X3 and Eve-Online try to take on Freelancer . . . and LOSE!

Yeah, it’s about time I take on an MMORPG. Since I have only been playing Eve for about a week and X3 a little longer I think it would be fair to pit them against each other for a first time look at each although I have already done a review on X3. Making fun of these two games is going to be fun since I think I will get a lot of hate from Eve community for this

Background:

I love games, that is why I am writing these but, I hate all the crappy “bought” reviews. They don’t really tell you anything you already don’t already know. And usually give a 3 to 5 star rating on games that are really 1 to 3. So I will tell you like I see it and if I am wrong call me out on it. The people need the TRUTH! I played Freelancer back in the day. It was client based with the opportunity to make it MMORPG to your friends if you had any knowledge of how to get the game server up and running. It was easy, fun, and very addictive as far as space games go. It was the beginning for my love of space games and wanting more. I don’t really know if it had a story line but the time I was able to spend on game with my friends, learning how to get a hold of the best weapons and better trade routes made the game fun. Unfortunately they did not do everything they could in Freelancer so others are going to try. Enter Eve, and much later X3. On to pissing people off 

First off neither of these games equal up to Freelancer on their own. That’s right Eve players, SUCK IT! I will be using Freelancer to have the mark to meet or pass which both games have and have not done. If the score fails at any time then the game can not claim to be based off of Freelancer. The scores will be from 1 to 10. So with that lets set some bench marks:

http://games.softpedia.com/screenshots/4-252_3.jpg
*the badass back in the day

Gameplay: ship handling, ease of control, menu settings, ship choices, and AI with auto pilot.

Graphics: how pretty is the game and how well you can view your ship and/or view space.

Replay Value: basically, do you want to continue playing this game if/after you finish it or at the end of the day? 

Multiplayer: what good is space if you are alone?

Miscellaneous: Basically whatever I want to rant about.

If you think that there should be anything else added let me know.

GP- Ship Handling:
Freelancer: manual control of the x and y axis but no z. It is very easy to find targets and very easy to handle your ship. They set the bar low since there is no Z axis control. The bar is set at 6.

X3: Manual control of x, y, and z axis’s but, must be manually set. Once the controls are set you can easily move your ship where it needs to go with some pretty sick moves. You can easily out-fly non-image locking missiles and enemy ships with scout type ships and leave them eating your space wake. With the type of flying I do, I could make lesser bitches get sick just looking at the monitor and still blow a hole in your ass. The score gets a 9.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/x3%2 … toryM1.jpg

Eve: If you ever need a game that has the skill level of flying retard this is the game. NO manual control of your ship. Double click to go here, click and hold to target. Seriously you put a veteran Eve player vs. a veteran X3 player (or Freelancer for that matter) the Eve player is going to get waxed every single time. Now people may say that because its server based you can’t have that kind of control. TOO EFFING BAD!!! If I don’t have manual control of my ship, then I am not flying it am I? The score gets a 2 (FAIL)

http://members.optushome.com.au/rickclarke/retard.jpg
*what do you mean I can’t fly?

GP-Ease of Control:
Freelancer: Jump in, do the tutorial, go. Bar set at 9

X3: Read a 120 page manual that comes with the game, find the controls, end up switching them to be more manageable. Finally get a comfortable setting and find out that something major is missing because of it. Reset and do again until satisfactory. Below the bar here: 5

Eve: the game name should really have: “Flying for retards” somewhere in the title somewhere. It makes it really easy to get around though so it’s tough not to know how to fly your ship. But, trying to get use to the controls, settings, mappings, just how to get around the menu IS A BITCH. This gets below the bar to since learning to play this game could send anyone running for the hills. 5.

http://www.eve-pirate.com/uploads/LearningCurve.jpg
* /wrists

GP-Menu Settings:
Freelancer kept it simple. There is not a lot of stuff on the screen giving you a nice view of what is going on. It also does not have half the stuff to do that you can do on either of the other games like skill sets, space stations, and personnel for ship capture. The bar is easily surpassed by the other two games with the bar set at a 3.

X3: Complicated menu. If you did not do the tutorial you will not fly. If you did not read the manual you will have to have it handy for when you do need it. Still they could have named the menu somehow that you would better understand what and where you need to go. They do keep it hidden so you can see what is going on. It easily passes the bar at a 7

Eve: if I had to say in one word what the menus are like in Eve it would be: cluttered. Every thing from skill window, main menu, target menu, chat, ECT. You have a flood of information at your command and for the most part you can hide all of it. Still if you are trying to multi-task you can get lost in the menus. Score of 5

https://bugs.eve-online.com/files/876311194932.jpg
*how do I look at my inventory now?

GP-Ship Choices:
Freelancer: Small yet simple you are down to 3 types of ships really: a fighter, a transporter, and a Corvette class type ship. Upgrades are easy but after that you are pretty much stuck. Near the end of the game you have done everything there is to do and you pretty much give it up from boredom. It was fun while it lasted but, could have been better. The bar is set at 5

X3: Holy crap. Since any race can fly any ship there are a LOT of ships to choose from and a lot of faction to grind to get those ships. Not only that but, you can still control extra ships that you own creating your own fleets! Don’t want to trade or man you space station? Buy the extra ships and tell them to patrol or trade and have them make the money for you. Want to fly a Capitol ship but, every now and then fly a fighter: go for it. You are pretty much going to take over that universe anyways. With all the choices and all of them looking pretty good this gets an 8.

Eve: Holy effing crap! Not only does each race have their own sets of ships but with learning you can do a bunch of cool shit with your ships. There is no need to build faction with anyone (thank goodness) you just need to learn the skill. The ships sometimes look that they had one too many whacks of the ugly stick but with how many there are and the skill sets involved they have really done a great job of it. This beats out both games easily with a 9

http://www.killtenrats.com/images/eve_chart-4096.jpg
*um, I’ll take the big one!

GP-AI with Auto Pilot:
Freelancer: did this even have an AI? If it did I think it was for docking and jump gates only. Well if it did have an AI it mustn’t have been bad or good enough to remember so lets set the bar at 5.

X3: Stupid effing bitch doesn’t know how to go around asteroids, bigger ships, or space stations. I have died WAY too many times because I let the AI auto pilot me to dock in a station. I suppose they have set the AI to fly the Capitol ships but forgot to tune it down for the smaller ships. Since you don’t have save points at the gate (FAIL) you could end up playing the last hour or two over by handing the controls over to the computer. It gets a 3.

http://img143.imageshack.us/i/fichdichaq8.png/
* F*** YOU!
Eve: Fluid, just so nice that I am not flying into shit and getting destroyed. Of course it probably has something to do with the initial dampers and warping through objects. I would not change a thing about this AI. Give it a 10!

Graphics-Show:
Back before the 1GHZ processors came out this game was being played. So compared to today the graphics totally suck but, when it was at its prime it was not anything to scoff at. Still you can not compare its graphics to those today. Even if I set the bar at 10 both games still blow it away.

X3: 9.8. The fact that you do not have 2d background (you can actually fly around those planets you see) and the clarity of the game just makes it such a pretty game just to look at. 

http://techreport.com/r.x/2009_4_7_Wher … one/x3.jpg

Eve: 8.5 (just cause I don’t know if you can fly around the background). Every sector I have been in has just been great to look at with it actually feeling like space and not some section on a board.

Graphics-Look:
Freelancer: Really easy to look around to see what is going on and where you need to go. You can easily see your ship or if there is anything/anyone behind it. Viewing space stations as you pass while pulling up information. It was well put together. Bar set at 7

X3: You really can’t look around without turning off the auto pilot or changing your setting or course. You cant even see your ship unless you dock it. It fails the bar with a 1 (FAIL)

http://rlv.zcache.com/i_cant_turn_left_ … tr_400.jpg
*and I cant turn right either.
Eve: just as easy as it is to fly you can look around without fear of changing course or loosing your auto pilot. It matches the bar with a 7.

Replay value:
Freelancer: you get to a point where you cant get better items or ships and call it. It was fun while it lasted but its time to go. It gets a 5

X3: Eventually you will run out of things to do but I don’t see that happening for a LONG time. But, you will it will just take you longer to get there. If that is a good thing for you then the score beats the bar with a 6, if not then it does not pass the bar with a 4.

Eve: this has been around for at least 5 years I believe so the makers of Eve keep on putting out cool stuff to expand upon the 35k player-run universe. That helps keep the players going as long as you don’t do what Blizzard did and take the nerf bat to everything. It gets a 7 since it charges you monthly for the game.

http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Ar … l_Full.jpg
*shoot me now

Multiplayer
Freelancer: could or could not be multiplayer and once you found out how to play the game online you usually didn’t play it solo unless you did not have an internet connection. Bar set at 8

X3: EPIC FAIL! How could you base a game in space and not have it somehow be multiplayer? You are basically masturbating here to a really pretty game (ITS PORN!!!). You get to trash on some really stupid AI fighters but when you need a wingman the AI FAILS. You desperately need another player to help you out in some of the missions but you get to go solo here. The score is a .5 (FAIL).

http://3img.skins.be/8/2/0/4/8/3/minesw … s-epic.jpg
*yes, that bad

Eve: well X3 failed so badly it is not hard to beat it. But, since you have to pay to play Eve doesn’t get to pass the bar either. My look on things like this is: charge me for the game or charge me for the monthly fee but, don’t rape me with both charges, we all know you don’t need it and you get by just fine on the monthly charges ass holes. This gets a 7.

Miscellaneous:
Skills: one thing that none of the other games have is skills. Eve does a wonderful job on having skills available for training and it just helps having to work to fly a ship rather than: “ok, you saved up enough money and grinded enough faction, here’s a Titan class ship!” This is a one up for Eve that I would like to see implemented into every space game rather than the faction grind.

Ships: Now I understand why Eve does not allow you to operate more than one ship at a time since people could easily create their own fleets and make it impossible for anyone else to play but that doesn’t mean that can’t put a limit to what you should be able to control. Seriously let the players be able to control their barges and miners from afar. Nobody like mining all the time so you should be able to at least set one set of 2 to 3 ships up for anything like supply, haul, or even wingman. Making solo play a little more enjoyable. X3 did a wonderful job of being able to manage many ships and wings but fails with its AI.

http://www.eveonlineships.com/eve-onlin … VyLTMuanBn

SETA (Singularity Engine Time Accelerator): holy retarded shit batman! Can you think of anything more stupid to put into a game to help you travel? When I want to Warp I don’t want to get older faster, I want to get there faster. Seriously the most retarded thing to add instead of a warp drive. This has hosed so many missions because it speeds up time in game and not your ship. But if it is required for you to have so you can use, wouldn’t you be the only thing going faster and not everyone else? X3 fails on this idea and should be cunt punted for it.

http://rlv.zcache.com/messed_up_tshirt- … hl_400.jpg
*only because you have small breast

Saving: Freelancer was decent enough to save for you every time you jumped. Why am I stuck saving at stations? Why make it retarded for the player to start over from a lame point instead of on his way to the mission or destination? X3 failed at this as well.

AI: I know I touched on this once before but X3′s AI is so stupid it deserves to get shot twice. Ammo is cheap here. Making money in the game is hard enough without having to battle a computer when trading. Running into ships and docking stations are just bonuses here since when you can make some real cash in a trade you will find that you were beaten by one of the NPC’s and your big cash cow turns into peanuts. This makes it very tough to make money when you know that all your big purchases might be a big bust for you. someone give the guy who wrote the AI a mushroom stamp please.

Docking: Eve could not be more boring with docking. You click on dock and 10 seconds later after loading you are in the space station. I suppose it helps speed up the game but it would be nice for some optional cut scene. X3 you could manually dock if wanted but ALL docks are the same.

Customization: X3 thought since there will be no one else playing the game that no one needs to customize their character. FAIL! Almost all of the characters you get to play are ugly and the ones that you get to see in game (NPC’s) are ugly too. Eve has a great way to customize your toon. its just too bad that there are preset features instead of more customization. Freelancer fails to the point where there is only one person that you are playing. Its ok, once playing the game you did not care.

http://www.seriouscelebritynewsnetwork. … 832955.jpg
*I dont think that there is a branch in the ugly tree that she, or this idea didnt hit.

Overall:
Both games fail to be based off of Freelancer and fail to be decent games on their own merit. With Eve any window-licking butt-pirate can be a pilot and with X3 you are only playing with yourself. For Eve to redeem itself it really does need to move to a manual controlled ship. For X3; they need to come out with a multiplayer patch. I need to be able to set up a server so I can play with my friends.

Graphics: The Bar (Freelancer): Back in the day it was good right now it would look terrible. It is set low with a 3. X3: 9.8 Eve: 8.5: Both games look oh-so pretty.

Sound: find your own sound. Since both are pretty boring: 5 (for both) while Freelancer: would be the same

Gameplay: Freelancerset the bar high since it could be played alone or have multiplayer, the controls were easy, and the game was fun. It got a 9. If X3 is a 3 then Eve is a 1. Seriously Eve, what F***tard thought it would be good if you could not manually fly your ship?

Story: X3: 7. Eve: 9. People are even making up their own stories in Eve. Freelancer: 7

Replay value: X3: 5, Eve: 7, Freelancer 8. Eve would be more if it wasn’t pay to play. X3 would be more if it was multiplayer.

Overall: X3:6, Eve 6.1, Freelancer 6.4. Eve barely beats out X3. If I did not have so many friends starting and playing Eve, I would not be playing it since it is quite a hassle to learn how to play. 

Both these newer games help people fill in their Serenity (Firefly) fix but, it would be nice if games included planet-side quest and action as well. Both games fail on their own to match up to Freelancer, but if you put them together it would be one hell of a game