I was playing some Everspace 2 and while it sure is pretty and feels pretty good there was something lacking that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I’m only 20 hours or so into it but I just felt like it wasn’t quite living up to my memories of Freelancer.
Now I last played Freelancer over 15 years ago so I was sure that I was just seeing this through a heavy mist of nostalgia, so I reinstalled the old game, installed the HD mod and a few other user made tweaks and loaded it up. The opening scenes were definitely nostalgic but once I started to fly missions properly again it became crystal clear, nope Freelancer still kicks the shit out of every other space game I’ve ever played since.
Elite Dangerous, Rebel Galaxy Outlaw, Everspace 2, Spacebourne 2, EVE Online, (edit adding more I’ve played here: Chorus, Star Citizen, No Mans Sky) they all have strengths but nothing feels as good as the grand daddy Freelancer.
Hard to say, maybe it's that it came along at the right time. Its a Chris Roberts game and in many ways it is very much the pinnacle of his run from Wing Commander to Starlancer to Freelancer.
The combat feels better than most space sims, with very accessible but somewhat arcadey flight controls. But it's so intuitive that you'll rarely find yourself adjusting pitch and roll, you just mouse track targets, boost and slow to keep enemies in your sights and balance your shields and missiles.
The story starts as an almost down to earth conspiracy then escalates into a universe ending space opera. And the whole thing is drenched in this sort of SciFi art deco art style.
But maybe the biggest thing is the open world which is usually navigated via a highway gate system but you can jump out at pretty much any point in any system and just explore off the main roads. Unlike Everspace 2 it feels much more like a real open world. Obviously No Man's Sky does the transitions and immersion even better but Freelancer doesn't get bogged down in grinding and crafting. It's closer to a looter shooter but with a big focus on story.