Freelancer

"A great buy for anyone who likes free-roaming after SP."

Two weeks ago I bought this game and since I haven't been the same. I have been working on it non-stop and I can't tell you how much I like it. I have already beaten the SP part of the game, however similar to other games, Freelancer allows you to continue your journey through this cosmic universe after the SP game is finished. Not only that, but at any point during the game you can break away from the SP mode and go to work for yourself.
You play Edison Trent, a Freelance pilot with some knowledge of a cockpit. You are on a station when it blows up and you are one of only a handful of survivors. Now you must uncover a plot to seize control of the known universe. Occupanied by a number of other people you have the ability to seek out and destroy a number of enemy crafts. With ships ranging from the awesome Titan Heavy Fighter to the sluggish, yet large Humpback freighter, you can choose to fight for a place in the universe or simply to smuggle illegal artifacts from other worlds to prove your worthy.
Not only is the SP mode interesting and fun to play but the fact that there are over 400 places to to dock your ship and explore simply gratifies this buy. The controls of the ships are simple, and easy to learn and the game comes with an instruction manuel just bursting with information. Traveling from one world to the next, never knowing what you might find or encounter, you must save the universe, or die trying.
After finishing the initial SP mode you then have the ability to roam around a galaxy discovering new planets, jump holes, jump gates and other amazing universal wonders. When it is finished you know longer have any contact with your comrades that helped you to save the universe, but instead you have the ability to go anywhere you want and do whatever you want. Although you still have many enemies, there is still plenty of non-hostile space to be entered. My favorite part of roaming around is the fact that you can still do missions when you want but you can also become a smuggler. Not getting caught with illegal artifacts is a real challenge sometimes. Not only that but just by buying diamonds on one world and traveling thousands of light years you can sell them for more then 12 times what you paid.
This game has great special effects, graphics, and game play. It gets a 10 for all of them. The only reason I gave it a 9/10 total is because there are no cargo missions (which would have been a nice feature) and because the SP mode, while very exciting and interesting, is a bit short and can be beaten in less than 14 hours! The characteristics of the characters is also a bit repetitive, allot of the time they say the same thing each time you approach them to get work. While this game has it's downs, it's ups still surpass them by far. For anyone looking for a terrific game, this is the one for you!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/21/03, Updated 04/21/03