Freelancer.......

[Juan_Arquero]

I've been a fan of the Traveller tabletop RPG since 1978. While searching for similar PC games, I discovered Wing Commander, then Wing Commander: Privateer that was similar to Freelancer, but came out years earlier. I had played Freelancer many years before I was able to buy a copy of Starlancer (Freelancer's predecessor), but by then, I didn't have a computer that could run Starlancer.

Why do I love Traveller and the many similar PC games? My favorite adventure/campaign type is a merchant (i.e. a trader in Freelancer) transporting cargo and passengers while fighting off and/or avoiding enemies. Keep in mind that "Firefly" and "Serenity" were loosely based on such a Traveller campaign.

What do I miss about Wing Commander: Privateer? I could have up to three missions active at once, so I could choose missions that lined up well together, but I had to get the missions done by the deadlines or they would fail, so I wouldn't collect the rewards and my reputation would suffer with the factions that gave me those missions, not to mention their allies. Also, I could do cargo transport missions, some of which required me to buy the cargo and get it to the destination by the deadline.

If you look at the original box for Freelancer, you can see that cargo transport missions (including some where you had to buy the cargo) were supposed to be included -- a feature that was dropped in the rush to get the game to market.