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Freelancer Trial Version | |
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| Time: 00:14 EST/05:14 GMT | News Source: ActiveWin.com | Posted By: Robert Stein | ||
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This demo gives you the chance to explore the entire Liberty System, with access to more than a dozen bases and five flyable ships. Players will be able to experience the trading system, sample the open-ended nature of the game, and immerse themselves in the intense combat. | ||
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| #1 By 3 (81.96.65.154) at 2/26/2003 12:31:24 PM |
| Yeah I think it is excellent so far. |
| #2 By 61 (65.32.170.1) at 2/26/2003 5:09:46 PM |
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I sat down with it for about 10mins...
It's kinda like reading those books where at the bottom of the page it says "turn to page X to follow this path or turn to page Y for this path." Always makes me wonder what would happen if I didn't do it another way.... I guess that makes the game somewhat timeless as the possibilities are for all practical purposes endless. |
| #3 By 7557 (81.96.71.69) at 2/27/2003 5:54:10 AM |
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I have previously expressed concern that this game would need a patch to fix stability issues, based on other recent MS game releases and the record of the Digital Anvil dev team. Based upon the demo, this seems unfounded, which is good.
However, it had never occured to me that the gameplay itself would be so poor. Maybe I had set my hopes to high, especially after the praise heaped on the preview by sites such as ActiveWin. Lets start with the graphics: the space graphics are OK, but they're not great. I do not think they are on even on a par with Wing Commander Prophecy of several years ago. In Freelancer, the vessels and sub-components of vessels do not cast any shadows on the ships around. It gives a cartoony look to the space stations and no idea of the scale they are attempting. And why is it so bright? Space is lit up like a Christmas tree. The planets have no dark side! But it is the planet side graphics that really deserve mention. These are appalling. Given that so much of the game takes place in the planetary interface, I'd expect characters that look better that a poor rendering of an action man doll. The planetary scenes look like something from a ten year old game. Let's move on: the dialogue and dialogue engine is inexcusable. Trent (or is it Mr. Trent - he seems to differ) has a terrible pause problem between each phrase. His favourite word seems to be "Check". The "extras" dialogue is performed like a daytime soap. Finally, the mouse interface in flight. I've seen so many previews heap praise on this. I can only assume those writers have never used it or never played a space game before or have never used a joystick. It seems to be a poor attempt at turning the mouse into a joystick. I fail to see any of the intelligent flight that has been claimed. Indeed, in battle, I found that I had to control the ship just as I would with a joystick. The only benefit from the mouse I can see is that you do not have to switch controller to use the icons. Overall, based upon the demo, I am extremely dissappointed with the game. Further, I am disturbed that (pre)reviewers have given up their impartiality when writing about a game. It appears that in this case, as with so many of Microsoft's business products, the writers have chosen just to repeat the advertising drivel they are given by Microsoft. |
| #4 By 3 (81.96.65.154) at 2/27/2003 6:15:37 AM |
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Yeah god forbid that some previewers and reviews actually like the game...You are correct on a few things though, the graphics and the dialogue work are not the best, (sound should have been completly redone in my view).
I like the actual game myself, I am sorry that you don't, but if you are a fan of the Privateer, Wing Commander or Starlancer games I feel no one will be disappointed. |
| #5 By 7557 (81.96.71.69) at 2/27/2003 8:54:44 AM |
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Byron,
I'm not criticising anyone for liking the game. I'm criticising for an inaccurate preview. In your preview you state: "the voice over work that has been placed into the game so far is excellent, especially that of your main character Trent". The word "excellent" isn't really open to interpretation. I completely fail to see how or why you described the dialogue as such. On graphics, you state: "Graphically I expected Freelancer to be a little bit behind all other recent releases...but I am pleased to say that it looks great...". Your only concession to the actual quality is the line: "While the on-planet graphics are nothing to write home about, they don't look half bad". How could you justify that line? I was a fan of all of the original Wing Commander games, from WC1 with it's ground-breaking AI, WC2 with it's (then) innovative speech, WC3 for the graphics engine and the immersion into a movie and WC4 for it's excellent story line. WC-Prophecy had some amazing graphics. Freelancer hasn't progressed beyond those games. Sure it's bigger, but it still does not boast as many systems as the original Elite. The graphics are a step backwards from WC:P - especially as far as lighting effects are concerned. I'd have liked to have seen a little honesty in the reviews. |
| #6 By 3 (81.96.65.154) at 2/27/2003 10:21:58 AM |
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#6 - As you will find out in the review, the preview code had far more speech in it - all commerce and shipping pay people spoke even when trading, it has all been taken out as it was a waste of time having it there...the statement that the voice over work is great still stands for me, I didn't comment on the dialogue, I said the voice overs which means how the actors spoke.
As for the graphics they are not that bad, I don't know what system you are running on but I have it on full detail and it is smooth, textures while not being the best around are pretty good especially the further you get into the game, the on planet graphics do the job they were supposed to do and they really don't look as bad as you have been saying. |
| #7 By 7557 (81.96.71.69) at 2/27/2003 2:06:52 PM |
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Byron,
I have the detail wound up to maximum and I agree the action is very smooth. I just expected better - the ground textures look comparable to Half-Life and how old is that? What am I missing about this game that is generating a loyalty rivalling the strength of the Linux/Windows arguments? I was in some discussions over on Lancers Reactor and there I see I am not alone in being dissappointed with the game. However, any discussions that suggest that the game is less than perfect are being locked. I haven't seen this level of passion expressed about a game for a long time. You've played the (near) final release - you obviously feel I am being unfair to it. What is it that is gripping people so much? |
| #8 By 3 (81.96.65.154) at 2/27/2003 2:13:55 PM |
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I have the gold version currently, the changes they have made have lessened the amount of speech in the game, which is a good thing. I don't think you are being unfair if it is your view. I just don't judge a space game over the graphics for the interlocking ground sections, I certainly wouldn't say the ground textures look like Half Life's ones at all, they are not wonderful no, but not that bad either.
For a game which thrives on action I felt the frame rate is a pretty important part of the game, and the level of graphics and no slow down at all for me in missions helps me say that graphically it is pretty good. I do have a lot of problems with the sound side of the game though. Thankfully I am not the only one who likes it as I see three reviews have been posted today on IGN etc two of which marked it in the 90's! I haven't played the demo so I can't comment on its content, what is in it? |
| #9 By 7557 (81.96.71.69) at 2/28/2003 3:57:14 AM |
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I'm not judging the whole game by the planet side graphics. I think the space graphics could do with some work. I appreciate the high frame rate and smoothness and the gate/tunnel effect is very nice. But the lighting model on the ships and stations is - well non-existant. I also feel that the detail on the space stations is very low. Again, this doesn't look as detailed as the old Wing Commander 3/4 models.
My wife summed it up perfectly. I was playing the demo last night (to see what I was missing) and she described the space stations and ships as looking like they are made of plastic! The demo opens with a story sequence with a couple of attacks. Then it has a few story missions where you go out and point-and-click at a few pirates to destroy them. Then you fly around a dozen or so stations and planets trading or accepting more point-and-click missions from the bar. |
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