As a child I loved the game Colony Wars, and I spent years looking for another space sim that could match those memories. The Freespace series has certainly proven to be one of the best experiences I could ask for in this genre, and is indeed a Good Old Game. But even a top notch game like this has flaws, and the most glaring one is in its controls. The game is playable with a keyboard and mouse, but there are times when one needs to dogfight hordes of enemy fighters and a mouse just can't cut it. The game recommends a joystick and that should be taken as a warning. If you don't have a joystick, then be warned. The game will still be immersive, it will still be one of the best games ever, but you will die painfully in certain heartless missions. Admittedly the second game had less problems with plot, for at times I felt that this game would just arbitrarily throw more and more powerful enemies at you just for kicks, but even with its cliches the game managed to seize you with its immersive storyline and setting. You are a cog in a great machine, and even if you die it's likely that some other great GTA pilot will save the day. If you do have a joystick, then it is criminal for you not to buy this game! If you don't have a joystick, you should still get this game. This is one of the brightest gems of GOG's catalogue by far! The only game that tops this one is its sequel, hands down, but playing this one will certainly help you in the long run for the sequel.
As a child I loved the game Colony Wars, and I spent years looking for another space sim that could match those memories. The Freespace series has certainly proven to be one of the best experiences I could ask for in this genre, and is indeed a Good Old Game. But even a top notch game like this has flaws, and the most glaring one is in its controls. The game is playable with a keyboard and mouse, but there are times when one needs to dogfight hordes of enemy fighters and a mouse just can't cut it. The game recommends a joystick and that should be taken as a warning. If you don't have a joystick, then be warned. The game will still be immersive, it will still be one of the best games ever, but you will die painfully in certain heartless missions (less so than the first game thankfully.) The game also suffers from some cliches, but it's difficult to make a great plot for a genre (sci-fi) that's kind of over-saturated overall. Sci Fi plots are everywhere, and a space sim like this just has to deal with the territory. But if you do have a joystick, then it is criminal for you not to buy this game! If you don't have a joystick, you should still get this game. This is one of the brightest gems of GOG's catalogue by far!
Yeah, I did not finish this game. This is a gamer who loves games like Battle for Wesnoth, Fire Emblem, Civilization IV, Romance of the Three Kingdoms IX, and Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis. I'd like to think that I'm in Age of Wonders' Demographic, and I do feel that it is not a bad game. But here's the thing: it was executed poorly. The first level relies on the player's speed to assault enemy territories, but for some reason the enemy is extremely resilient, more so than say Battle for Wesnoth (but that game has flaws like RNG making you miss constantly). They just won't die, and manage to rush you with several troops to overwhelm the cities that can't replenish your armies fast enough. GOG offers games like Panzer General II that are much less frustrating experiences, but if you're an excellent tactician who likes throwing yourself at foes swiftly then by all means choose this game. I might be incompetent at this game but hey don't let that stop you from buying it. Reviews are subjective, and this strategy gamer did not like this game, but don't let that stop you.
Yeah, that's right, the games are short. But it's still a great series. Another reviewer mentioned how puzzles are simplistic, but sometimes they also go by adventure game logic. You can kind of see a few plot points coming, but you can't really comment on them until you've talked to the right people. I saw this particularly strongly in a case in the second game, but yeah that's not a strong enough critique. Because in the end it's the characters that matter. Joey can be hilarious at times, especially so in the beginning of the third game, and Laura is rather attractive in spite of her, ahem, excessive carbon. Rosangela seems to develop somewhat as a character, but I guess we don't see enough of her to decide. Yes, it's the length of this series that's my primary critique. The price they currently offer for this game seems not as cheap when you consider how short each individual episode is. Many indies ask you to 'pay what you want,' and maybe that would be a better means to determine the average pricing for this game. $3-$4 for an experience that one breezes through in about an hour doesn't seem as worth it when you have $6 experiences on this site alone that go on for days. But if you love adventures, then this game is a really good addition. For those who complain about graphics, well, they probably aren't part of this game's main demographic since many of the Sierra and other old-school classics used these retro graphics in their heyday. And who needs graphics when the music is out of this world?! No, seriously, the soundtrack is epic and is probably the main reason why $15 can be considered a reasonable price. The jazz pieces have that indie feel, sure, and might not be what you'd hear at a formal Jazz bar in say Chicago, but they certainly are the main attraction here. So this is definitely a game for adventure game and music fans, and has an interesting enough cast to appeal to others, but the length of each game might leave you somewhat disappointed.
