Does Freespace 2 get anyone's spacey juices flowing?

[JellyBaby]

I noticed EBWorld dot com has Freespace 2 at $9.95. That's a pretty good deal given some of the reviews I've read. Frespace 1 was awfully good. Anybody have any other "space game" recommendations for me? I've also heard Independence War was good...are there other options I'm overlooking?

Killer Ape, do you play space combat games?...need any advice you might have.

 

[Sunner]

FreeSpace 2 is DA $HIT!

Seriously, I think its even better than FS1, its by far the coolest space combat game ever IMO(and yes that does include the WC series), and definately one of the coolest games ever, any category.

 

[JaiKnight]

$9.95?? Time to head to the local EB and see if they have it....

 

[JellyBaby]

Sweet! This will be the first space combat game I've played @ > 640x480. Can't wait hehe.

Yep, it recently dropped from $19.95 to $9.95 and that's an outright steal.

 

[JaiKnight]

I also liked Wing Commander Prophecy: Secret Ops (that free one that Origin gave away over the net), I've been looking for Wing Commander Prophecy ever since but haven't been able to find it, awesome game though!

 

[JellyBaby]

JaiKnight,

Was WC 5 the only WC you've played? I enjoyed the first two (bought a 386SX-20 primarly to play WC1...but I was young heh). The third was great due to the well-done FMV and hi-res graphics. The fourth was rather corny and I diskliked having to off my own kind (human). Now the fifth installment was graphically pleasing but the FMV was very repetitive and Hamil's performance stunk. Even the missions themselves seemed rather stale. Still, I played it through and enjoyed the experience.

X-wing Alliance is also very good (on par with Freespace 1). I have no idea what some of the new space combat titles are like (Freelancer, etc.). I've been out of touch with reality for a bout a year now.

 

[skemlawn]

pick it up at that price, it is almost everything that freespace one wasn't.

 

[JaiKnight]

Actually I've played 1 & 2 as well, WC1 was awesome, played that so much, well until I got my new comp and made it unplayable (too lazy to get the slowdown util) WC2 was ok, I didn't think it was as good though.

I loved Privateer, that took so much time out of my life I've never gotten a chance to play any of the FMV WCs though, I heard they weren't that great?

 

[damocles]

Privateer was my second fave space sim (how can u ever beat Elite?). Its old now, but it was the bomb when i played it.

Beyond that, i think DF2 would have been the next best Space Sim i have played, including the rest of the WCs and a few others. Havent played Star Lancer yet, anyone have an opinion?

 

[Ben]

FS2 is probably my favorite game of all time (so far).

Buy it NOW!

I said NOW dangit!

 

[JellyBaby]

LOL! Ok already I bought it! Thanks all for the advice.

JaiKnight,

Had WC3/WC4 ruined your space-game virginity, you would have been floored by them just as you were with WC1. But you're not a virgin anymore so WC3/4 would simply not be like your first experience...but they'll still be enjoyable to play...and will probably still be installed when you wake up the next morning.

 

[JaiKnight]

HAha, well I guess there's nothing like the first time, I'll give them a try sometime if I can find them somewhere, I think EB still sells them as Classics...

BTW: Is the WC series gone for good? I think I read that a long while back....no Privateer 3?

 

[JellyBaby]

JaiKnight,

Origin Systems Inc. was the developer of the WC and Privateer games. Electronic Arts, may their greedy corporate tycoons die painfully and without honor, was the publisher. At one point EA bought OSI. Each house had their own product "visions" but EA had the most control. OSI, once a proud, risk-taking visionary, was held in chains by EA who increasingly sought to publish high-profit formula/ma$$ market games.

I believe they hold the WC/Priv. license so we'll not likely see another game in either series. EA eventually disolved OSI. EA's focus today is on the lucrative online gaming market (eg Ultima Online) for the PC. They're switching a lot of development into console gaming. Also realize space-combat games are at an all-time low in popularity, so, no, the WC and Privateer brands are dead IMO.

 

[JaiKnight]

so sad....
well, is it pretty much agreed that Freespace 2 is the best Space sim out right now? is there even anything else in development? There was supposed to be a massively multiplayer online space sim, I think it was a WC game, so it's scrapped too I guess

 

[Sunner]

damocles, oupsie, almost forgot Elite.
But I prefer Elite II myself, but anyway, Elite II pushes FS2 down to second place among space sims.

Elite II is just SOOO damn good.

 

[JellyBaby]

FedEx should be dropping off some goodness today!

Independence War was supposed to be as good as Freespace 2, if I remember my 1999 review-reading correctly. But I know nothing about it apart from that.

M$ has Allegience (that online ma$$ively multiplayer game you mentioned). $9.95/month. Zone problems. Lag. Spoiled brats. No thanks.

Elite 2? When did that come out??

 

[JaiKnight]

I've never heard of Elite before, is it the usual two huge factions at war kind of deal (not necessarily a bad thing of course)? In what way is it that much better than FS2?

 

[Sunner]

Both are really old.
Dont remember when Elite II came out, but it was like late 80's or early 90's, I believe Elite I came out like 86 or 87.

But dont let the age fool ya, I cant think of any game(and I mean that) that has come close to the gameplay of those two since.

Sure, obviously they've been surpassed in graphics by quite a bit, but the gameplay is to die for.

I still play Elite II on my Amiga 600(best computer Ive ever bought BTW).

You guys, if you have a chance, pick up an old Amiga and play Elite I or II, trust me, its worth it, those are some of the most incredible games ever made.

 

[Killer Ape]

Hey JB.

I'm not big into Space Sims, but I played the demo for FS2 and it made me want to buy it. Great looking game. Seemed like you really needed a joystick to get the most out of it though. My finely-tuned FPS mouse-keyboard skilz didn't seem adequate .

Let us know what you think. For $9.95 you can't go wrong. Wait a minute, the last game I paid $9.95 for was Blood II, so maybe you CAN go wrong...

BTW JB: Did you finish Thief II? And how about a quick review if you did since we seem to have similar gaming tastes .

 

[JellyBaby]

Ape,

Hey I tried the Blood II demo. That first Lithwreck engine was a mess...very poor performance especially in multiplayer. They may have fixed the performance problems but that demo also had some messed-up colored lighting, cheesy enemies and really felt stale overall.

Big thumbs up on Freespace 2. I just played the mission introduction the Colossas capital ship...big sucker, too. Hehe. Having a blast so far...running at 1024x768x32 with all graphics option to max and EAX enabled and it runs quite well. Just talking about it makes me want to play another mission.

As for Thief 2, I'm on the third mission, part two...trying to work my way through the city to "home base". Better than Thief 1, I'd say, plus only one undead so far.

 

[Moonbender]

Freespace 2 is the best space-shooter I played so far. Involving story and great graphics. Tachyon: The Fringe is pretty cool, too, a bit less linear, and with a VERY cool mouse control which I miss in every space game since. The fact that Starlancer made you decide between keyboard (which sucks for flight-sims) and joystick (which I hate ), with no option for mouse completely ruined the game for me.

If you haven't heard of it, point the browser of your choice at www.eve-online.com the website of, well, EVE-Online, an upcoming massively multiplayer space shooter a la Elite, Privateer and Freelancer. The graphics are the best graphics I have EVER seen in any game, IMO beating those of other upcoming games like Halo and Freelancer, at least judged by what you see from screenshots.
Even if you're not into space games, you should have a look at the site, just for the eye candy.

 

[Killer Ape]

Good JB. I hated those fershlugginner Thief zombies...:|

EVERYONE knows that zombies should go down with a shot to the head .

What control system are you using for FS2?

 

[JellyBaby]

Moonbender,

That www site just "hangs" IE (not even a DNS resolution error). Great graphics are sure welcome in space games. I must say if EVE has better nebula effects than FS2, I'll be impressed.

Ape,

The zombies in Thief 1 really didn't bother me. Most tried to engage them too often and paid the ultimate price. But I recall hating that one big, very "tall" level filled with undead just like everybody else.

I have a programbable throttle and cheap joystick for FS2. Works great! The throttle might be overkill because of the Auto-speed matching but I like a lot of control.

 

[Killer Ape]

JB: When I played the FS2 demo I ran-out to look at joysticks because I found the keyboard-mouse control too difficult. Then I caught myself and realized I'd spend $59.99 (MS Sidewinder Pro USB) to play a game I wasn't going to buy until it hit $19.99. I mostly play FPS and RTS, so the joystick seemed like something I wouldn't get a lot of use out of.

Maybe its time to reconsider...

That was the thing that irritated me most about Thief, the enemies I MOST wanted to engage were the some of the most difficult to dispose of. What other game has zombies that high up on the Enemy Food Chain? I also played Thief after SS2, and if any game will make you hate zombies (in a good way) it's SS2 .

 

[Moonbender]

Hmmm, weird, it's working fine for me. I'll post some URLs to screenshots, maybe a direct access will work. The screens are quite big, about 150k each.

http://www.eve-online.com/screenshots/02112000/01f.jpg
... 02f 03f and so on, up to
http://www.eve-online.com/screenshots/02112000/08f.jpg

There are also some fansites already (lol, even the beta won't be out until this tme next year), I guess they also have the screens: http://www.evehq.com/