Despite it being dated, limited in scope, and not incredibly revolutionary, this game remains inexplicably fun.
Part of what draws me to this game is the fact that it has a remarkably complicated and beautiful world. Flying through a nebula with lightning sparking in the distance, only to find yourself on the edge of a ice field with a starbase on the horizon, the beauty of this game quickly draws you in. Some of my first experiences playing this game were akin to the awe upon my first time seeing Xen on the original Half Life, and while dated, both games still offer similarly breathtaking beauty. In some ways, this game is worth playing simply for the ability to do what can best be described as flying around the hubble photos. There are also some amazing sequences with gas clouds, asteroid belts, and space battles that left me simply in awe, but I was forced to shake it off due to the fact that people were shooting at me. There were times I would simply explore a system, just to see the beauty it had to offer.
The level of detail in the game is also rather impressive, as there is a huge amount of semi-relevant side plot going on. Every starbase has a news channel, and you can get a lot of interesting information ranging from faction wars to life stories to infomercial-esque fictional product information by simply talking to the company reps, drunks, and pilots in the bars. Despite this variation in information offered, the conversations all go the exact same scripted way, as the future apparently is victim to a personality draining neurological condition, a point that occasionally grates on my nerves. Furthermore, there is a complicated faction system with factions ranging from bounty hunters to space police to interstellar garbage men (I kid you not), and your friendliness with various factions determines the level of information and services you can get from patrons at the bar- and no matter what, the bounty hunters guild always seems to hate you. Even so, the experience of winning over a faction by doing jobs for them and murdering their enemies and competitors is rather akin to a primitive dating sim, starting with them threatening to push you out an airlock and finally resulting in the faction members practically lining up to offer their bodies to you, which is one of the more satisfying, if not time consuming parts of the game*. However, faction allegiances tend to arbitrarily shift with the plot, which is frustrating, but relatively unavoidable, unless you decide to go screw the plot, and do your own thing- a tempting offer at times. Sure, the plot offers advancement in the game, and new systems to explore... But they *like* me here.
Another amazing thing about the game is the seemingly organic and decentralized nature of the universe around you. Many a time, I would simply decide to wander about a system, simply exploring for the sake of it. Most times, I would run into various ships from all number of factions, patrolling, delivering cargo, and raiding. Many times, I'd run into a raid going on, fully independent of me, and simply watch it play out. This actually proves to be a rather interesting experience, watching AI ships duke it out, as given a large enough battle it can be host to some rather spectacular dogfights. However, while doing this it's important to make sure neither faction are particularly aggressive to you, as soon you might find yourself drawn into the fray.
The game itself is a space fighter RPG hybrid, featuring a number of fully customizable ships, a plethora of cargo types, and a large arsenal of weapons to add to your ship. The plot involves faction wars, alien artifacts, and faction wars over alien artifacts. While the main plot is relatively uninspired, the world remains rich and interesting, with massive amounts of backstory and detail to just about anything and everything. Even so, there is little character development, and the few characters that are genuinely interesting are pathetically underaddressed, and the only major character that had any emotional depth gets killed early on. Even so, the plot itself serves as a vehicle to open the way to new systems, each with better ships, more challenging missions, and prettier planets. The difficulty curve can be a bit drastic initially, as a ship that might be considered entirely pimped out in the previous system turns out to be a piece of scrap in the next, which often forces you to immediately get the standard of that system as soon as possible.
The gameplay is also rather enjoyable, as the space combat itself can become very intense at times, especially during plot related battles, which range from painfully easy to nerve searingly difficult. The grinding missions, on the other hand, tend to be annoyingly repetitive, although if underequipped, can actually present a challenge. Still, despite the repetitive nature, I still found the space combat to be dynamic and fun, and if done correctly, you can keep the grinding down to a minimum of 3-5 missions per level, although I preferred to grind until I had the necessary credits to purchase the local military spaceship from the nearest cruiser and pimp it out to the full extent possible.
Graphics-wise, this game does well with what it has, making characters that look relatively natural, given the technology. The ships all look interesting and realistic, and everything in space is stunningly beautiful. Despite it being a somewhat dated game, I still find much of the space graphics very pleasant to look at, and even more pleasant to play in.
The sound quality is an area where this game shines, as the music, while ambient, is wholly appropriate and suitable, and has a full range from the ambient space music to planet themes to bar techno. The voice acting is also superb, featuring none other than George Takei and John Rhys-Davies as two of the main stars, both giving great performances.
Overall, this game has survived the years well, and is still worth playing, despite it's repetitive nature and slightly dull storyline. The massive, immersive world and beautiful backdrop draws you in, and the generally fun nature of the game keeps you going till the end. While it can be a bit dull at times, and it is in no way particularly innovative, it's just a solid game.
*They do not offer their bodies to you, sadly.
P.S.:
One area I feel a compulsion to address is the general rape of physics in this game. Things to keep in mind while playing Freelancer: A: wormholes have not been proven, and probably do not occur randomly in space. B: You can not fly between planets in a matter of minutes with impulse drive. C: In space, nobody can hear you scream, shoot lasers, or anything like that. D: Planets are not that small, or close together. Space is really big. E: Lasers travel at the speed of light, so it does not make sense to be able to dodge a laser... Tachyon beam. Whatever.