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One of my fondest memories of PC gaming is playing Elite, a fantastic sci-fi game first released in 1984, in which you had to explore the galaxy, trade items and complete missions in order to gain money and improve your ship. However, since then hardly any game has touched upon this idea of hopping from planet to planet, taking on missions that you knew were dodgy and then getting involved in a fight with space pirates as you tried to complete them. So I was pleasantly surprised when I booted up Microsoft's new space combat game, to see that it was best described as a modern-day version of David Braben and Ian Bell's classic. So, intrigued by this promise of rejuvenating a PC classic, I delved into the futuristic and war-torn world of Freelancer, and am happy to say that it's shaping up very well indeed!
The basic story to the game is set in the 23rd Century, when two enemies known as the Coalition and the Alliance go to war. After years of fighting over planets in the solar system, the Coalition manage to break through, and the Alliance are forced to retreat. As a last resort, the Alliance launch five large ships containing thousands of cryogenically frozen citizens, which manage to get through the impending Coalition fleet and make their way to the Sirius system. These ships then begin to set up a new home, away from the persecution of the Coalition, and thrive as five separate colonies. The game starts 800 years after the ships left, and now these initially small colonies have built large, futuristic cities across many worlds, but they are far from trouble-free. With each colony growing and claiming new planets for themselves, the sense of a collective soon gave way to individual profiteering, and now the edges of territories are fraught with lawlessness.
You take on the role of Trent, one of the few survivors of an unprovoked attack on his ship. This has left him without a ship, any money or a reputation, so it's up to you to take on missions, gain rewards and build back his life. The game pretty much consists of adventure-style sections that take place on planets or space stations, where you visit bars and shops to hear gossip, upgrade your ship and take on new missions, as well as sections where you get to fly freely in space when you're executing your missions. The adventure sections don't allow you to move freely about the environments, which is a bit of a shame, but they do contain some really nice cut-scenes for every conversation you have with the inhabitants. Every character in the game world is really nicely modeled, and everything they say is both voice acted and lip-synched, giving the game a very polished look.
Once you've accepted a mission, it's time to launch into space and check out the more action-orientated areas of Freelancer. Although space-based games tend to require loads of flying about, moving from point-to-point with little more than a few stars as scenery, this one keeps things interesting by basically having a whole community thriving around you. There are loads of space stations, cargo ships and civilian vessels flying around, and you can hear what they're all saying over your radio communicator, which helps give a good sense of involvement in the game. The backdrops are also pretty impressive, with planets and nebulae all looking very nice, and large gaps are filled with lots of debris for you to avoid when traveling at speed.
Of course, the main part of the game is the combat, which fortunately looks suitable spectacular. You can take on loads of small ships, or try to destroy great big battle cruisers, and although winning a battle against several ships is difficult on your own, it never seems impossible. Most combat controls are accessible simply by using the mouse, with the left mouse button allowing you to change your ship's direction and the right mouse button for firing your selected weapons. The only thing you have to worry about is whether your ship is good enough to match up to your enemies', which is something that's entirely up to you.
Overall, Freelancer is shaping up to be a really good game. There's tons of freedom to do what you want inside the game world, and the continually unfolding story is interesting enough to keep you hooked! We can't wait to get our hands on the full game closer to its release later this Spring, but be assured that once we do we'll tear ourselves away for a few hours to write a full review.
Marc Hull
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