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Freelancer Preview
Chris Leyton
24/01/2003
An epic open-ended space simulator that's likely to consume your life...
18 years ago a game was released that changed the gaming world forever; itās open ended game design was revolutionary and more akin to the game designs that weāre used to seeing today, many would even claim that its design superseded what most games are doing at the moment.
Of course that game was Elite; a space-trading game by definition, which saw players travelling through the furthest depths of space; trading commodities, building friends and foes, combat, the list goes on. Because of the game design, the choice of what you wanted from the game was completely up to you; players who wanted a quiet life, could quite happily spend months trading legal commodities between different planets and star systems; the player who likes a slightly dangerous time, could buy a fighter ship and become a bounty hunter; truly the choice was left to you and certainly was a guiding light for the rest of the industry, even to this day!
Having been in development at Digital Anvil for the previous four years and deemed to be the spiritual successor to StarLancer, the lengthy development of Freelancer has seen numerous design changes, one of which saw the game change from a simple space combat title along the lines of Wing Commander to a full-blown space-simulator along similar lines to the classic Elite.
Taking place 800 years after the events of StarLancer; the unsurprising yet epic introduction tells us that the two mightiest houses in the galaxy were at war; the Coalition and the Alliance. With defeat seeming inevitable, the Alliance launched five āsleeperā ships, each representing one of the main factions, to the furthest reaches of the universe in order to escape the Coalitions wrath. Now 800 years later, the five factions of the Alliance have settled and prospered in their new location; players assume the role of āMrā¦ Iām Trentā Edison, one of the few survivors from a recent political attack on an orbiting space station.
Placing heavy emphasis on traditional RPG features such as exploration, character building and trading; in another RPGāism the player isnāt presented with a lot of background info on Trent. Having arranged to sell a large amount of illegal contraband to someone on the ill-fortuned space station, the subsequent attack leaves Trent empty pocketed, and thatās where you pick up.
The most enjoyable aspect to come from our latest look at Freelancer has come from the excellent implementation of space that Digital Anvil have created; whereas previous space simulators have placed planets, asteroid fields and nebulas onto the screen as little more then eye candy, if itās there in Freelancer you can fly to it, land on it and interact with it.
Despite the completely open-ended nature of the game design, a tightly scripted plot runs underneath, allowing players to unearth information and participate in specific missions to progress the story. Most of this comes through real-time cut-scene conversations with the various people that youāll meet on planet surfaces and space stations. In general weāve been suitably impressed by how conversation is handled; characters remember if theyāve seen you before and dialogue usually is of a high standard, although if the phrase āMrā¦Iām Trentā comes out once againā¦
Conversation with NPCās wields a variety of responses; some divulge useful information, others offer jobs, whilst some can raise your reputation amongst other factions. Like any RPG worth its salt, the game rightfully places importance on your reputation within the universe; in total 20 different factions within the game create a diverse society and gel the game together. So if you take a mission with the Liberty Police, you can expect the Liberty Rogues to be on your case the next time you wander into their space or try to talk with one of them at a bar.
Weāre a little concerned that the interior sections are a little wooden and too linear in comparison to the rest of the game; aside from conversation, the scene typically looks like an old point ānā click adventure, with static backgrounds and motionless characters. Asides from the bar where most conversations take part, most interior locations give you the chance to upgrade your craft, buy new weapons or equipment, and trade in the many resources that are available in the Freelancer universe.
We would have liked to see a bit more variety during these sections to further draw the player in; for example, why canāt you buy a drink at the bar or decide to stay the night at a hotel, (does Trent ever sleep?) These might not have been major concerns a few years ago, however in this day and age, good games should have a sense of flow and consistency to them in order to suck the player in. As it stands they feel a little disjointed from the rest of the game because of its vast and epic nature, and serve little more purpose then a glorified menu system!
Of course you could model yourself on anyone of the different factions; so the scope to become a feared Bounty Hunter or a renown Smuggler are available, however to begin gaining reputation and a steady income itās best to get involved in the trading game. Newscasts will keep you up to date with the latest prices, and a sensible system will alert you to whether something is a good buy, reasonable or if someone is trying to rip you off; be careful the allure of carrying illegal cargo is great, however random scans from the Liberty Police could put you at risk. Weāve really enjoyed the trading system, and have to say that itās the best system weāve seen since the classic Elite.
Itās only going to be a short while however before you have to engage in combat, even if youāve been good, chances are youāve built up a reputation amongst the bad-boys of Liberty. Despite the complex nature of the game, Digital Anvil has come up with an excellent system that perfectly marries the depth of a simulation with the accessibility of an arcade blaster.
Using the familiar FPS controls to fly your craft, two different control systems are available by simply pressing the SpaceBar. This switches between a fixed movement path, which allows you to easily navigate through the on-screen menus and set waypoints; to a free system that gives you amazing levels of manoeuvrability during the intense combat sections. Thankfully you donāt need to learn what 30 different buttons do in order to leave the hangar; the whole set-up has been thoroughly researched and has been executed incredibly.
As you progress through the game, youāll be able to buy different ships from four different categories ā“ light fighter, heavy fighter, freighter and civilian ā“ each of which have advantages depending on the style of adventure you want. In total over 160 different weapons can be bought to upgrade your ship; like the trading system, the depth of this is one of the games many strengths, fully allowing the player to create the type of adventure that they want.
In total 13 varied missions take the player through the story, so an average player could expect it to last for a minimum of 20hrs; however the chances are that once you realise the full scope of the game, youāll branch of and this figure will rise sharply.
