Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2014
Freespace 2
Developer Volition Inc
FreeSpace 2 is a 1999 space combat simulation video game developed by Volition as the sequel to Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War. It was completed ahead of schedule in less than a year, and released to very positive reviews, but the game became a commercial failure, and was described by certain critics as one of 1999's most unfairly overlooked titles. The game continues on the story from Descent: FreeSpace, once… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
85 reactions from 2 sources (Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Sep 23, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
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No Data
Sentiment labels for these sources are still being hand-checked; no score yet.
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
85 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
254 of 323 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
A written summary appears once the title has a score.
Reactions
60 of 85 · most liked firstWhy I recommend this game This game is what made me the gamer I am today. I bought it back when it first came out, I bought it on Good Old Games and now I've bought it on Steam. Why? I'll tell you why - I believe it's the greatest game ever made. Why this game is awesome and deserves your attention; The original graphics were fantastic for their time back at release in 1999. You won't be using the original graphics when playing the game. The story was - and still is - amazing.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Get the GOG version. The Steam version costs the same, but doesn't come with the manuals and the ease of installation (out of the box, the Steam version will not work unless you do a bit of work).
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The best space sim I have ever played. Make sure you goto www.fsoinstaller.com and get the updated graphics after purchasing this game off of steam, or the game may not even work properly, the update supports macos linux and every verson of windows.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The short review edition: This game's Steam version is inexplicably adamant in its refusal to even start without an egregious amount of third-party software installations, which for whatever reason are not an issue if you get this game off GOG. Get it off GOG. DO NOT GET THE STEAM VERSION. PERIOD. The long review edition: Do not take this the wrong way: this game looks like loads of fun, and is evidently a classic from the late 90s. By all means, it should be an excellent game...IF you can…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i don't think anything has quite encapsulated the...current zeitgeist quite as much as me playing Freespace 2 (the grim, hyper-serious space fighter game) again and enjoying how the first mission is you flying escort for a bunch of refugees from genocide, with you shooting down their attackers
unlabelledView post →There are no words in the English language (or any other, for that matter), to describe how much I loved Freespace 2. Especially Free Space Open from the modding community of the Hard-Light Project, which is basically the definitive edition of freespace, enhanced to todays graphical standards and featuring hundreds of hours of very high quality user made content they could actually charge money for. Writing, voice acting etc. the modding community did a better job at those than many AAA titles…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I know Steam says I've barely played this game, but really, I've played this game for *thousands* of hours since I bought it back when it launched and you needed 3 cds to install it, and been playing it ever since. Freespace 2 is the best space combat game ever, even 18 years after its release! Fast, tense dogfights against other fighters while huge ships try to shred you with flak and giant energy beams. A single player campaign with well built and narrative missions with some really intense…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Every time I play FreeSpace 2 I find new ways that Volition showed off how absolutely idiotic the fascists in the game are and how even the less fascist human government is still extremely susceptible to the ideology just with clever use of references
unlabelledView post →This game is one of the games that I grew up playing. After several years of hoping this game would appear on Steam (My physical copy is getting old), it finally made it and I got it and the first game in a heartbeat. The game is the best space-flight combat simulator that I have ever played. Rich with its own lore and story, Freespace 2 has much to offer. Two different storylines (The main campaign and the Hammer of Light) are available right off the bat to get you started. The main campaign…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My must plays ▶️ Best space combat sim : Freespace 2 Best Rts game : Supreme Commander Best Fps game : F.E.A.R Best Star Wars Game : KOTOR Best Rpg : Fallout 1 Best mmorpg : Ultima online Best adventure game : Monkey island
unlabelledView post →one of the reasons i really adore Descent: Freespace and Freespace 2 is that the arc of the first game is triumphing through impossible odds over a seemingly invincible enemy force, while the second game demonstrates the only thing you defeated was a scouting party and all you can do now is retreat
unlabelledView post →OK. This is a game from 1999. If you are expecting it to work straight out of the box on a modern computer you will be disappointed. Even if it does work (it did for me), the 1999 graphics are a bit sad. For all those children crying that it's broken, no it isn't. It's just not compatible with modern hardware. Don't expect an official patch because the game was essentially abandoned in 2002. If any of that upsets you, move along and save your £3.49 because this game isn't for you. OK, so why…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Still waiting for Freespace 3...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Still the best singleplayer space combat sim out there. The first had a tighter plot but this one has capital ship beam cannons, so it wins. If you've played Mass Effect you'll also find a lot of suspicious similarities in the plot (Though it's Sci-Fi so I doubt FS is the first). Buy it so they make #3 and I get closure. *Assuming you do the quick fix to get it to actually run*
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Freespace 2 is one of my favorite video games ever because it's the only game I've ever played with you win every single mission with flying colors as a multiple times decorated ace and STILL feel like you are desperately losing the war *constantly*
unlabelledView post →FreeSpace is the apex of space combat simulation that's come out in the last 20 years (though the genre has mostly died out in that time but nothing quite like it has ever come out since). I've been playing it for the last decade, and that should say a lot on its own, though not all on Steam originally. The soundtrack, the story, the gameplay, established lore; I love everything about the game. Though it is an aged game/series, that's no reason to deny yourself this gem if you're interested in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is great, best of its kind. Even 25 years later and even without counting in strong moding community. Cant recommend it at this price. $25 spike from $10 regular to under $5 on sale. Release date is not 2014, this game is from 1999. Gabe Newell : "We think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy. Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem." Pricing of this game is why he said "almost always" instead of always.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →FYI A majority of the negative reviews are from clowns too lazy to troubleshoot compatibility. The fix for the root directory is running FS2.reg in "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Freespace 2\Registry" (or search for FS2.reg). Just run and add and you are in. As for the game itself, it's fantastic. There isnt that much else to it. Just make sure you are a SciFi pilot junky before making the heavy financial investment into FS2.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What can I say, they should charge double this. After you download fs open and all the nice mods - change the name of the new launcher to fs2 in your steam folder, all is fixed. Takes some time to understand, but not long and 100% worth it. Considering you can play the first freespace on the FS2 engine - have it in widescreen and updated textures. One of my top five favorite games on steam even if it takes a bit to get it to working condition.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →23 years old and still better than Star Wars: Squadrons!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →then I hear Star Wars: Squadrons - the happy fun time adventure game in the all ages Star Wars universe - comes out and BAM, 1st mission: "HUNT DOWN AND KILL SURVIVORS OF GENOCIDE" Is it unfair to compare Squadrons, a so-so tie in game to Freespace 2, one of the all time best games ever made? No!
unlabelledView post →Best game ever. We need a freespace 3
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →https://fsnebula.org/knossos/
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Before attempting to play, you MUST double-click the .reg file in the "Freespace2/Registry" folder for this to run properly. I played FS 1 and 2 when they came out in the late 90s. I was very happy to see them on Steam. So I got my CH figther stick out and started playing. FS1 was awesome but FS2 GREATLY improved the graphics (despite being released a year apart). I forgot how great both these games are. A lot of keys to remember but not too many to be tedious. Many missions were nailbiters…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Easily one the best space combat sims of all time. I make a habit of returning to this game for a run-through of one (or many) of the campaigns every few years. It's a fast-paced space combat romp with periods of downtime to flesh out the very entertaining space operatic story through in-mission dialogue and briefings. Modding is where this game really shines. Freespace 2 has a great modding community that is still active today. Many of the negative reviews bash the game for not working out…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I got the original Descent: FreeSpace and Silent Threat from one of those bargain-rack displays in the video game section at Wal-Mart in the early 2000s. Remember, when Wal-Mart still had PC games? One of my friends had been raving about it, and he was a pretty big nerd, so I figured I'd give it a try. I didn't expect much from a game released the same year as StarCraft, but it was only $10 so what the hell? I took it home, popped it into the CD drive of my 200MHz Pentium MMX machine with 32MB…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't mind grim or realistic content in my games...like... Freespace 2...is...fucking bleak. That game is one bummer after another. It's just *striking*, you know?
unlabelledView post →Someone made a Star Fox fan game using the Freespace 2 engine. youtu.be/y9i1_fEOPnc?...
unlabelledView post →The bug fix worked for me and thank Jebus. Played this game as a very young lad and really missed it. Pros -Immersive, memorable storyline. -Furious, hectic space battles with mile long cruisers duking it out with beam cannons interspersed with intense fighter and bomber combat. -Since the game is 16 years old, crank those graphics all the way up and it looks better than Star Trek Online. Cons -They'll never make Freespace 3.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Schedule time!!! Times are now in EDT due to Daylight Savings Time. Two days of Freespace 2 this week, I've been adoring the game so much <3 #Vtuber | #NTVtuber | #envtuber | #Vsky
unlabelledView post →The best space flight simulator ever, with its own little modding community that, to this day, still releases updates. If you get the Steam version, make sure you use FSOpen to make it playable, and feel free to help yourself to the vast collection of mods and custom campaigns. (I highly recommend trying out Blue Planet when you finish the main campaign)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pound for pound, the best space combat sim TO DATE! And it was released in 1999. That will probably change tho once Star Citizen is released. Get it and get a flight stick to play.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →FreeSpace 2 is a 3D space craft action simulator. Decades after the war that lost both race's home worlds, the new Galactic Theran-Vasudan Alliance is rebuilding its forces, up until the the discovery of an extremely ancient Jump Node, and the return of the Shivans. Pros: There is little to say besides it is everything you liked about [url=http://store.steampowered.com/app/273600/]Descent | Freespace: The Great War. The engine was improved, both in terms of resolution, interface and control,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The best space sim game ever made. Worth every penny. First of all, this game and its community is incredible. Hard-Light Productions has done a lot of amazing things with the game after its source code was released to the public. For an example, check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM1YC_gK-qo To make FreeSpace Open run on Steam, you have to do two things: Install Knossos, and install the registry fix. Check out this guide to install Knossos:…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →God I miss 1999.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Alot of people complain about launching issues. Yet if you listen to the store page then all is well. Just a few mouse clicks and all is good. Anyways onto the game if you were like me and played the first Freespace and were left wondering where is number two. Well here it is. The game is very much like the first one and is also designed as a linear gameplay model. Must complete one section to move on. The controls unfortunately must be learned through training tutorials. Which if you feel…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →ALSO Freespace 2, which I didn't play until 2013 as part of the incredible Source Code Project, where the game was brought up to nearly modern graphics by a devoted group of volunteers.
unlabelledView post →Freespace 2 still has not been topped as a space combat game experience, and someone should try since it's been *literally over a quarter of a century*
unlabelledView post →Yeah, its still the best space combat sim ever made. I never played this when it came out, despite being big on TIE Fighter, Descent and the like. I never even played the first Freespace. A few years ago I played through Freespace 2 and was blown away by what I'd missed. This is the last of the true space combat sims. There's a ton of action, but its not an arcade game - you have to make split second decisions and prioritise multiple threats at once while paying attention to your shields,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Gonna give this a review outta pure love for the mod community. Go play the freespace Blue Planet mod, you won't regret it. I've played thousands of games and The FS Blue Planet series is among my all time favorites, The best part is it was made by dedicated loving fans and its better than the new AAA space sims that get shoved in your face for $60 a pop. DL Fs2 from steam, download Freespace open installer play mods. If you like Blue planet theres also a bunch of other mods too, your…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's an amazing game you just have to get the Freespace Open source-code extender if you want it to work on Steam, but it's an easy download and found on hard-light.net, so if you like Space-sims this game is worth the buy.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yeah why not notes: - I don't think games need remakes - I deliberately did not put FreeSpace 2 into the best retro game category so there would be some variety - game antagonists are weird - I'm not a huge stealth game person
unlabelledView post →The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you. One game per day, for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, no particular order. #GameChallenge #Games #GameDev #PromoSky --- Day 18: Freespace 2 (PC)
unlabelledView post →This game is awesome, use the free space open source code project to get it working, and then play one of if not the best space combat game ever. Be prepared to be blown away. (Recommend playing folk metal especially during nebula scenes)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The most immersive military space fighter sim game that makes you feel a part of the story and a part of something big as you play the different missions.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The most fun I’ve had with a space combat game since FreeSpace 2. I’ve been meaning to write about this as part of my “sort of off topic” editorials. One day!
unlabelledView post →I used to inhabit the ‘Firstones’ web forum in anticipation of this game, after it was cancelled many of us set up total modifications for other games, I helped start the Babylon Project the Freespace 2 TC, there was also one for I-war and an original game (I Found Her)
unlabelledView post →8/30 Rogue Eclipse, an "explosive arcade space-combat sim inspired by Starfox and Freespace 2". It can be fun if the game brings something original to an already well-worn genre. www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqBD...
unlabelledView post →I had played the demo of this game from Digit/CHIP magazine CD back in 1998//1999, it was freaking awesome but the hardware and software prices were very hard to afford for me back then. So i bought this game about a year back and decided to give it a go now. Aiming with keyboard was proving difficult so I felt it would handle better with a flight stick. I found that my HOTAS One can be configured to be used with this game so imma try it real soon. People loved this game so much that they…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Simply, the best space fighter sim ever made (even almost 20 years after its release). 1) Buy it. (Steam version is apparently not even playable but it doesnt matter if you do #4) 2) Do not buy FS1 (first game in the series) 3) Get a joystick (you can play with mouse and keyboard pretty well buuuut get a joystick) 4) Mod it so you can actually play the game (thanks steam) with current graphics, FS1, a lot of other very well made fan campaigns, lots of extra content, AND multiplayer. All of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First I ramble a bit - Installing & Starting: Well then; If you don't know already to go to the [url=http://www.fsoinstaller.com/]FSO Installer. Then read the other reviews. Use this installer to patch you purchase and you will be good to go. The installer also comes with a lot of community made missions and full stories(!!!) Do I need to have played the first one?: No. First of all, this game retells the happenings of Freespace in the cinematics. Second, with the installer you can play the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →when is freespace 3 goin to be made..i miss this game.. wish someone would make the third one
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →http://scp.indiegames.us/ The FS2_Open is essential to enhance the entire franchise. Mods and ports in the Source Code Project make it the complete package for all things Freespace! Categories - Rating Gameplay (Balance/Controls/Seamlessness) - 5 Story (Characters/Dialogue) - 4 Presentation (Visuals/Sounds/Score) - 4.5 Difficulty/Progression "Ratio" - 4.5 Scripting/AI (Unscripted included) - 4 Design (Levels/Art/Concepts) - 5 Multiplayer/Cooperative Play - 4.5 Replay Value - 4.5 Final…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the BEST all time space combat games i have ever played (if not simply the best GAME i have ever played). Old school simulator(ish) style gameplay with basically everything done right. Review will be for both Descent Freespace 1 and Freespace 2. 1) Gameplay flight mechanics and controls: Flight is simplified to mimic atmosphere flight mechanics (Arcade style) but the controls are simulator style. Power managment, shield distribution, ETC. Joystick control is reccomended but the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If only they made freespace 3 in my lifetime... i'd be sooo happy And we play the waiting game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game. Its a really fun space dogfighter with a good story to it. Also, dont let people tell you it will not run on windows 7 (Professional atleast) I just used the simple piece of advice on the store page to fix the registery, and now it runs great. The only kink is some of the resolution pixelation in the cinimatics, wich really is not that bad. For an old beater of the early space sim era, this thing aged well.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →exellent game follow the instructions and find fs2.reg and double click and press yes then go play the game easy dont forget to configure before you start press detect video and net exellent game great game play and great graphics played this when first game out but did not have a fast computer buy it wont be disapointed
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly, one of the smartest tricks in Freespace 2 so far is having the game involve a civil war. It let's them reuse all the GTVA fighters as enemies as well. TIE Fighter pulls the same trick and it's VERY effective at making the setting feel like a living factional mess.
unlabelledView post →One of the best games ever made. If it worked straight out of the box like the GOG version that'd be even better, but luckily downloading Knossos from hardlight isn't very hard.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love this game it is amazing BUT it won't run normally direct from Steam you have to do a bunch of stuff just to get it to run, stuff which I don't know how or what to do. You shouldn't have to download stuff or alter stuff to play a game from the 90s with the tech we have today it should be easy enough for them to make it able to run without a problem but sadly this is not the case. If you want to play this game then expect hassles getting it to run, I personally only have it in my list…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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