Description
The war between the Coalition and the Alliance depicted in
Starlancer had raged on and the Alliance forces were losing. A final plan was organized to punch through the Coalition attackers and send five colony ships across space to the Sirius Sector. 900 years have passed since then and the Sirius sector has been colonized by the surviving ships, dividing the area between four major nations: Liberty, Rheinland, Kusari and Bretonia. The fifth sleeper ship, Hispania, suffered a malfunction in flight, and is thought lost. In the spacelanes between these nations borders and outside of any specific jurisdiction lie undeveloped solar systems, pirate bases, corporate outposts and the neutral Freeports. One of these Freeports has come under attack and been destroyed by an unknown enemy attack. Survivors of the attack, including a freelancer Edison Trent and his business associate, Lonnigan, are evacuated to Planet Manhattan, capital city of the Liberty nation. Once there Edison hears rumors about military buildups and friction between the Sirius nations. It will be up to Trent to seek employment, rebuild his lost assets and discover the meaning behind these rumors.
FreeLancer is a third person or first person space simulator and trading game, much like
Elite or
Wing Commander: Privateer. Players, taking the role of Edison Trent, will need to visit several locations on each planet in order to trade cargo, buy and repair equipment as well as obtain information. In space, Trent controls his spacecraft from either a first person or third person perspective and is able to use primary and secondary weapons. Destroyed enemy spacecraft often leave behind cargo which can be tractor beamed into the cargo hold.
Freelancer is an plot-driven game that slowly becomes completely open-ended. As such the player (eventually) has the freedom to fly around 150 planets across 40 solar systems looking for profit. As Trent trades cargo and undertakes missions (following an expanding story arc) he will affect the faction status status of over 50 different groups (comprising of 3000 NPCs). Faction Status will affect their attitudes towards Trent, including interaction planetside and in space.
Alternate Titles
- "自由枪骑兵" -- Chinese title (simplified)
- "星際遊俠" -- Chinese title (traditional)
Part of the Following Groups
User Reviews
The Press Says
| Game Informer Magazine |
May, 2003 |
9.5 out of 10 |
95 |
| Netjak |
Apr 03, 2003 |
9.2 out of 10 |
92 |
| GameStar (Germany) |
Mar, 2003 |
90 out of 100 |
90 |
| Gamesdog |
Dec 15, 2003 |
9 out of 10 |
90 |
| Armchair Empire, The |
Jun 15, 2003 |
8.8 out of 10 |
88 |
| PC Games (Germany) |
Mar 28, 2003 |
86 out of 100 |
86 |
| GameZone |
Mar 03, 2003 |
8.3 out of 10 |
83 |
| Rebell.at Games |
Mar 25, 2003 |
8 out of 10 |
80 |
| GameSpot (Belgium/Netherlands) |
Mar 28, 2003 |
78 out of 100 |
78 |
| Nerikes Allehanda |
Mar 22, 2003 |
  |
60 |
Forums
Trivia
Freelancer was first announced around 1999 making it's first public apparition at that year's E3 expo (though the game had suposedly been secretly in development even before that date...). Interestingly enough the game walked away with the Best of Show, Best PC Game, Best Simulation and the Outstanding Achievement in Graphics awards (for 1999).
This entry to the MobyGames database was contributed by
Arvin Chandra (45) on Mar 03, 2003.
