Freespace 2 (1999) Online

In my opinion, someone should make an actual movie based on the game. The campaign is so in depth, so complex (but understandable) and so intense, I'm surprised no-one has actually brought up that notion yet.

Seeing as how at the end, Admiral Bosch is taken away by the Shivans, and with Allied Command keeping the ETAK project secret, and with the destruction of the Capella star by the Juggernaut Fleet, there is more than enough untold story-telling room for a sequel game or even a fully fledged trilogy.

This game beats Wing Commander in my opinion. The only bad thing about the game is that it doesn't really end; it leaves you on a cliff-hanger, and you can only guess whether they made it back to Earth (using the Knossos technology).

Here is a game that, after 8 years since it got out, still makes me play it! It's awesome, the voices, the graphics, the game play, enemies shooting you left and right, your squadron buddies asking for your help, the heat of the battle, the incredible momentum of a true dog fight in space. Sometimes you can almost feel it's real(heart races).One of the best games(in it's category)ever made, for sure. Of course the ships aren't that detailed, like we see today in more modern games. But that's part of it's charm, i think. Back in 1999 there was this adventure, an adventure of masses. By the way, did i mention you can play online or in LAN? Well, right now while i type these words, you can't play online(using PXD Servers), but until 2002 you could(online that is).Lan is still available, providing you connect at least two computers. About making a movie out of Freespace, well, why not, even if it's only to see how this story ends...at the very least, a Freespace3 sequel, so it doesn't leave us in suspense about the ending...

This is without a doubt one of the best story lines I've have ever encountered in any game. For a space-Sim it absolutely rapes the Wing Commander series in graphics, storyline and sheer finesse. I still can't believe they haven't followed up with a third one in the series because there are more than enough angles to follow up on.

In respect to most movies based on games that have been released, such as Resident Evil and Tomb Raider, I really believe Hollywood have been missing out on some real potentials. Some of the biggest sellers and most popular games ever created are not getting the attention they so rightly deserve, such as Half-Life and HL2, Halo, GTA, Total Annihilation and of course FreeSpace 2.

But this one comes damn close... Even now, almost ten years later, I am still mesmerized by Freespace 2. I remember playing it the first time it came out. The absolute horror I felt, when first seeing the enormous silhouette of the Sathanas Juggernaut in the Nebula. The adrenaline rush from flying the Erinyes fighter and blast away at Shivan spacecraft. The jaw-dropping sight of huge, red beams shredding a capital ship, almost blinding you. And of course the moment you realise there are more Juggernauts out there.

The feeling you get throughout the game, that this massive, unstoppable force is coming for you in the nebula. Something wicked this way comes. Just as you think it's all over after the Collossus has destroyed the Sathanas, another one appears. And another.. and another. The feeling of this ominous threat looming over the horizon was for me very compelling and mesmerizing.

And that was probably what made me unable to stop playing this game once I started it. Each mission completed only beckons you to embark on the next one... And to be honest, I never felt my balls shrink so much when I learned that the first Juggernaut was only one out of a total of 80! I have never played a game and felt that humanity's ass was so much in the sling. The development of the story in this game leaves you with a profound sense of fear. One can only imagine the horror of facing a force that has the capability and the will to destroy a star, the most awesome mechanism in the universe! Imagine the firepower of that Juggernaut armada combined. It's awesome and it's terrifying.

But most of all, the best thing is the brilliant story line and the fact, that it is up to you, alone, as the player, to ponder the function of the Shivans in the universe. And that is - in my view - the best thing about this game. Apart from the beautiful spaceship concept design, the sound effects and the storyline of course.

I'd like to share an epiphany I had about the purpose of the Shivans while I was browsing various opinions on the story...

Imagine that the Universe has an immune system, just like our body has it. With the rise of each new civilisation, it is confined to one world. Then, that civilisation eventually discovers the means to sail the heavens and conquer new worlds (subspace technology). This means they will eventually subjugate other races and become too powerful. Enter the Shivans. As soon as a race discovers subspace capability it's bye-bye. The Shivans eradicate them to ensure the survival of other, weaker civilisations still in their infancy. It happened to the "Ancients" who went before us. They traveled subspace and thereby signed their own death-warrants. And now we're next. As soon as humanity set foot in subspace, we caught the eyes of the Shivans. They destroy so that others may live. And that idea is to me very compelling. When Lucifer was destroyed and sealed Earth from space once again, the Shivans achieved their goal, though not in a manner which they had planned. I wonder if even the Shivans had foreseen that outcome? What initially seems as an aggressive, xenocidal, sentient species, soon turns out to be a raw, untamed force of nature. Unstoppable, unbeatable and unrelenting. What frightens me most is the idea that humanity faces a foe which has slain countless of races with invincible technology. When Vasuda prime is wiped out by the Lucifer fleet and you get a chilling preview of what awaits Earth if the Shivans are not stopped. What if they are Gods? I'm as atheistic as they come, but I believe the Shivans are cosmic gods put in existence to keep the Universe in order.

That's what great about the story of this game. You just don't know. Sequel please :) If anyone can do it, it's you, Volition. Without comparison, the best spacesim ever made.

And yes: A movie should be made indeed.... But not by Hollywood. I for one would like to see this game movie-alized by the Japanese with British actors. Because the Japanese are more adept at making this kind of thing. Both visually and for the sake of the immersion. Something which you won't get in a Hollywood production. If Hollywood should make a movie of this game (Heaven forbid it), you would most likely get either:

1) A cheesy script about some young and handsome pilots finding a derelict spacecraft. They board it, they explore it, and then, one by one, they are eaten by some genetically-engineered aliens. 'Nuff said. No thank you.

2) A horrible cast. They will of course look pretty, but they can't act. To compensate for this, they will throw in the mandatory 'older' and more familiar actors.

3) A horrible soundtrack comprised of annoying metal-music, because Hollywood is afraid of appealing to anyone else but the young audience.

4) A director with a long line of cheesy z-movies behind him. Someone who has experience of taking great games and turn them into shitty movies.

4) A movie so horrible you want to stick your head in the toilet and flush.

So be careful what you wish for. Hollywood can't make good movies. They can make money, yes, but everything they touch turns into crap. Name one game that went through the Hollywood-machine and didn't end up as a crap movie and I'm all ears. Don't touch my Freespace, Hollywod. We know your movies stink. We don't need more proof. Hollywood has already won great victories in the war against good taste. No need to give them another.

i have played this game over and over again, it is too good. the cast in this i have seen in other movies and other various places. certain parts of the game are unexpected and can catch you off guard. one example is the "into the Lion's Den" mission with the SOC. when it starts, you have to dive and use thrusters before you are taken out by the Sathanas Juggernaught. another is the Collossus jumping in and finishing the NTF on the first or second mission with the Suicide Kings. yet another is the last mission when the Capella star goes supernova. the entire game is very well done, out classes its predecessor, Freespace - The Great War.

There are a quite a lot of fan made stories out there that can easily fit into this time-line and is quite suitable for a movie. I wouldn't mind a movie based on this game, that did the same thing with tomb raider, why not this.

Anthor thing i liked about it compared to Freespace - The Great War, is the extensive and genius use of the beam weapons. out of all the games i've played, Freespace 2 tops the list with weaponry and ship designs.

If Speilburg or Peter Jackson or any other director and director wannabes actually thought about it, this game can actually turn into a movie.

*possible spoilers*

Freespace 2 takes place around 3 decades after Freespace: The Great War, after the Galactic Terran/Vasudan Alliance managed to drive off the Shivans. In Freespace 2, the game starts off with a beautifully rendered CGI sequence that gives the backstory, and shows the end of The Great War.

Since the end of The Great War, a Rebel faction known as the NTF (Neo Terran Front), led by Admiral Bosch, has risen and is quite a formidable foe to the GTVA (Galactic Terran Vasudan Alliance). No less, the Shivans have returned. The GTVA must fight to defeat the NTF and, not to mention, drive the Shivans off once again.

Freespace 2 is a beautiful game. Beautifully-made 3D fighters and ships, and very pretty artwork in the backdrops of the battlefields in space. There are quite a few new fighters to pilot, the Erinyes class being my favorite. The game has many beautifully rendered CGI sequences to help drive the story. The great, and very dramatic, music adds to the epic feeling of the battles, and the chatter of your wingmen is fun to listen to and also helps to drive the action and story. There is plenty of intrigue and conspiracy to add to the story, one example being a massive Shivan fleet of new, and very collossal cruisers converging around the Capella Star. Another example, which actually was never fully explained, involves Admiral Bosch communicating with the Shivans; This could be a possibility for a sequel, hopefully! This is definitely one of the best series I've played. Right up there with the Wing Commander series.:D

9/10