Freelancer takes place 800 years after a world war engulfed space civilization. The year back then was 2160. Mankind had colonized the solar system and two political entities had emerged: the Alliance consisting of American, Australian, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, British and German forces, and The Coalition of Russian, Chinese and Middle-Eastern interests. Suddenly The Coalition staged a surprise attack on Fort Kennedy, where a peace treaty turns into a bloodbath: all of the inner four planets are overrun, including Terra (Earth) herself, and the Italian and French fleets are utterly lost. The Alliance fleet regroups at Triton, Neptune's moon, and attempts to regain lost territory.In a bid to escape the civil war, the Alliance faction sent their people in stasis on an exodus from Sol. Heading towards the Sirius system, the exodites settled and transformed the surrounding space (the Sirius sector) into a region of political intrigue and opportunity.
Named after the sleeper ships they arrived in, four political houses were formed with their societies bearing distinctive marks of their ancestries: House Liberty of 1920's United States, Bretonia of Victorian era United Kingdom, Kusari of Shogunate era Japan, and Rheinland of Second Industrial Revolution Germany. Rediscovering each other after long years of rebuilding, they formed "The New Alliance". The fifth sleeper ship, Hispania, suffered a malfunction en-route and had to be abandoned in deep space. In this Age, space travel is common, and commerce between the sectors owned by each House thrives. Many factions compete to have their goals and interests given importance above those of other groups, ranging from corporate conglomerates and mining companies to law enforcement agencies and criminal gangs. In the middle of all that is where most of you stand. In order to accomplish their agendas, each faction sells contracts to mercenaries that complete missions for large rewards. Lately, however, it seems something greater has decided to interfere with the natural order of society. The toll of missing pilots is higher than ever, and these losses are affecting everyone. That's where you come in. You are the missing pilots, abducted by a mysterious group whose intentions are unknown as of yet. Most of you are simple mercenaries, but a few of you are employees of various factions. Each of you wakes up in the pilot's chair of a light fighter craft, floating in open space. As you try to jump-start the engine to get out of there, a message comes up on your viewscreen...
"Hello! As you'll notice, there is a device attached to the arm of your pilot's chair. This device is very important to your survival, so I wouldn't try to remove it. That would cause an immediate self-destruct of your spacecraft. Now that I've got your attention, let me tell you why you are here. You're going to play a little game for us. There are 27 other pilots in ships just like yours, in the same position as you. During "day phase", as we're going to call it, you and the other pilots will be charged with the duty of eliminating someone from the game. Whoever has the most votes by the end of the day phase will have their ship detonated on the spot. So it's in your best interest to not get voted, I'd say. Most of you are just mercenaries, but a few of you have been poached from a few esteemed organizations around here. Those few people will be charged with the duty of offering jobs to the rest of you each "night phase", as we'll call the second phase of the game. You may choose from any of the jobs you are offered, and then if you complete them, you will be rewarded for it. That's about all I think I need to tell you for now. Each of you will be given a codename (
your username
), and all communications will be sent using this codename. Any attempt to communicate with people outside the game, to leave your ship, or to reveal your true identity will be met with instant destruction of your ship. You will only be allowed to communicate during the day phase, and all communication will be public. No communication can be attempted during the night phase unless we tell you otherwise. Any private communication possible will be told to you at a later date. The night phase will be split into two parts. Each faction will have a time limit during which they must decide who to offer jobs to. After that, the other pilots can choose which jobs they will accept and accomplish. Once all pilots are done with their jobs, we will revert back to a new day phase, and so forth. During either of the night phase parts, you may choose to fly your ship into another of the four sectors run by each of the Houses. You will have enough time to arrive there after completing your jobs. Good luck surviving! It's time to decide your own destiny."
Disclaimer: Some character names were taken from or inspired by the Freelancer storyline, but it is not intended to be a completely accurate representation. Character names merely exist for flavor.
Reviewed by: rajrhcpfreak, Yosarian2, Norinel, cicero and Claus
Co-Mod: Claus
Norinel has also agreed to hold onto a copy of the setup in case something happens to me.
Here's what some of our reviewers had to say about the setup:
rajscumfreak: this looks like a fun game
rajscumfreak: too bad I can't play it now
rajscumfreak: it sounded cool from the setting
rajscumfreak: but I didn't love the game until I understood the mechanics
cicero wrote:I have no comments really. It looks fantastic
So take their advice and sign up for Freelancer Mafia!
