A classic space sim conceived by Star Citizen's creator just got an unofficial sequel after 15 years of development: 'The project was based on the crazy idea that Microsoft "axed" Christ Roberts' Freelancer'

Before he spent thirteen years struggling to finish Star Citizen, Chris Roberts spent six years struggling to finish Freelancer. Digital Anvil's third-person space-sim was conceived by Roberts in the late nineties. But after blasting through both Freelancer's budget and its planned two-and-a-half-year development cycle, Digital Anvil was acquired by Microsoft. Roberts left the company shortly after the buyout—though he remained involved with Freelancer as a creative consultant.

Freelancer eventually released in 2003, more than three years later than originally planned. Its cinematic, arcade space combat was generally well liked. But the game was also criticised for being simplistic compared to other space sims—a consequence of Microsoft scaling down the project following their acquisition of Digital Anvil.

There's always been a cohort of fans who have wondered what Freelancer might have looked like if Roberts realised his initial vision. Now, a subset of that cohort has just released its own, unofficial sequel to Freelancer, developed over a timeframe that makes the original game's creation look rapid by comparison.

Created over 15 years by "a bunch of obsessed fans", Freelancer: The Nomad Legacy was built upon the curious premise that "Microsoft 'axed' Chris Roberts' Freelancer"). It's designed to be a fully-fledged sequel to the 2003 game, one that aims to restore ideas that didn't make it into the original and expand upon those that did.

Chiefly, the Nomad Legacy introduces a big chunk of space featuring multiple new star-systems, designed "so you can not just fly around, but also explore". The campaign features 13 missions that apparently range from stealth infiltrations to combat scenarios that pit you against vast space cruisers. All of this is presented in redrawn HD graphics.

The project's leader, who goes by Jelder, claims that the difference between the original Freelancer and the Nomad Legacy is like "GTA 4 vs GTA 3", which is quite the claim. But it certainly seems like the mod aims to improve some of Freelancer's fundamentals. The Nomad Legacy reworks Freelancer's progression system, encouraging players to purchase ship upgrades, while also restoring ship animations that were cut from the original game and introducing numerous space stations for you to visit, including "mega-bases".

There's one caveat I should point out, however. While The Nomad Legacy has partial human voice recording in Russian, the latter missions use AI voices, while the English translation is completely generated by neural networks. Jelder states the team tried using English actors for the translation but struggled due to "cultural differences" saying he "couldn't coach English-speaking actors to use the right intonations", which culminated in those actors leaving the project. I hope the team reconsiders this, as it seems a shame to have come so far to fall back on AI at the final hurdle. Personally, I'd much rather hear an oddly-intoned human voice than a nondescript, anodyne robot.

In any case, you can download The Nomad Legacy via ModDB or through the mod's own website. On the subject of long-gestating space sims, there's an outside chance we might actually get to play Star Citizen's single-player campaign—Squadron 42—at some point this year. Roberts Space Industries reaffirmed it was aiming for a 2026 launch in the middle of last year, though the developer cast doubt on that launch window during September's CitizenCon. Either way, Star Citizen itself is still a long way off completion, and is unlikely to be finished much before 2028.