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UC vs X2,Freelancer


AlbietheOne
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Well I just wanted to hear from you guys on which game you think is better,

I for one have every game ever made esp space games

And I think UC is so vast so big so complicated lol, which i love btw. that its not even in the same league as X2, Freelancer which i have both btw.

I would have gladley paid $50 or even $100 for this game and still thought to myself im ripping the developer off but $19 man i feel for whoever is gonna suffer cause of that.

Will I buy a game for 50 when i can get it for 19 NOT IN THIS lifetime but it still dosent make sence to me.

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All 3 games are different.

UC is more military-type of game

X2 is more of an empire builder game

Freelancer is a space-arcade shooter

I'd rather say there's no "better one" - it depends on what you like.

as for UCs price you'll have to go in the news section to understand what it's all about.

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Bah different games they are but my question I belive is which do you like better, there is a area in the grey matter of the brain that registers this result.

KOTOR got game of the year not because it was a game or different game mind you but it was a better game than most released, better than HALO yes, anything resembling halos gameplay NO but still got the award see my point.

Its a simple question i personally like UC better,

it has a very steep learning curve but it has been well though out with limitless potential and the graphics while not better than X-2 or even freespace , has a more organic and realistic feel to the color structure palet IMO, freelancer too much cartoon pastel like color for me, X-2 great color and textures but it SUX for dogfighting and you cant land on planets . the only game ever to hope to unseat this one is ELITE4 which is in development by Mr Braben himself.

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I have all three games. Personaly I'd put money on ANY 3000AD title any day. Freelancer I played for 5 days got everything beat the game got bored real quick. X2 while very interesting became very lathargic(sp?) after 5 hours of play unless you play the linear story line. If not you get enough money to buy a station and sit and wait for it to make money to buy another station to wait for more money ect. while you listen to the endless banter of Ban Danna whining "why aren't you doing any missions"

UC who could not love this title unless you are more inclined to play the click and shoot games with no thought. I for one love being able to drop my drones off in Lennon to mine for some cash while I fly off to kick insurgent butt. My oppinion.

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I have both Freelancer and X2, and enjoyed them both. I am very interested in UC, but I know virtually nothing about it or any of the previous titles. I am slowing piecing together an idea of what the game is about by reading the threads here. I canÔÇÖt seem to find a synopsis of the game as it seems like most everyone in the gaming world but me already knows all about it. And I am not being factious either; I really must be the only man on earth without a clue. I have gleaned enough to convince me to buy the game however.

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I've always loved the game comparison arguments. They rate up with with Mac vs. PC and PC vs. Console. Tastes are so remarkably different between people it's almost impossible to actually pick a 'game of the year'.

As an example, take this year. Assuming Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 actually come out this year, and are decent, I'm willing to bet one of those is going to be this year's 'Game of the Year'. Unfortunately for me, I hate first person shooters, so... I guess I'm just out of luck this year.

Back on topic, however, as was previously stated, Freelancer was more arcade than space simulator. X2 was a hybrid economy space simulator. UC is more like putting you in the seat of the President, only able to actually join your different military divisions in general combat if you wished. Much more tactically oriented and complex.

Which is the best game? Depends on who you ask and what they like. However, I'm pretty sure a lot of people will say this:

Freelancer was fantastic... for the five - eight hours the story ran for. Then it just sort of ended and left you hanging with no real rhyme or reason to continue. The ships don't have advantages or disadvantages except for getting 'better' as you get to different systems, so if you did have the urge to play after you beat it, it would soon end. Average life for Freelancer is about or less than a week.

X2 is hard to pin down. I value my life and my time seems to be too expensive to invest in this game (same with MMORPGs). If you can tolerate the long wait times, and get a kick out of slowly building yourself up to the end all trading guru leader of the galaxy, you might be interested. Overall it seems like a lot of people try it, but it falls into the category of too much effort with little payback. Average life would be about a week before most give up. If you stick with it, could be months of sheer space trading excitement.

Then you have something like Battlecruiser/UC. It has a lot of stuff to do. It has a lot of options to be. Just about every aspect of feeling like you are in command of a capable, able space-going army is available to you. Because of this, it is obvious that there will be a steep learning curve. It may shy away the casual gamer, but this game has never (to my knowledge), been claimed as 'a game for the casual teenager one day after school'. That's one of the interesting points about the UC series, is that it knows what it is and who it is targetted for. If you take that into account, those who like it will be addicted. Those who generally do not, it wasn't designed for them anyhow.

A lot of games these days are starting to forget what exactly they are. RPG's where twitch action is required. First person shooters where you have to get your skills before you can shoot that rocket launcher. Adventure games trying to be interactive books with pointless arcade elements needlessly thrown into the mix. This is part of the reason why I always find it amusing when some magazine or webpage can claim a 'game of the year', since it is not possible. One of the elements for a 'game of the year' should be that the game knows what it is, and it hits that genre. It doesn't try to blur the lines (which is why I don't like KOToR being selected as a game of the year, for example, not that it was a bad game, it just didn't know what it wanted to be).

If this was a requirement to selecting a game of the year, then you would have UC up against the likes of Doom 3 and Half-Life 2, assuming they are just FPS types and don't try to play games with my head and be a pseudo-RPG.

Once again back to the topic:

If you like space invaders, you may love Freelancer.

If you like playing Monopoly: Star Wars Edition for hours on end, you may find X2 to be a new form of sheer excitement.

If you like... BC3K... you'll love UC. This series has always been it's own virtual category and likely will always continue to be, so there is nothing in existance to even compare it to.

I hope nobody minds long posts, because I like to make sure I state my point as clearly and completely as possible. This being my first, inspiring post, I bid everybody who reads this a fine hello and what not.

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I have played X2 and Own UC. I list Pro's, Con's and what both need. Keep in mind I'll listing differences and what should have been in the either game. So if they both have them I won't list them.

Pro's

-UC: Planet fall should have been in X2 this would have made X2 more indepth. Isn't that what panets are for???????????

-X2: Has a very indepth menus system that gave you more control compared to UC. I found X2 menu system easier to use and slight more diverse. UC menu system tend to grouped focused though the Tacop was overall superior.

-UC: Tacop even though it was superior, it could have used better Z plane control. Yes, in space Z plane tatics are nice, even if human tend to get stuck on 2D ways of thinking.

-X2: multiple cockpit was very nice thought in UC it would have been nice to have this ability if you had Autopilot engaged. I love to just jump in to a gun turret and blast away.

-X2: Station building... I was sooooo looking forward to seeing this in UC, at least building planet bases. Though I have a bone to pick with X2 on this topic.. It both rocked and sucked. You had to build separate station for every product you wanted to produce and it was limited to select product too.

-UC: Has stuff like worm hole and flux point. UC could have expand on this idea by make them item to scan & study. Also to make some randomly appearing or even some that are just duds that goes nowhere.

Con's

-X2: Need a DAS/CAS/OPA system to avoid crashing into other shipped... infact that is the only reason I did not buy X2 but since they have not respond to my email I won't buy it. UC rocked on this point. FYI D)amage A)voidance S)ystem & O)bject P)oximity A)lert.

-X2 weapon range. X2 was very poor in area. On the other hand weapon variety was a little better then UC.

-UC No random or freelance pick&choose mission I think this is the only feature that hold it back form being the best god damn game in the universe. though if this was added I believe it would soon out sell a majority of games if not all them! Maybe it shouldn't be add or else I would never go to work..... so that why SC didn't add it... the game might have collaped the economy do to worker staying home only to play this game.

-X2: Loose Item system. it was too locked of a system... every item had a single use except energy cells

-UC: cargo system was too ridged, In my opinion if you want to control where player put stuff then try making different types of cargo hold that have different traits and cargo that has minimum requirement.

What both need:

-need more varity on stuff to do... AKA stuff to scan & research, Types of place to explore & locate, and even the ability to change borders. Just put in a lot of low purpose stuff that are there for indepth scaning(AKA distortion fields... is it a cloaked ship or a new dicovery). I think even have ruins/dead-ship to explore/scan would be cool. Have series of ruins and wrecked ship lead to cool surprizes. Make the data retrive per scan/visit varible base on skill + time + chance = Data collected.

-Bars, tours trap, Resort, museum, Trading station and research centers that are player built, bought and operate. Plus let them affect the region and even affect neighbooring regions.

-User submited ships.. even if they have to got throught an approve system. Varity is the spice of life. after all how many different kind of automobile are there and how simmar are they. though I will give to UC this, FC & OC are very diverse compare it other games.

-Fix mounted large/super weapon ships. Weapon that high cost, low usage weapon that are use as tactical strike weapons and only on certen ships. You can even have them have side effects( AKA drains all power for 40 seconds)

-Not follow Henry Ford quote of "You can have any color of car as long as it is black!" relax don't worry if players don't do thing the way you think they should be done, I know its your baby, your dream, your child... but your tying to share it with us too, remember! So let us live our dream too, just a weee bit!

------------------------

I hope someone will tell me what they think or how they disagree. I would like that very much.

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I may be weird, but I still like to play Freelancer, even after I beat it.

***Warning I am about to go off on a weird tangent***

One thing I would like to see in a game, though it may not be technically feasible, is the ability to have ships, weapons, vehicles, buildings, and even characters composed of interchangable modules. The ability to construct entire ships or stations from nothing but junk parts (where's that spanner Chewie?), or to have to get prosthetic or mechanical limbs when your character gets messed up in combat.

More dynamic worlds would be nice, something that incorporates more game genres. Factions controlled by ai playing a game akin to Alpha Centauri or Masters of Orion, that calculate a turn every eight game hours, would generate the game world, borders would shift, technologies would be developed and fielded. If you manage to reach a position of power, you too could take part in the empire building aspect of the game.

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quote:

Posted by Gol_Stoan

One thing I would like to see in a game, though it may not be technically feasible, is the ability to have ships, weapons, vehicles, buildings, and even characters composed of interchangable modules. The ability to construct entire ships or stations from nothing but junk parts (where's that spanner Chewie?), or to have to get prosthetic or mechanical limbs when your character gets messed up in combat.


I don't think that is weird... but I was always thinking that Ship, station and Vehicles creation program should start use a lego style format that way you can simplify and have control over ship strength/abilities plus it would make sending model over netplay easier cause all you need to send is the "lego frame" code... making it harder for people to "cheat" in MP mode. I didn't want to say a thing because I thought I might get laughed out of these forums.

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I own all three and I feel they all have their strengths and weaknesses.

Freelancer has a fun, turn your brain off approach, nice graphics, and a fun multiplayer mode. The main thing Freelancer really did well for itself was the interface and the control scheme. The things it did poorly were the static economy, the lack of in game customizability (no real difference to any of the ships regardless of what you do), and the lack in variety in random missions. Basically, there's not much reason to play on your own after the story ends. Multiplayer can add some life to it if you want to roleplay a job for a bit, but that can get tired fast.

X2 is really cool in my opinion, but it also has glaring flaws. It has a great dynamic economy, a huge selection of ships and upgrades, the ability to control a whole fleet, very nice graphics and music, plenty of in-game random missions, and a decent combat model. But the downsides: combat model could be better to make it more interesting, the main storyline is pretty bad (especially the cutscenes), no mouse support for the interface, and it's really slow. It will take a lot of time to make any headway in the game, but once you do, things come much faster. I kind of wish X2 had Freelancer's multiplayer capability.

Now Universal Combat is the one I know the least about, so this is more of a first impression type response. The good stuff, the gameworld seems absolutely huge, even bigger than the other two. The ability to go from the command of your ship to a fighter to landing on a planetary surface to driving a vehicle in ground combat is unprecedented. The scope of this game is one of the more unbelievable things I've encountered as a gamer. The bad things, least polished, but then again this isn't being backed by Microsoft the way Freelancer was kept breathing regardless. Of course, I find the level of polish extremely admirable for an independent developer. The interface... it's going to be complex for this type of game, it has to be, but sometimes I get the feeling it could be more streamlined somehow. I guess it's the tough choice between organization and functionality sometimes, at least that's how it strikes me. The only other complaint I have is that the game isn't friendly to newbies. I've read through the manual and the information is definitely all there to be found. Little things could help though, maybe a list at the front of the manual compiling every abbreviation and what it stands for, diagrams next to explanations, things like that. In fact, for the way my brain works, I would love to see the first part of the manual showing a screenshot of a certain interface with a number pointing you to the name and a brief description. Then the second half could be a bring it all together written part like what's there.

Of course that would blow the time and money required by the manual through the roof.

Anyway, in the end, I can't really say which I prefer. I've had fun with all three but I can see Universal Combat being around the longest on my hard drive. X2 has a huge, open-ended style, but it leans toward a much less exciting gameplay. UC has that open-endedness down, but it focuses on a much more exciting premise. Add in multiplayer and you've got a title that never gets old.

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Freelancer - Don't get me started about Freelancer. It's the Jar Jar Binks of the space "sim" world.

X2 - Great economic model, probably the best successor to Elite to come along. Combat hasn't progressed much from Elite, however. The same tired old Shield/Hit Point Bar. Zero hitpoints equals death. Again. Yawn. Oh, Once in awhile one of your upgrades will blow up too. Woo. Hoo. Requires a computer that takes up most of your living room to run smoothly. Egosoft is pretty good about patching and updating their X series, however, much like 3000AD.

UC - If you want something that feels authentic, is massive in scope, has incredible depth, and at least one ship that is a lovely shade of green, then this is the droid you are looking for.

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Gameplay tips for those bored with Freelancer after the story is over:

After finishing the storyline you can go anywhere you want, (you do not get full jump access everywhere until the storyline is over, also you don't get shot at by military ships as much anymore). What I like to do after the storyline is over is to do long haul cargo runs that cross the entire map, buying something at the absolute cheapest place to get it, and sell it at the place that pays the absolute most for it, (since you do get that lovely little price list from all of the bases you have visited). These can be quite entertaining and far more lucrative than playing the very formulaic and repetitive "missions" over and over and over again. Alien Microbes and Alien Artifacts can be very entertaining to run.

Of course it would be even more entertaining to try this activity in UC also, but you would have to really keep track of prices, and visit a LOT of bases.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have BC3000ad, BCM, BCM-G, UC, X-BTF & X-Tension, Freelancer, I-War 1 and 2, Wing Commander Prophecy, and Star Wars X-Wing Alliance.

Finished Freelancer(yawn...), X-BTF, I-War 2.

Freelancer is very arcade, but fun when you run a server and just play open-ended. I play in short bursts, upgrading my ship every time, lots of MODs, I even get to fly the Starship Enterprise. Not much depth in fighting, trading, or pirating. Good to play LAN parties with for non-gamer friends. Server setup is a no-brainer.

X-Tension is the game before X2, and all I can say is X2 is just a graphics upgrade with a sucky storyline and single player experience, so I have read. Good economy, better than Freelancer. Terrible dog-fighting. Good for building an empire.

X-Wing and Wing Commander are just like Freelancer in terms of arcade play. Both use Voodoo graphics.

I-War 2, excellent story, neutonian(sp?) physics, some open-endedness. Can't compare to anything really.

Tachyon: The Fringe, poor story, pseudo-neutonian physics, a little open-endedness...barely. Similiar to I-War.

Battlecruiser, in-depth gameplay, uses your imagination more, totally open-ended more than any other game on the market. It can satisfy any craving you have, Space combat, ground combat, naval, Fleet command and control. It feels like a space-sim that plays like a strategy game. That is the best way for me to put it. Truely a class by itself. hmmm, what's that on my nose..... ;-)

So, have a story told to you....Freelancer and I-War 2, X-Wing, Wing Commander.

Play economics 101...X Universe

Gameplay, Gameplay, Gameplay.....BC/UC.

What do you want?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Played X-1 and was luke-warm. Saw the map for X2

and was turned off: space is divided into little squares with doors in the middle of each side. Up one, two to the right. Not my idea of open space.

Also UC: haven't got it running yet, but commands seem same as the first 3000ad, the galaxy is identical. (Reviews said 150 planets; I count 74.)

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Actually, I'll admit, I've been playing X2 more than UC lately.

Doesn't mean I've stopped playing UC, I still think UC is superior in combat by far, but I've gotten to the point in X2 where my empire is massive .

There's only one real reason I'm playing X2 so much right now though; I forgot my UC CD at school and I'm home for spring break... crap.

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well,so far, i'm installing UC. then i apply the patch. but, immediately, i see that SC has changed the cover of the manual and added some pictures to the main map. I still see a glaring lack of an index (different than a table of contents) as well as illustrations.

I guess now I understand the $20 pricetag. All the development costs were covered in all the previous games.

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quote:

Originally posted by Phreddo:

I guess now I understand the $20 pricetag. All the development costs were covered in all the previous games.

Yeah he also got everyone that worked on all the new models from the Naval groups to the OC's to the shuttles to work for free for an entire year... plus all the programming for the new AI (you know how the Marines now follow your lead), he decided to throw that in as a freebie, he also called his Mortgage Co. and they told him to take a year off from his payments... same thing with his car, since they understood that all the costs were already covered.

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I dont have any of these, but ive played Freelancer on my friends PC. Well i bought my BCMG from eBay, and price was only... 7 Euro! Embarassing!!! And this game beats all other space sims i ever played before - X-Wing Alliance, Freelancer, Allegiance, Freespace, Starlancer...

[ 03-09-2004, 10:25 AM: Message edited by: Bob Canteen ]

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quote:


Originally posted by Darkling:

quote:

Originally posted by Phreddo:

I guess now I understand the $20 pricetag. All the development costs were covered in all the previous games.


Yeah he also got everyone that worked on all the new models from the Naval groups to the OC's to the shuttles to work for free for an entire year... plus all the programming for the new AI (you know how the Marines now follow your lead), he decided to throw that in as a freebie, he also called his Mortgage Co. and they told him to take a year off from his payments... same thing with his car, since they understood that all the costs were already covered.


LOL!! And that was two years of dodging the mortgage company.
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quote:

Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr:

LOL!! And that was two years of dodging the mortgage company.

LOL!! Well with these new titles in the works, I think you'll be able to pay off the whole Mortgage this time.

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Just DL the Demo for X2 and I've got to say the game looks pretty cool. Used the Profiler on my Logitech Dual Action to remap some of the controls to make it easier to fly and use the onboard computer and it eases the coplexity somewhat. I see that a lot of reviewers have the same Brain Dead opposition to X2 as they have to UC ... "It has too many keyboard controls, WA, WAA, WAAA... My little brain can't handle it" .. Oh well, I like it.

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  • 1 year later...

Ok, so I got this new 3d card over the weekend. Came home and decided to install X2 to see if I could run it at high resolution with all the options maxed out.

Well, the game runs fine, looks great, I messed around for 2 hours and during this "playing" process I became more and more disgusted with this game. Here's why:

I own 5 Battlecruiser games. 2 Battlecrusier 3000AD (one bought for a friend), 2 Millennium (second copy a gift to a friend that brought me into the series), and Universal Combat. Let me tell you, the odasity some people have to complain about the interface in those games, well, they obviously have NEVER played the X series. Battlecruisers interface might not be spify with sliding windows, however it's neat, functional, easy to understand, access, and manipulate, basically it's designed so that you can PLAY and INTERACT with the game. X2's interface is JUNK. Now I remember why I un-installed the game the first day I got it. It's cumbersome, you can't find the options you need, you can't manipulate it with a mouse, it takes you 20 minutes LITERALLY just to order a fleet of 5 ships around. Equipping your ships is just horrendous because unless you remember which weapon the ship can use and how many can fit, you can easily missplace and end up transfering them from one ship to another, EVEN IF THAT WEAPON IS ALREADY EQUIPPED. Anyway, I could go on and on, but enough said, the game is simply un-playable and ALL because of the interface, not bugs or any other reasons, but interface. How can one design a product, and skip implementing mouse toggled options? It stands NO reason. But that's just one thing which would aleviate the overall flaws, even if the mouse was implemented, it would only solve about 40% of my gripes.

Conclusion. It's good that we can vote with our money, because I own X-tension and X2. Well, needless to say, I will not be buying ANY of the X series again.

Long live the Battlecruiser.

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