Freelancer

The backstory posits a future where various countries, divided by both nationality and, seemingly, race, have boarded massive colony ships and ventured into a wormhole that appeared within reach of our crude space technology. They found themselves in a galaxy far, far away and they got stuck there when the wormhole collapsed. They quickly colonized new home worlds and named everything with familiar locales that make navigation a breeze. In the American sectors you'll feel at home entering the New York system and landing at a spaceport called Manhattan, for example. While contrived, this device is used beautifully and it's far better than having to memorize a bunch of sci-fi names and remembering where they are, perfect for a massive universe such as this one.

Though Freelancer is set in space, it is technically not a space simulation. The game was designed to be accessible to casual gamers. For example, Freelancer makes you use the mouse for ship control. This is quite a shift for a game genre normally known to require joystick control. But even old-school Wing Commander or X-Wing fans may find that the sacrifice of verisimilitude is made up for with gains in agility. The mouse controls your guns, while you use the keyboard to maneuver around the rich universe that developer Digital Anvil has constructed. Much like a first-person shooter, you can dodge and weave while precisely blasting your enemies.

Despite the game's age, its graphics are spectacular, as is the sound and voice acting, and in that way, fighting and trading with friends or alone, Freelancer proves worth the wait. Just keep in mind that it is explicitly not a hardcore space simulation, and you'll have to leave your joystick on the shelf. --Andrew S. Bub

Pros:

• A deep and interesting universe
• Game adjusts to your choices and affiliations
• Innovative and addictive co-op multiplayer
• It looks like a space sim but plays like a RPG

• Joystick isn't even an option
• It looks like a space sim but plays like a RPG