Freespace: The Greatest Space Sim No One's Heard Of

Freespace, a space simulator game by the good folks at Interplay and Volition, was arguably the best space simulator ever made. It had everything: an epic, moving story, more fighter ships to pilot than one ever had to, a menacing enemy that was absolutely despicable, and fantastic graphics and gameplay.

I was lucky enough to play both Freespace 1 and 2 when they came out and they blew everything else out of the water. Interestingly, the game was also decidedly bleak in its outlook, the climactic battle of Freespace 2 was not for absoulte victory, but for survival against a vastly superior opponent. The good guys don't win, they squeak through.

Beautiful... except you're running for your life from it.

Freespace was not campy, at least not as horribly campy as, say Wing Commander. Instead, it was a gripping, grim tale of warfare. The missions were often carried out on hauntingly beautiful backgrounds. The ships themselves were masterpieces. And well, as you can see in the picture above, the graphics were stunning.

It also made you feel small. On purpose. You were a fighter pilot forced to duck and dodge ships literally thousands of times larger than you. It brought the feeling of really being there to a whole new level. You were the hero of the game, but you were also just one of many heroes, all taking their part in these gigantic battles for the survival of your race. Great geeky fun!

It was also a truly gripping story, one worth playing through just to get through the story.

It has also been modded by a whole bunch of people, turning it into Battlestar Galactica and Babylon 5 simulators. But, if you ask me, the original story could stand up to these and then some.

If you can, find it in the bargain bins. It's truly, truly worth the search.