 Eve Online and X3 vs Freelancer
(PC)
EVE Online and X3: Terran Conflict try to take on Freelancer ... and LOSE!
By Zimes
Yeah, it's about time I take on an MMORPG. Since I have only been playing Eve for about a week and X3: Terran Conflict 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: Terran Conflict. Making fun of these two games is going to be interesting since I think I will get a lot of hate from the 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 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 Freelancer 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:
Bad ass back in the day
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Gameplay: ship handling, ease of control, menu settings, ship choices, and AI with auto pilot.
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Graphics: how pretty is the game and how well you can view your ship and/or view space.
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Replay: basically, do you want to continue playing this game if/after you finish it or at the end of the day?
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Multiplayer: what good is space if you are alone?
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Miscellaneous: Basically whatever I want to rant about.
- Overall: Overall impressions.
If you think that there should be anything else added let me know.
Gameplay
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.
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)
What do you mean I can't fly?!
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: Eve Online 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.
/ wrists
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
How do I look at my inventory now?
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 Freelancer 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.
Um, i'll take the big one!
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 must not have been either bad enough 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.
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.
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.
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)
... 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
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, eventually 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.
Multiplayer
Freelancer: could or could not be multiplayer and once you found out how to play Freelancer 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).
Yes, It's 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.
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.
Only because you have small breasts
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 X3: Terran Conflict 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.
I don't think that there is a branch in the ugly tree that she, or this idea (X3) didn't 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: Freelancer set 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 new games helps 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 its own but if you put them together it would be one hell of a game.
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Leave a Comment
Rylsadar
12 Jul 2009, 14:16
Why play "EVE" when you can play "Freelancer" for free?
I've played both,and i assure you that "Freelancer" can perfectly be
considered a "MMO".
RK-Mara
12 Jul 2009, 23:30
EVE is the best scifi MMO out. The learning curve is just really steep.
Tutorial is about two hours long.
Zimes
12 Jul 2009, 23:35
Too true. But after you get so far in Freelancer you are done. there is
nothing left to do but to beat down pirates or another players ship. Where
as you have more to do in both games. it will just take you longer to get
it all done.
CheshireCat
12 Jul 2009, 23:59
Hey Zimes, I'll have the pics uploaded to the review in a bit. I'm having
some problems with getting images off of the forum ever since the 'SEO
updates'
-Cheers
Allen Watts
13 Jul 2009, 10:59
I agree that Freelancer is STILL superior SciFi MMO. Freelancer still has
the userbase and the mod community for new content.
Zimes
13 Jul 2009, 15:50
*to RK
NEGATIVE! it should not be that hard to learn how to play Eve when the
skill that takes to fly can be done by retards. The pic above is almost
true except after you learn how to play it it needs to go down to a 1.
Ahurigaan
15 Jul 2009, 09:44
quoted for truth, Freelancer's mod community is big and still alive, I
still play online, and Freelancer's multiplayer is basically a free to
play MMO on the right servers, of course EVE is a bit prettier as well as
more tedious to play, as well as the fifteen monthly fee.
Freelancer - Free to play, dated graphics, focused on space
combat/Role-Playing.
EVE - Pay to play, prettier graphics, focus on trade and management.
so your choice, but I vouch for Freelancer.
LaughingMan
15 Jul 2009, 15:14
Check out Zimes's review of X3 at:
http://www.cheshirecatstudios.com/reviews/X3-terran-conflict/
dazedfinch
18 Jul 2009, 11:49
just participate in the 2 week trial and decide for yourself.
EVE is one of those games that takes alot of dedication, if you're not in
it for the long haul I wouldn't bother with it.
Zimes
18 Jul 2009, 12:54
I have signed up for Eve for 6 months at least. once you get past how
annoyingly hard it is to get use to the game and the controls it can be
pretty good. I just think it fails on some of the aspects that could have
made it a great game.
dazedfinch
02 Aug 2009, 14:31
zimes will do you an individual review for Freelancer and Eve?
EvilDan
04 Aug 2009, 16:03
Isnt there a Star Wars or Star Trek MMO coming out? I would think an online
space game would be easier to jump into if it had a big name behind it.
Maybe a good developer could make a space battle game that is fun and easy
to play.
Zimes
04 Aug 2009, 18:25
Both Star Wars and Star Trek are coming out with an MMORPG. their links
are below.
http://www.swtor.com/
http://www.startrekonline.com/
while I do love the series of both of these space dramas they are nothing
to what I want to do in space. Now, if someone made a Firefly MMO, I would
join that in a heartbeat.
as far as an individual review of Eve that is still up in the air.
Ryuujin
13 Aug 2009, 19:48
Just to play devils advocate on X3 there were a couple details you missed
;)
SETA: An FL cruise engine would definatly not go amiss here but X3 like FL
is based upon Elite on the Amiga, and in Elite you didn't "go faster"
but rather you sped up the passage of time. There is a jump-drive upgrade
for jumping to distant sectors instantly but it's not nearly as fun to
watch as FL's cruise drive.
Look: Press F2 for 3rd person view, keypad or joystick hat switch to change
view - But I agree, EVE and FL still beat the pants off X3 in this respect
(Which is all done simulator style)
But I do agree with what you said in the review, and I like all 3 of them
in their own way, each has features the others don't =)
stx
16 Aug 2009, 01:12
Awesome but get a Freelancer an Eve review written up
Zimes
18 Aug 2009, 00:17
Yeah, I knew you could change your view in X3 but it is just not the same.
As far as getting ANYTHING in X3: Unless you have it handed to you it is a
BITCH to get enough money to buy anything. Everything is overpriced and it
is very easy to become discouraged because of it.
As far as an Eve and Freelancer review go: I might do an Eve online one
but, I think my memory is too far gone to give Freelancer the credit it is
due. It is just unfortunate that neither X3 or Eve can stand alone against
it.
CheshireCat
22 Aug 2009, 10:02
All hail Zimes, his X3 and Eve Online vs Freelancer review is the king of
content on Cheshire Cat Studios! In the short month that he has had that
review on the site, it has been viewed nearly 1000 times, and site traffic
has been the highest ever.
Dirtbox
23 Aug 2009, 09:10
X3 is way too complex and kind of missed the point of what makes a space
sim good. Space is supposed to be big and therefore traffic jams shouldn't
really be a problem. Does look quite tastey though.
Eve, although something I've never played seems to be the pick of the
bunch if you bare in mind that you don't actually get to fly your ship or
target your weapons, all that's done for you. Looks lovely.
One that you might want to have a look at is Independance War 2, It's
everything that a piratey rag-tag space sim should be and it's one big
arse galaxy, none of this system crap with loading screens. It also does a
pretty fine job of feeling like you're flying something with it's
Newtonian physics and clunky feel. It doesn't look bad for a game that's
almost 6 years old either, you'll need a stick to get the best from it
though.
Space Rangers 2 is also great, Once you get used to the top down thing
it's probably ythe best of the lot.
Darkstar One was a big disapointment, I *really* wanted to enjoy it, but
stupid little things just annoyed me too much. The fact that space
shouldn't be red, blue or purple and that moons don't hover a couple of
hundred kilometers above a planet's surface. Not to mention that every
system was practically identical (save for the different coloured space and
number of low flying moons). It's just like Freelancer in that you can
explore to your heart's content. Doesn't look bad, doesn't look great.
Punisher
12 Oct 2009, 16:32
For me the top priorities are multiplayer and twitch combat. Both EVE and
X3 fail in these departments.
The Freelancer Modding Community has made great advancement in Freelancer.
They've improved many aspects of the game and are pushing the engine
limits... without any assistance or support from Microsoft.
Multi-player communities and servers thrive especially considering this is
a ~7 year old game. Take a look at what the FL modders are doing these
days, its worth a peek...
www.moddb.com/mods/shattered-worlds
MensSana
30 Oct 2009, 08:56
I quite agree!!
Freelancer is in its stability and playability still a great game. The
modding community has also done a great job keeping the spirit of it alive.
The only downside is that the graphics are not as beautiful as X3 and EVE.
It would be great if even that could be corrected by the mod community so
that is comparable to the other games.
Novafox
13 Nov 2009, 03:23
There are reasons why eve doesnt have twitch based combat in space, one of
them being involved in a 2000-5000 human player battles (this does not
count the combat drones which usually average 5 per player involved in the
fight so thats easily 8-10k things on one screen trying to kill each other)
Eve is also a strategic game not tactical. It doesnt help players think big
picture when they're at the helm directly trying to gun down a ship
orbiting them 12km/s and their guns and ship turn cant track that fast.
Im sure you would rather have the point and click and shoot then than
getting stuck missing a target going on manual.
Eve will be getting twiched based combat soon, but alas its on the ground
only with the FPS side game they're having.
X3 I swore had only 2d background planets though and that you couldnt crash
into the planet even if you tried.
Eve's is constantly updating though all the planets are getting revamped
on december 12th of the new expansion. The spaceclouds in eve are due for a
face lift soon as they figure a way to make it lag free.
Xalorous
11 Dec 2009, 20:20
You can play EVE any way you want, but the heart of the game is PVP.
If you paid to buy the game, you more than likely got an equivalent number
of months as 'free' subscription time. No need to pay up front at all.
Oh sorry, two week trial then you pay about 20 bucks for the next month,
then 15 bucks a month after that.
I've played a lot of MMO's and online games. The ones that are pay up
front and then free after that generally have about a two month lifespan
for my interest, then I move on. The pay to play games, on the other hand,
generally provide more breadth or repeatability, and usually undergo
regular expansions and have ongoing support.
And I'm sorry, no matter how you spin it, Freelancer and X3 may be
multiplayer, but I don't see either of them as MASSIVE multiplayer.
Zimes
16 Dec 2009, 14:12
Xal: you did not read the review did you?
X3 is a single player game that is why it fails so much.
The heart of Eve is trade base or else they would have made it more
enjoyable to fly your ship. yes you do have to know what is going on in
zero space and how to duck and cover but the heart of Eve IS trade. point
and click is the furthest you can get from skill base and that is what PVP
is about.
And any time that you can take a single player game and make it so your
friends, and your friends friends can play DOES make it MMO. Freelance
does fall into that category. X3 obviously does not.
Yes I would rather miss on manual than have the point and click system.
that means I am actually flying my ship and not having someone else fly it
for me (look at the score above). You might need it for capitol ship but
if you are in anything below a Battle cruiser you should be able to fly
manually.
Rikaelus
04 Jan 2010, 02:08
Sorry, Zimes, but you really are pushing it if you're declaring Freelancer
an MMO in the same sense that EVE is one. EVE can handle -thousands- of
more people.
If multiplayer capacity is so important that you're giving X3 such
negative points, you have to recognize how behind EVE, Freelancer is.
But I digress. You're trying to judge rather different beasts on common
criteria while at the same time neglecting major points and exaggerating
minor ones.
First, Freelancer was sold and marketed as a single player game. It had a
server/client component but I guarantee you the vast majority of owners
didn't take part in it. I had done multiplayer on flight sims even prior
to that (Terminal Velocity, 1995) and it didn't even stick out as a real
option in Freelancer; it was an after thought. You may have embraced it but
to sell the game as a major multiplayer contender is a bit dishonest.
EVE, on the other hand, is a bona fide multiplayer game from
cradle-to-grave. Even if you don't join a corporation or take part in PvP,
you're in a multiplayer-driven economy. As someone else said, it's also
designed to be strategic instead of tactical. I admit I was disappointed to
find how ship controls worked when I first started playing, but it never
claims to be a first-person flight sim.
Then there's X3. The fact is we don't have a spiritual successor to the
Wing Commander series now that Starlancer and Freelancer have run their
course. X3 is what we have and it's better than any other modern option
that I've seen. Though the interface is clunky it does offer just about
everything Freelancer offered out of the box, plus the incredible ability
to build an automated empire and own hundreds of ships -- going to lengths
even EVE doesn't really provide.
I've played all three.
My run with Freelancer ended after I played through it for the third time,
got a Titan... and had nothing else to do but run laps around the galaxy.
I played EVE for 9 months before I finally grew tired of it. I never spent
much time in the chat channels so the community was at arm's length. I
never joined a corporation so maybe that left some doors unopened, but
killing pirates and drones over and over just didn't do it for me. I got
shiny new ships but there were always bigger PvP fish ready to destroy it
from beneath me. Rinse, repeat, repeat, get bored, quit.
I keep coming back to X3, though. If I get a Wing Commander/Freelancer itch
I'll fly a fighter. If I get a desire for mass destruction I'll go for a
cruise in a capital ship. An empire building itch? It satisfies that, too.
A first-person space flight multiplayer sim? Well, I've got my eye on
Jumpgate Evolution. If that doesn't work out? Back to X3 until something
better comes along.
Zimes
05 Jan 2010, 12:29
Whoa, an actual X3 defendant that is well thought out and gives a nice
rebuttal instead of “F*** your mom and u suck lolz” I hope you stick
around since and welcome to the site. Thanks for the well thought out
remarks but I do think that you are putting words in my mouth.
Yes Freelancer can be called an MMO due to technicalities. Not that it is
compatible to the vast amount of people that is on EVE nor did I say it
could. You will probably have a better MMO experience in the Freelancer
community since people that are there actually want to continue to better
the game rather than gank your shit.
I did give X3 its proper credit for allowing you to build your empire but,
what good is an empire if you go at it alone? For how crowded X3 is, it is
amazing that they never got around for it to be multiplayer. For how
simple Freelancer was it was great and it is unfortunate that the newer
games can not pick up and better that process. X3 is going to be in that
same boat as Freelancer for you eventually. You will run out of enemies to
fight, trade routes to rule, and empires to tumble, just like Freelancer
when you got that Titan – all except it will take you longer to do so in
X3.
I too have played all three and LOVE the way X3 flies (except to get use to
the controls, that sucks). The fact that you can tie your enemies in knots
is great. But, when it is all said and done, you are still doing it alone
cause the AI is going to blow your shit up by running it into asteroids.
Rikaelus
05 Jan 2010, 15:58
Thanks for the welcome. Sorry if I was at all brutal, but I found your
review to be a bit partial.
X3 is certainly not without its weaknesses. Losing ships to asteroids or -
even worse - jumpgates, can definitely get to you. It's certainly a good
idea to save often. Fortunately that only happens if the ship is in the
same sector as you, since there's no collision detection applied to ships
in other sectors.
Out of the box it's also not very intelligent about having Universal
Trader AI stay away from enemy sectors. The mod community has released
tools to manually mark where your ships can trade, but I'm hesitant to
compare games based on mods.
In short, multi-ship/empire controls are crude and require a lot of manual
attention. I'd absolutely love the ability to design fleets and routes and
then allow AI to automatically create the ships and send them on their way,
but you're stuck doing all that manually. Lose a fleet? You need to
rebuild it and reposition it manually. A lot of micromanagement but at
least that part of the game is optional.
In comparison Freelancer can almost shine. X3 allows you to do a lot but,
on average, not very well. Freelancer lets you do less and, on average,
it's easy and pretty. It's almost a challenge to remember that X3 can
just be a space flight sim if that's all you want it to be, and the two
are more directly comparable.
Needless to say I'd love to have a Freelancer 2. The industry would have
been a better place if Chris Roberts and Digital Anvil were still a part of
it.
But we're forced to adapt, and adapt we do. Just last night I purchased
X3: Terran Conflict and pre-ordered Star Trek Online. Time will tell where
these fit into the picture.
Brian Shaw
02 May 2010, 19:34
I like to play all different types of space simulators and I agree that
Freelancer is still the best one to play but X3 Terran Conflict and Eve
Online are even WORSE than you say they are. I was laughing in my arm chair
the entire time I was reading your insightful and funny comparison.
Can you please write a comparison between Final Fantasy Online, World of
WarCraft and another medieval MMORPG of your choosing? I would really enjoy
another comparison.
Zdude
08 May 2010, 17:40
Vary nice!
Few things though,
1. X3 is supposed to be realistic. That's why SETA makes everything faster
(Though it does have warp/jumpdrive) SETA is for waiting for things to
clear, missions to happen, etc.
2. I agree with most of this, that freelancer was more fun, that X3 AI
sucked...
3. The games are in different genres. EVE has more in common with World of
warcraft than Freelancer, since it's a MMORPG. Freelancer focuses on
combat and is much faster than the others. X3 is a [i]total[/i] simulation
game. Enough said.
Dorian Myth
10 Oct 2010, 03:19
X3 has indeed beautifull graphics, but I just don't like the space. I
really missed those FL nebulas, flying almost blind, shooting my way
through the ice. What is the name of the sector with the giant gas suckers?
And the second thing, fl trade lines, I started to appreciate them after my
visit in X-universe. It was just pressing tons of hotkeys, SETA,
load,seta,load,seta,load ...I spent more time loading than playing at the
beginning (kind of boring).
Ben
17 Mar 2011, 11:05
Have any of you guys looked at the Crossfire or Discovery mods for
Freelancer?
http://www.cryosphere.f2s.com/Freelancer/globalstats.html
zimes
20 Apr 2011, 12:32
Yeah Z, I understand that they are all different genres but, if X3 was a
total simulation game you think they would have made controlling the damn
ship a whole lot easier.
I have not gotten back into freelancer and probably wont. nothing against
it, its just I dont have the time to build everything back up.
tart3rsauc3
04 Jun 2011, 11:33
Freelancer beats them all. Mods keep Freelancer alive, from Freeworlds to
Crossfire to Discovery to WTS to my absolute favorite: Nightstalkers. They
should never have dissolved Digital Anvil and they should have made a
sequel. :|
raw dog
11 Jun 2011, 19:28
Don't believe what this guy says about eve i have an 60m sp character and
have played since 2005, creating new characters about every 6-9 months for
shits and giggles, and you can pay for eve with isk.. 300,000,000m isk a
month to play the game is easy once you get about 6months in, and you have
to read about eve to play eve, and have to learn, this might be hard for
alot of you, i don't totally disagree with his ratings how-ever he is
right if you have friends irl that play, it does make eve more fun, and it
is purely a MMO no single player ability, no mods, nothing.
freelancer kicks ass and x3 well reading this i probably wont waste my time
with the series.
contact me in eve if you want to learn to play
Raw Dog (you get 2 weeks free).
2cent
10 Jul 2011, 14:55
["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)"]
You just lack the knowledge and controls of the game. It's simply listed
under controls in options. You can look around (pitch) and have several
different views of your ship with the F1-F3 keys.
["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)."]
Purely personal preference. Most of the community players find it fun.
It's nice to read your reviews but just to ppl who actually read this
article...it's all personal opinion so read for laughs.
zimes
13 Jul 2011, 11:33
no, 2cent, you CANT look around your ship while flying. you can change the
way you look at your ship but if you wanted to do a quick 360 scan of the
area of your ship you cant.
you can also find a remote area in Freelancer and Eve and play by yourself
so what is your point? both of which the AI will not fly your ship into a
space station or astroid and destroy your ship. When rating it on a
multiplayer status you dont even have a decent AI helping you out. this
fails on fact and not opinion.
Jaman45
17 Jul 2011, 05:13
Freelancer is the BOM ,
as some people said , the mods that are put into it are the best ,
like the ships you can fly:
fighters ,
freighters,
transports,
bombers,
gunships,
cruisers / destroyers,
Battleships
ect....
its more simple than EVE and the servers are around 100+ pp
oh and yes microsoft / Digital anvil was making a freelancer 2 ..but it was
stopped ,
look it up on youtube.
Bork Bork
30 Jul 2011, 09:37
This review is moronic you can do everything X3 and more, that include
panning views and looking at your shiny metal ass. Sounds like you didn't
give it much of a chance, just because it fails at multiplayer doesn't
make it a bad game. Not every game is designed for kid with an IQ score
less than 10, not everyone wants camp online, farm the same old spot or
massacre the same noob out of bordem.
Eve is actually a rip of the X universe, they stole ideas and concepts and
adapted the influence for massive multiplayer pvp experience. Also X games
are older than Eve by a milestone so bleh.
I loath anyone that speaks ill of Freelancer, yes it had its woes I even
admit it wasn't perfect. However it brought something for its time that
was purely amazing, space freedom which now most space concepts borrow
from. Perhaps because it was originally designed by the same lead groups
that built the Wing Commander series, if you can't appreciate that then go
!@#$% yourself its a legacy.
Kenny F.
30 Jul 2011, 10:40
Chill out dude, he's expressing his own opinion in his own review. If you
want to write a counter review to express how you disagree, that's fine.
To tell someone to !@#$% themselves just because they were disappointed in
a game that you like, however, is not okay.
As I said, disapproving with someone's opinion is fine, but being
disrespectful and 'loathing' them is not.
Riebens
01 Aug 2011, 04:04
Freelancer has evolved from a 'single player' to a 'clan player' type
of game on the servers that is still active.
Dynamic Economies, Mining, PvP, PvE, Trading, Smuggling, Piracy
...everything you need in a open ended game.
Crossfire has opened up two new sectors of the Milkyway - Altair and Inner
Core ... with increased amounts of NPCs, bases, planets and little
storylines. (146 Systems and about 297 Dockable Bases/Planets)
Don't just read about Freelancer on these comments .. go and experience
the game. http://www.freelancercommunity.net/
Kind Regards
John
19 Aug 2011, 05:28
You judge Eve Online as a single player game. Comparing it with Freelancer
or X3 is a joke. Please try again.
Zimes
22 Aug 2011, 23:39
John: Are you blind, stupid, f**king retarded, or all three? How can this
be a review as a single player game when there is a category for
Multiplayer and the scores are based off of it? You fail on reading the
content, understanding the comparisons, and being a troll.
learn to read and "Try again"
John
23 Aug 2011, 01:55
It seems to me that I have to do this. I kinda felt that I wouldn't have
to but... you're irritating enough:
While X3 and Freelancer are primarily single player games that do have a
multiplayer "option" (or had one developed over the years), EvE Online is
an mmorpg (from day one). There is a vast difference in that I think you
ought to know, happily I'm not the one to bother battling your ignorance.
I wouldn't know about X3 but EvE never "tried to be" Freelancer. Its not
that kind of game... its like comparing LoL with Warcraft III, Civilization
with Pirates, etc...
Lastly, your insults show the low quality of your review painted on your
character.
zimes
23 Aug 2011, 02:43
well John, I didnt think you were actually going to show up since I have
had a lot of f**k tards just show up and spout off shit without any regard
to the review. While I am a little impressed that you showed up I am still
disappointed that you're assumption of the review is what you have spouted
off. while the comparison was space games and what they bring to the table
X3 and especially EVE still fail in comparison to a game that came out
years prior to EVE. I have already explained why these were compared in the
multiplayer section of the review so while you try and bitch about how it
is "single player" game comparisons you still fail to read and understand
what was said.
P.S. I am glad that I was irritating enough to get you to write back
:devil:
John
23 Aug 2011, 04:20
Study:
multiplayer != massively multiplayer
Just because all three games are in space, doesn't mean they are
comparable. Unless your target group is for ppl who don't know anything
about those games (in that case you would be just misleading). If that's
the case please include Alpha Centauri... space!
The reason I don't like this review is the same reason I wouldn't like a
comparison between Counter Strike and Bioshock, Starcraft and Settlers...
and the list of uncomparable games goes on. Differences to their core make
them just... different. Gameplay? come on did you think that EvE is
arcade/action-sim, sim or something? It's not. And if thats what you think
its because you played for a couple of days just for this review. That
won't cut it.
We don't want reviews by ppl who thought "hey that comparison would be
fun, lets try those games and then write it". We want reviews by people
who know their shit and THATS why they write about it.
I'm a huge fan of Freelancer and EvE, while I've only tried X3. To its
depth, EvE takes a lot of time to "master", but when you do you would
know that you cannot compare it with any SINGLE PLAYER GAME WITH
MULTIPLAYER (ffs).
zimes
23 Aug 2011, 13:32
while Multi-player != MMO, when does any game = a MMO? when it has a
server and allows more than x amount of people? if 5 people play EVE, is
it still a MMO? I have already gone through this augment above yet since
you have read it, I urge you to read it again.
Maybe not comparing those would work for you but I think that would be a
great comparison. In fact a good comparison of games would be:
Halo, CS, and Borderlands (all FPS games and all different genre)
Oblivion, Diablo, WoW (all action adventure hack and slash)
just for the simple fact of finding things that are alike to compare them
to each other would be a great way to learn more of what each game holds
for the gamer.
hmm, and who would be an expert about any game? those that get paid to
play? those that make money off a review? How about those that do research
on the game they are playing and write what they find out? My guess is
that they must be blessed by you before they can be able to voice their
opinion.
when it comes down to it, read the above and find out that: I did compare
Eve and X3 to Freelancer even AFTER I continued playing EVE, the comparison
still stands. I will continue to write about things of how I see it and
will try to make sure I have my facts right before I spout off despite if
you think they don't deserve to be compared.
2cent
26 Aug 2011, 14:08
Hello zimes, seems like you got a handful debating your review.
Again, a game based in space does not have to be multiplayer, imho. I feel
perfectly fine playing single player space games and again, so does most of
the X community. I think that is also the reason why they love the game so
much. You can call me names and stuff like you did with others when they
disagree with you but I still think this is just a matter of personal
opinion.
If you haven't already (known/heard of/played), there another game that's
more similar to X series but it has multiplayer; the game is called,
"Evochron Mercenary". As a game player to another, I would recommend this
game, it's pretty fun but unfortunately I'm working overseas right now so
I only get to play limited hours on the demo. It's not a thriving
community like EVE or X but it have a healthy amount.
I think you're trying too hard to defend yourself on your reviews. It's
hard to put three different game genres together and critic them under the
same standards. But hey, it's your review, your opinion, and "how [you]
see it". Rock on!
zimes
26 Aug 2011, 14:25
thanks 2cent. its been tough some days. You are right, when it comes down
to it, it is all a matter of opinion and while calling out names is poor
taste sometimes people just get tired of the same thing being said over and
over. Unfortunately I can fall into that as you can see but I try and keep
away from it as much as possible.
Right now I am looking for a different space game to play since Eve has
taken the ban hammer to 1/10th their player base and some friends I was
hoping to fly with will no longer be returning. Hopefully this Evochron
Mercenary is a multiplayer game.
Yeah, I cant please everyone and especially when I try and piss off the Eve
community (How DARE I compare Eve to some other game) right? Thanks 2cent
and hope to see more of you around.
nova fox
29 Aug 2011, 17:27
Any chance at an updated review and include mods and expansions of the
games?
headcheesedeluxe
30 Aug 2011, 15:55
this is a great review fuck the haters i lieked it a lot
PYRO404
02 Oct 2011, 11:26
I'm going to have to agree that freelancer qualifies as an MMO.
Freelancer's multiplayer player limit seems to be exclusively limited by
the capabilities of the server computer. My old server(Quad core, 8GB ram)
was tested with 209 simultaneously connected players. My current machine(6
core, 16gb ram) hasn't been tested for freelancer yet but I'm sure I'll
get the nomad-hunting bug again soon enough.
X3's wonderful graphics and ability to control massive fleets wile very
nice doesnt make up for it's lack of multiplayer but I'm sure X:Rebirth
will answer our cries for something better and I would bet will spank EVE
in every way X3 doesnt(with the exception of maybe the auto-pilot).
Great review Zimes.
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