FreeSpace 2
FreeSpace 2 is a 1999 space combat simulation computer game developed by Volition as the sequel to Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War. It was completed ahead of schedule in less than a year, and released to very positive reviews, but the game became a commercial failure, and was described by certain critics as one of 1999's most unfairly overlooked titles.
The game continues on the story from Descent: FreeSpace, once again thrusting the player into the role of a pilot fighting against the mysterious aliens, the Shivans. While defending the human race and its alien Vasudan allies, the player also gets involved in putting down a rebellion. The game features large numbers of fighters alongside gigantic capital ships in a battlefield fraught with beams, shells and missiles in detailed star systems and nebulae. Free multiplayer games were available via Parallax Online which also ranked players by their statistics. A persistent galaxy was also available as SquadWar for players to fight with each other over territories.
In 2002, Volition released the source code for the game engine under a non-commercial license. This code became the core of the FreeSpace 2 Source Code Project, which continuously improves it and enables new features. In cooperation with the FreeSpace Upgrade Project the game's graphics are kept up to date. The improved game engine is also used by various mod projects, for example The Babylon Project and Diaspora which are based on the science fiction series Babylon 5 and Battlestar Galactica respectively.
Gameplay
FreeSpace 2s gameplay involves the player piloting a starfighter using mounted weapons to destroy enemy starfighters, performing reconnaissance behind enemy lines, or escorting other starships. Its flight model is based on a looser interpretation of space physics instead of realistic Newtonian physics. Hence, the ships are weightless and feel more responsive, though they require constant application of engine power to move. The result is that the game plays more like a "WWII dogfight simulator" unaffected by gravity. Although joysticks are the recommended controller for this game, the mouse is a viable alternative.The pre-mission briefing stage is where the player gets information on the background and objectives, and selects the ship and weapons. The choices of ships and weapons increase as the player proceeds further along the campaign. Certain missions, however, will dictate certain ships and weapons to be used. Weapons can be classified into primary weapons and secondary weapons.
The player flies around in a fighter with a first-person, in-cockpit view with a fully customizable fixed head-up display as the visual interface. The HUD displays video communications and relevant data on the ship's status and performance, weapons, objectives, and targets. It can also warn players if missiles are locking onto them and from which direction, thus becoming an aid for launching countermeasures or taking evasive maneuvers. Players have to maneuver into position and shoot through both shields and hull to destroy enemy ships. While hull damage is unrecoverable, shields recharge over time. With the game supporting force feedback technology, joystick players will find their controllers vibrating or putting up resistance when they engage the afterburners or collide with objects. Similarly, certain events, such as engaging afterburners and firing powerful weapons, will shake the screen as a form of visual feedback.
FreeSpace 2 has many helpful features available. The player can target enemies attacking a protected objective or match speeds with them. Power can be shunted between shields, engines, and weapons, thereby allowing faster recharge of shields, afterburners, and weapons at the expense of other subsystems. These features can be ignored without any detrimental effects on gameplay. The mission parameters are not rigidly fixed, as there is an allowance for the failures of some primary objectives.
FreeSpace 2 allows multiplayer games to be played across a local area network or over the Internet via the free services provided by Parallax Online. The player can communicate with the other network players vocally through FreeSpace 2s own voice chat capability. LAN play allows the players to play the standard player versus player modes such as deathmatch, or cooperate to complete multiplayer missions. They can even join in games which are already underway. The same can be done over PXO but with the added incentive of having the players' statistics of kills and deaths being tracked on a ladder system.
Plot and setting
FreeSpace 2 takes place entirely in outer space. The playing area is vast when compared to the small starfighters piloted by the player and the effective range they have. This space is populated with interstellar bodies such as stars, planets, asteroids, etc. The implementation of nebulae as an interactive environment is one of the most distinctive aspects of FreeSpace 2. Flying through a nebula involves impaired vision, and occasional disruptions to flight electronics. Nebulae have become known as an eerie and suspenseful arena of play.Journeys between star systems are achieved by "jumping" through jump nodes and traveling through subspace, while shorter intra-system distances are done by "hopping" into subspace at any time. All ships in a mission either "jump" or "hop" to make their entries and exits. The game's starship designs are clearly distinguishable between the three races. Terran starships tend to be plain and practical, the Vasudans' starships are artistic with sleek lines and curves, and the enemies' ships—the Shivans—are sharp, pointy and asymmetrical in insidious black and red colors.
FreeSpace 2s story is brought out via narrative pre-rendered cutscenes, the pre- and post-mission briefings, as well as in-game chatter between non-player characters, and scripted mission events. The structure for the story is linear without any branching paths for alternate storylines, though there are optional covert missions which can further flesh out the story. The story can only be continued by clearing missions and progressing through the campaign. However, players are given the option to skip a mission if they have failed it five times in a row.
Characters
The player takes the role of a pilot in the ranks of the Galactic Terran–Vasudan Alliance. While the appearance and name of the pilot can be customized by the player, the player never gets to personally interact with other characters in the game. The pilot is also never shown in the game's cinematics or any other media.Just like the player's pilot, most of the other characters are low-key. The non-player character Admiral Aken Bosch, however, plays a crucial part in moving the story. As a prominent antagonist from the start, he sparks off a rebellion which escalates the scale of action, and brings in the other antagonist force, the Shivans, into the story. The storytelling took on a character-driven approach with expositions taking the form of cutscenes in which Bosch gives out monologues, revealing the purpose and driving forces behind his actions. A few established voice actors were brought in to give a polished touch to the voices in the game. Academy Award nominee Robert Loggia voiced the player's commanding officer, Admiral Petrarch, and Admiral Bosch was voiced by Ronny Cox. Kurtwood Smith and Stephen Baldwin participated in bit roles as well.
Story
The game begins 32 years after the events in Descent: FreeSpace. Following the end of the Great War, both the GTA and PVE cemented their alliance by combining together to form the Galactic Terran–Vasudan Alliance —a single entity formed to cement the alliance between the Terran and Vasudan races after the destruction of Vasuda Prime by the Lucifer and the subsequent collapse of all subspace nodes to the Sol system as a result of the superdestroyer's destruction inside the Sol–Delta Serpentis jump node. Despite this alliance, opposition still exists to this union in the form of a faction of Terrans led by Great War veteran, Admiral Aken Bosch, who leads the rebel group under the banner of the Neo-Terran Front. The NTF's rebellion led to the faction gaining control over the Sirius, Polaris and Regulus star systems, while engaging the GTVA for 18 months, before launching attacks on the Vasudan systems of Deneb and Alpha Centauri.Seeking to stop the NTF from securing Deneb, the GTVA launch a campaign in the star system, though they are shocked to find Bosch within. An effort to stop him fails badly, and so the GTVA focus on securing the star system, with great success. Just as further engagements against the NTF are about to commence, an incident in the Gamma Draconis system leads to the 3rd Fleet of the GTVA being reassigned to the star system, where they learn that the Shivans have returned, along with the discovery of an artificial jump gate that leads to Shivan space. After securing the device and passing through it, the GTVA discover a nebula along with more Shivans, and a cruiser of the NTF, the Trinity. Despite efforts to secure and recover the cruiser, the Trinity is destroyed, and the GTVA fleet focus on dealing with the Shivans, before returning to Gamma Draconis for reassignment.
The NTF rebellion soon becomes the focus of attention once again after attacks intensify, eventually leading the GTVA to quell an attack on a space station with their latest ship, the enormous capital ship GTVA Colossus. Dwarfing all other capital ships, this juggernaut-class ship's power proves more than a match to many NTF ships, defeating a major officer in the rebellion. Seeking to capitalize on this, the GTVI organise an operation with their SOC to investigate and uncover information on Bosch's ETAK project, which is nearly wrecked when a Vasudan admiral attempts to hit Bosch's flagship, the Iceni. Following the latest campaign against the NTF, GTVA forces re-engage Shivan forces in the nebula, using new technology to destroy an enemy Ravana-class destroyer. The 3rd Fleet soon return to GTVA space, where Bosch launches an assault to get the NTF to the Jump Gate. While the NTF loses many ships, the Iceni escapes with Bosch on board. While pursuing Bosch into the nebula, the GTVA are sidetracked by having to destroy a juggernaut-class Shivan warship, the Sathanas.
The Alliance Fleet resumes its efforts to track down Bosch, and discover that Bosch had built a device that enables him to communicate with the Shivans, which was the purpose of ETAK; the Alliance realise the jump gate was activated by Bosch, who had been stealing artefacts from archaeological sites looking into the Ancients, and had been hoping to meet and contact the Shivans. The Shivans respond to his transmission, and in turn board the Iceni, capturing him and fifteen other crewmen before attempting to destroy it. The GTVA manage to save the surviving crew and the ETAK device, but as they try to intercept the Shivan transport carrying Bosch, they discover a second jump gate in the nebula. The Alliance destroyer, the GVD Psamtik, attempts to secure the jump gate, but is destroyed by another Sathanas juggernaut shortly afterwards, forcing the GTVA to pull out. During this time, the GTVI and SOC launch a secret operation, discovering the threat posed to the GTVA by the Shivans is much greater than they had thought.
The Alliance devises a plan to halt the Shivan invasion by collapsing the two jump nodes from Capella to the rest of GTVA space. The plan works, but the GTVA loses the Colossus, their only match for Shivan juggernauts, in a diversionary engagement, resulting in a pyrrhic victory. The Shivans cause the Capella star to go supernova, destroying the fighting GTVA and Shivans there. The player can choose to flee the scene when the warning is given or stay and die defending the remaining ships, which affects the ending slightly. In the ending cutscene, the player's commanding officer, Admiral Petrarch, delivers a speech about everything the Alliance has lost, speculating on the nature of the Shivans and why they destroyed Capella, and if the player decides to stay, a small tribute is paid to the player's heroic actions as Petrarch informs his wingmen of his sacrifice. The Admiral concludes by saying that the Alliance now has the means to recreate the Ancient subspace gate, implying that there's a chance the node to Earth can be restored and that this conflict didn't bring only sorrow, before signing off.