[Petrarch of the VBB]

I have long maintained that PCGamer is the finest magazine in existence, and to prove it here is their review of FS2.

History can make fools of men. One only has to look back at Tomorrow’s World circa 1960, to recognise the pitfalls of prophesy, replete as they were with silver space-suited ‘90’s businessmen boarding the hoverbus to work; their wives, feet-up at home thanks to robotic housework.
A similar kind of wide-eyed speculation has often afflicted the games industry.
Virtual Reality, you’ll probably recall, was to revolutionise the way we not only play games, but form relationships, shop, and ultimately live our lives. The same ornate, visored helmets that were to achieve this can currently be found at a car boot sale near you...
No. If you err on the side of caution, you’re very rarely wrong. And although erstwhile PC GAMER Editor Jim Flynn was hardly predicting Armageddon when he said (in the original Conflict Freespace review), that in its sequel 'we’ll all be expecting to see some pretty nebula, then', he hit the nail right on the head. With a space hammer.
Because, fundamentally, that’s exactly what developers Volition have given us; leaving the majority of the game’s mechanics untouched and embellishing the traditional objective-based missions with the kind of visual effects that put many high-budget TV shows to shame. There will be those who are disappointed to find that the old Head Up Display (HUD) remains, and that the control system features an (at times) overwhelming array of essential keyboard commands.But as those who played the original know, these criticisms are churlish: the HUD is just as intuitive and far more informative than, say, X-Wing Alliance’s and the keyboard commands are legion due to the complexity of the ships’ systems.
Taking the on-going war between the Terrans and Shivans as its starting point, Freespace 2 opens with the familiar sight of a combat hangar. From here you can enter an in-depth graphical encyclopedia of the game’s ships and weaponry, a cut-scene viewing room, your own medal cabinet, and even a fantastic area that lets you customise your own HUD, or change your character’s attributes. The latter options may only be cosmetic, but - like many of the game’s features - they personalise the missions that lie ahead beyond that of an anonymous pilot taking part in an irrelevant campaign.
Beginning a new campaign instantly reminds one why the original game was so well-received. A comprehensive (maybe a little too comprehensive) tutorial takes you through each of your ship’s sub-systems, complete with hundreds of lines of context-sensitive speech. The myriad of weapons at your command soon becomes obvious, and apart from the basic primary blasters (some of which disable systems, rather than just destroying them), you’re introduced to an array of the best missiles and rockets ever to grace a space sim.
Four or eight Hornet missiles stream away from your ship, echoing Half-Life’s alien weaponry; pairs of intelligent Rockeyes reveal their dogged homing persistence, and ‘Tag’ torpedoes can be used as markers to set your capital ships’ next target. Like you, enemy ships frantically deploy countermeasures in order to evade missiles, while a brief spurt of the afterburners and judicious use of the ‘match speed’ command result in exhilaratingly high-speed nose-to-tail dogfighting. Combat in Freespace 2 is a relentlessly frantic struggle against your own controls, the enemies’ AI, and your body’s response to the stomach-churning, eye-watering events playing out before you.
It sounds twee, but the pulsing pastel nebulae that provide the backdrop to many of Freespace 2’s missions are an amazing sight. Volition have produced a space simulation the likes of which we’ve never seen before. Space, by its very definition, is empty; a vacuum. Space, Volition-style, is a sea of opaque primordial colours that jam short-range sensors, limits vision to hand-in-front-of-face status, and (in order to genuinely, utterly, scare you witless), can hide mammoth capital ships until it’s simply too late to avoid them...
Which brings me neatly to my last point - capital ships. The original Conflict Freespace’s were big, X-Wing: Alliance’s were bigger, and the forthcoming Freelancer and Starlancer from Digital Anvil promise bigger still.
Right now though, nothing compares to Freespace 2’s lumbering behemoths. The aptly named Colossus introduces the concept, and by the end of disc three (yes, three), you’ll have encountered the fearsome forms of some truly enormous Shivan escort ships.
In these, and countless other ways, Freespace 2 has obliterated the competition. It may not have the instantly recognisable universe of LucasArts’ games, and sometimes the convoluted story-line gets a little tedious, but if it’s action you’re after, (and you own a hardy joystick) this is your only choice. It’s the bomb. Baby.  92%

Good, no?

[beatspete]

I only bought freespace 1 + 2 last december, but i remeber reading a review of it in PC gamer back in '99.  Never could find the old magazine though, thanks for that.

[Corsair]

Very good!
Ya know what they should do? Have a rerelease of FS2 with a whole lot more publicity...more people would buy it methinks.
Then again maybe not. Flame me if I'm wrong.

[Stealth]

very good

[demon442]

Originally posted by Corsair
Very good!
Ya know what they should do? Have a rerelease of FS2 with a whole lot more publicity...more people would buy it methinks.
Then again maybe not. Flame me if I'm wrong.

Thats actually a good idea.  Not to sound n00b-like but it might get the ball rolling on fs3 if a rerealease was put into action successfully.  Not to mention it would give me a chance to replace my battered CDs;) .

[Stryke 9]

'Cept that FS3 ain't comin, in any commercial incarnation, ever. That's why Volition open-sourced FS2.

By the way, I'm about five minutes away from installing FreeSpace original, in order to confirm my suspicion that it really is better, outdated engine notwithstanding.

[Mr. Vega]

Thank you Petrarch, for boosting our morale. This should help the SC project.

[demon442]

Originally posted by Stryke 9
'Cept that FS3 ain't comin, in any commercial incarnation, ever. That's why Volition open-sourced FS2.

Yes, Yes, I know.  Hence the "Not to sound n00b-like", I was meerly implying that IF it were coming this would be a good way to create the demand.

[Stryke 9]

Actually, I might wanna amend what I said. No commercial version is comin' from VOLITION. I might decide to, er, fiscally justify the labor hours spent on the TAC TC packs. (though, of course, HLPers would get it for free, and only if the source writers don't mind. I might even give them a cut- say, 2%)

[Dr.Zer0]

overwelming essential key commands, bah, it becomes second nature after the first training

[CP5670]

Are you sure that's the PC Gamer review? (if I remember correctly they gave it a 93% and said different stuff) A good one to read, nonetheless.

The best review I have seen around for FS2 was Gamespot's review; they gave it a 9.4, and there are only two other games (HL and UT) that have gotten that score in all time, going back to 1995 or so, so it is tied with those two for the highest score ever. Gamespot had long been my favorite game review site, but the place is in such a mess now that it isn't even worth visiting at all.

[Kamikaze]

Originally posted by CP5670
Are you sure that's the PC Gamer review? (if I remember correctly they gave it a 93% and said different stuff) A good one to read, nonetheless.

I think I read a version ike that in the PCGamer CD.... (I'll check it out)

but the place is in such a mess now that it isn't even worth visiting at all.

indeed...

[Dr.Zer0]

Originally posted by CP5670
Are you sure that's the PC Gamer review? (if I remember correctly they gave it a 93% and said different stuff) A good one to read, nonetheless.

The best review I have seen around for FS2 was Gamespot's review; they gave it a 9.4, and there are only two other games (HL and UT) that have gotten that score in all time, going back to 1995 or so, so it is tied with those two for the highest score ever. Gamespot had long been my favorite game review site, but the place is in such a mess now that it isn't even worth visiting at all.

then why is it that only 2 handfuls of peopel play it that arnt newbies and only a handful of fan sites

[Sandwich]

Originally posted by Dr.Zer0

then why is it that only 2 handfuls of peopel play it that arnt newbies and only a handful of fan sites

To put it bluntly: Clumsy Marketing Scheme

[Zeronet]

Not quite Sandwich, its stealth technology. I have to spray salt or something on my shelf  just to find the damn box, its totally invisible.

[SlipStream]

In any case FS 3 wont come out but it is a good idea though. '
I don't think I have ever seen that preview befor.

I made a copy.
lol, mebe we will get lucky.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Originally posted by Petrarch of th VBB
I have long maintained that PCGamer is the finest magazine in existence, and to prove it here is their review of FS2.



Good, no?

Ihave that PC gamer... when i read the review (especially the part of the nebulae) I laughed my ass off.

But yeah: PC Gamer Rocks.... (Bigtime -ed.)

[Da Vinci]

That review is the one from the UK PCG, the US version is probably different.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Originally posted by Da Vinci
That review is the one from the UK PCG, the US version is probably different.

yes, US version is different. not as funny and far more adverts.

[Petrarch of the VBB]

Does anyone know who wrote the review, I just copied off issue 100's disks (the last time they put a reviews database on them).

Does anyone else hat Kieron Gillen?
What about Tim Stone, I think he's the best reviwer there, always on about trees.