control. This is quite a shift for a game genre normally known to require joystick control. But even old-school Wing Commander or X-Wing fans may find that the sacrifice of verisimilitude is made up for with gains in agility. The mouse controls your guns, while you use the keyboard to maneuver around the rich universe that developer Digital Anvil has constructed. Much like a first-person shooter, you can dodge and weave while precisely blasting your enemies.

Despite the game's age, its graphics are spectacular, as is the sound and voice acting, and in that way, fighting and trading with friends or alone, Freelancer proves worth the wait. Just keep in mind that it is explicitly not a hardcore space simulation, and you'll have to leave your joystick on the shelf. --Andrew S. Bub

Pros:

A deep and interesting universe
Game adjusts to your choices and affiliations
Innovative and addictive co-op multiplayer
It looks like a space sim but plays like a RPG

Cons:

Joystick isn't even an option
It looks like a space sim but plays like a RPG

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Freelancer
This game does take alot of time when playing but if you like space and you like to buy your own spacecrafts then this is the game for you. I really liked this game, and the game came in real good condition. No scratches to be found. I rated this game 5 stars overall because I personaly love this game. But i rated fun level to be only 4 stars because it does take alot of time going from place to place and the planets have nowhere really to go to. Other then that the game is perfect.

Rating:

- Great space trading game
If you just want to trade, the story can get in the way, but the game is a lot of fun if you can play along with the story line. Unlike Privateer, it doesn't take forever to upgrade your ship, and there are lots of ships to choose from. Some are heavy haulers with turrets and lots of armour, while others are lite, nimble little scouts, with little armour, little firepower, be great maneuverability. The combat situations really depend on you knowing how to make the best use of your ship.

The story line is interesting, but seems very linear. The story unfolds in a way that helps you find you way around and which areas are safe for your skill level.

Good game overall, even as old as it is, if you want a space trader, this is about the only choice.

Rating:

- Freelancer review from a freelancer
Freelancer is a great game with replay value. Had difficulty access MMORPG servers, still trying to find out how, that is kind of dissatisfying, but the graphisc and ease of play are very intriguing. I play this game often. One of the best Space games I have played.

Rating:

- A little like GTA3 for outer space... except without the muggings
This is what they truly mean by "open-ended gaming". Yes, you can lament the lack of multiplayer. You can also lament the too-short storyline (at least its longer than Call of Duty). You can even gripe about the lack of joystick interface (yeah, the mouse-only driving is what cost this review a star).

But you cannot lament the range of ways to play this game. You can run with any group, any time, even the ones you've run missions against or just blown up and robbed (thanks to convenient bribes). There are a number of easter eggs to find (hidden joys), and quite a few sectors that don't get visited in the course of the plot, to give you something to do once you've beaten this game.

While it does get repetitive after a while, most games do. I mean, you can only take so many approaches and kill so many targets before you're done and should really get some sleep, right?

An excellent game. I wish they'd consider a sequel.

Rating:

- Wish they came out with part 2
I like this game. There are sites devoted to modding and what ever you could think of which has helped make it live a very long life.

This game is very stable and intuitive. It's the best space simms so far that have played.

The only big disappointment is that there is no Freelancer two.


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