Now, I say 'effort' because hidden beneath all the trappings of a free-range space game is a very restrictive main mission. Following the main mission of the game is fun and its elements are interesting, but in order to shoehorn you into it, Freelancer made the extremely poor choice of tying it to your pilot's progression. In other words, if you ignore the main quest and light out on your own, you won't ever get any better. Sure, you may win a thousand dogfights or earn a million credits from trade, but you won't advance.

For example, my current character is a mere 5th level pilot. In order to progress to 6th level, he has to complete a certain mission tied to the main quest. This character, however, has already completed over 50 side quests, blown up over 250 enemy warships, and earned about $300,000 in trade and resold looted equipment. None of that affects his level. Now without going up another level, he cannot buy a better ship, nor can he buy better weapons. Ship equipment, like the ships themselves, is tied to one's level..hence he is unable to buy anything that requires level 6 or higher. So he, despite being wealthy and highly experienced, can not get the many advanced ships and weapons he's already encountered in his explorings.

This scheme makes absolutely no sense. It generates innumerable Catch-22s where one must complete a mission in order to fly back to the base you *just came from* in order to get a better ship, yet completing the mission is nearly impossible with the crappy ship you're currently stuck with. It also makes side-missions nearly pointless unless you've already gone up a level and just need some money to outfit your new ship, or perhaps want to alter your standing with a particular faction. I could, using any number of clever tricks, take my weak ship and explore hidden planets, gaze in awe on their awesome vessels and equipment which I can already afford, yet unless I cleave to the main plot I will never be able to get one.

Thus while the game theoretically lets you explore however you want, that exploration is almost meaningless if you're stuck up against one of the level-requirement missions that happen pretty much in succession for the entire game. Even the fight-induced nausea of 10 swirling enemy fighters attacking you (they always all attack you, ignoring even anyone else you may be traveling with) pales in comparison with the knowledge that you'll be back to fight that particular group over and over and over again if you ever want to go up a single level, without the ability to upgrade your ship or equipment until you do.

In short while this game can be a lot of fun, don't be fooled into thinking it's even half the open-ended 'freelancer' game it makes out to be.