Freelancer

Between H-Fuel shipments to New Tokyo, John Gillooly stops to smell the laser fire.

There are few games in the Vapourware hall of fame, and over the past few years one of the shining lights has been Digital Anvil's Freelancer. After its first showing at E3 back in 1999 the hype began building about this spiritual successor to the much-revered Wing Commander: Privateer series. At that point it was being pushed as a massively multiplayer living universe, with 1,500 players on a server at any one time.

This multiplayer focus has been toned back somewhat, but in its place is an epic single player experience.

Freelancer takes place in a section of the galaxy that has been colonised by huge motherships that departed Earth to ensure the future of humanity after war brought the planet to its knees. These ships represented the major cultures of earth, and this influences not only the political divides in the Freelancer universe, but also the distinct look and feel of the different systems through which your adventure takes you.

This back story sounds like the usual gaming plot that becomes irrelevant the moment you first open fire, but in the case of Freelancer this history permeates the entire game, driving the storyline as you journey through space trying to discover the reasons behind the destruction of the space station Freeport 7. You play Edison Trent, one of the few survivors of the attack, who begins the game broke and shipless on Planet Manhattan. To earn a few bucks you take on some work with the Liberty Police, which kicks off the storyline and soon has you frantically fighting you way through space, often against the odds in pursuit of the truth about a mysterious artefact that holds the key to the destruction of Freeport 7 and a much darker secret.

Interspersed with storyline missions are periods of free time, in which you must earn money in order to level up and keep the story pumping along. It is in these sections that the Privateer legacy kicks in. You can take on missions that usually involve patrolling sections of space for rebels or pirates, taking out their bases or capturing prisoners or stolen goods. You can also try your hand at trading goods between bases or even joining the dark side and doing a bit of piracy yourself.

All of this occurs thanks to one of the prettiest game engines we have ever seen. Combining spangly lighting and weapon effects with varied and unique star systems, the game cranks out the eye candy seamlessly. One of the great features of Freelancer is the fact that if you can see something in space you can fly to it. In fact exploration is a huge part of the game, adding depth and longevity. It is rare that you find yourself in unoccupied space: convoys travel past, police patrols check for contraband and battles rage between enemy forces. Once you leave the established trade lanes you never quite know what you will encounter, with mining ships dotted throughout gas clouds and asteroid fields, hidden jump holes to other systems that become invaluable tools for smugglers and outlaws, abandoned bases and other surprises.

This is only one of the ways in which Freelancer departs from the normal space combat sim, but perhaps the biggest way is in interface. Throw out your joystick and flex your mousing fingers, because Freelancer's controls are pure first person shooter. The mouse is used for twisting and turning your way through dogfights, the scroll wheel controls thrust and the WASD key combo is used for strafing and more dramatic engine control. This system is amazing, and allows for a hugely flexible control experience once you get comfortable with it. Rather than just dodging laser fire you can dash behind an asteroid, drop to a dead halt, and use you strafe keys to keep the asteroid between you and your enemy as you wait for shields to recharge.

Surprisingly the other game that springs to mind when freelancing around the galaxy is Diablo, which is the perfect example of an action RPG and has lent a lot of gameplay philosophies to Freelancer. Just like Diablo, there is a focus on using potions (in the guise of shield batteries and nanobots) for quick healing in the frenzy of combat as well as unique items and weapons that reward exploration of the far flung edges of each star system.

Freelancer is a curious and unique mix of action game, RPG and more traditional space sim. Digital Anvil has combined these to produce one of the freshest PC games in years, an epic adventure that rewards magnificently for all those hours that you are sure to lose in the far flung corners of the galaxy.