When comparing Star Citizen vs FreeSpace 2, the Slant community recommends FreeSpace 2 for most people. In the question“What are the best space combat simulation games for PC?” FreeSpace 2 is ranked 1st while Star Citizen is ranked 12th. The most important reason people chose FreeSpace 2 is:
Very dramatic story.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Ability to command persistent ships and stations
Players will be able to command multi-person ships with other users who will be able to command their own stations on said ships.
Pro Over $73 million in funding
A game with the huge scope of Star Citizen will cost a lot of money to develop, and through multiple campaigns, Star Citizen has raised a huge amount of money to make that happen. More money means more developers, and designers which can lead to a ton of features.
Pro Includes a singleplayer mode, called "Squadron 42"
Squadron 42 is a single player campaign that takes place in the in game universe that allows players to play offline.
Pro Vast, detailed sci-fi world
A long term goal is to have over 400 different star systems in game, most of which will have many planets within them.
Pro Dynamic economy system
The economy of the game and the actions to keep it moving are constantly going on in the background but allows for players to step in and out of it at their leisure in order to take part.
Pro A true PC game
It's been stated that the game will take full advantage of PC's capabilities and will not be held back by a need to accommodate a console port.
Pro Dramatic story
Very dramatic story.
Pro Freespace upgrade project
Volition has released the source code for Freespace 2 under a freeware like license which allows players and modders to modify every aspect of the main game.
Pro Solid Fan community that is committed to this game
Additionally, with the source code being freeware, there have been amazing fan-made games built upon the same engine (Diaspora - Battlestar Galactica). Use the GOG, NOT STEAM. STEAM is garbage for this game. You need GoG and Knossos launcher from the Hard-Light Productions team. See here. Enjoy!
Pro Supports force feedback joystick
Playing with a force feedback joystick with lots of buttons is a great option.
Cons
Con Commercial launch is at an undetermined date
The commercial launch, initially slated for 2016, is now at an undetermined date in the future.
Con Online shop
They sell premium ships for cash rendering early backers ships obsolete before the game has been released and creating a pay to win mechanic.
Con Incomplete; might never come out
The alpha is playable but very buggy; it supposedly represents less than 10% of the finished game, which was supposed to be released several years ago (as of 2020) and has no release date in sight. Despite a frankly staggering amount of funding, the developers never hit their deadlines and it's becoming ever more doubtful that the game will ever be released in anything resembling a finished state.
Con Maybe too big to be real
The game want to be the biggest Space game ever. I want everything and maybe Will not be able to deliever.
Con Long waiting
The game Will be released in 4 or 5 years.
Con Requires a powerful computer
To be able to run the game you need an expensive pc with high end materials.
Con Need to be computer savvy
There are some minor modifications that need to be adjusted for each install. Not hard, but potentially challenging to a non-tech person. Having said that, the community is very supportive, albeit very nerdy.
Con Steam version
Users complain about the Steam version, it does not seem to include third-party software that is included in the GOG version.
Con Pure action game
There is no simulation of space or economy, it is just simple FPS action.