CHENNAI: Then it was in development, Freelancer was talked up as the ultimate spaceflight game. It would let players go anywhere and do anything, and boasted just about every feature genre enthusiasts could want. Inevitably, the game that actually released wasn’t the one that was promised and a lot of compromises and cuts had to be made. (Funnily enough, Chris Roberts — one of the main people behind Freelancer — is going through something similar right now with Star Citizen.) And yet, that game which released 15 years ago is still worth your time today.
Freelancer’s single-player casts players in the role of Edison Trent, space pilot for hire. Lone survivor of a space station that was destroyed by unknown forces, Trent begins the game with a duct-taped ship and just about no money to his name. From there, the story carries Trent through multiple star systems and confrontations. The writing isn’t particularly noteworthy, but the campaign is compelling enough that you’ll likely want to finish it.
That’s not the faint praise it sounds like, because Freelancer gives you an awful lot of freedom. Years before Skyrim arguably reached the pinnacle of this sort of game, the temptation to wander off the beaten track (and stay there) is incredibly strong here. You can haul cargo between planets, checking the supply/demand boards to figure out where the most profitable run might be. You can give bounty hunting a shot, and track down outlaws who are usually depressingly well-armed. You can even try your hand at piracy, and take shots at trade lanes (the game’s wonderful take on ‘space highways’) to eject vulnerable freighters into normal space and give you the best chance of hijacking some precious cargo. The galaxy is your oyster, and what you do with it is entirely up to you.
As far as gameplay goes, Freelancer hews much closer to arcade-style gameplay than any sort of meaningful simulation. Although most games of this ilk are clearly designed for joysticks and anything else feels like a compromise, Freelancer’s mouse and keyboard control scheme is one of the best I’ve come across. Freighters feel more ponderous than fighters, and the weapons you mount can significantly change your tactics in battle. All in all, it works and is fun, and that’s all it needs to be.
A word about the universe — this sector was settled by colony ships from various Earth nations, and the houses that control the sector are clearly descendants of those nations. You’ve got Liberty (1920s USA), Bretonia (Victorian England), Kusari (Shogunate-era Japan) and Rheinland (late 19th century Germany). There was a fifth ship which never made it to its target planet, and the descendants of its crew became pirates.
The world-building in Freelancer is neither particularly subtle nor too heavy-handed, but it makes exploring this world more interesting. And exploration is at the heart of what makes Freelancer a great game. Say you want the best Rheinland fighter in the game — you’re going to need to find the HQ of the Rheinland Navy, which is aboard a battleship somewhere in their corner of the sector.
Or maybe you’re out fighting pirates when you come across a jump hole, a way to travel to another system without having to undergo any pesky contraband scans at the more ‘official’ routes. Or you could come across a derelict craft that just so happens to mount weapons more powerful than anything you’ve seen… This is where the true appeal of Freelancer lies —if you’re tempted to venture off the beaten path, this is the game for you.
Is Freelancer the game it was supposed to be? No. Is it worth your time regardless? Definitely. For all its flaws, this is an extremely enjoyable game for those who like thrilling heroics as much as those who aim to misbehave.