The hotkeys are all clustered around the “asdf” positions on your keyboard, which makes it very easy to trigger them with your left hand. Although this forces you to memorize keys (for example, using a “Shield battery” requires you to hit the “F” rather than the “S” key), once you are used to the arrangement it becomes very easy to fly your ship while activating various support systems. This allows you to be immersed in very heavy combat during the game without getting frustrated by unwieldy controls.
The game also gives you tremendous variety in selecting and outfitting your ship. Everything from Light Fighters through Freighters is available for purchase, and there are pros and cons to each ship category. Weapons are equally varied, with everything from anti-shield beam cannons to starbase-destroying torpedoes. The ability to customize your ship to your preferences adds a lot to the replay value.
Music, Sound Effects, and Voice Acting:
The game’s audio, as an overall package, is good but not fantastic. The music itself is not bad, but it is not special—it does not inspire in the same way (for example) WarCraft 3s main score does. The sound effects are considerably better—weapon attacks are very vivid, and explosions are quite satisfying. The voice acting, however, deserves special mention.
The voiceover work for FreeLancer is one of the game’s strong points. Every conversation is done in-game, and the voice actors sound fairly believable. There is a bit of repetition of dialogue when you are doing routine things (such as purchasing equipment or fishing for rumours), but the voice work, particularly for the main characters of the game, adds a lot to the experience. However, a have noticed some desynchronization that occurs during speech, where the game’s animation fails to keep up with the voice acting.
Graphics:
FreeLancer runs smoothly, and looks great doing so. Everything in the game, from planetary landscapes to space combat, has a good frame rate and feels right. Capital ships dwarf fighters, and the visual effects for jump gates (which you use to travel between star systems) make you believe you are travelling quickly. Battle damage shows up on both your and computer-controlled ships, and is accurate enough that you can “eyeball” how badly damaged an opponent has become—which both improves the experience and is quite useful. As the story mode progresses, the in-game cut scenes also add a lot to the experience—they are both well animated and dramatic.
forums
send article 
hardware newsletter 
article comments (9) 
Lowest prices check
Digg this!
del.icio.us