[Snail]

I was wondering about this. Although FS2 had better gameplay and stuff, I liked the FS1 atmosphere much better. The fact that you just couldn't kill those Shivans made me much more scared of them in FS1 than FS2. In FS2, we wiped the floor with them basically. Those Sathani just didn't make themselves all that scary for some reason. All the Shivans needed in FS1 to kill us all was one crummy superdestroyer. The Shivans in FS2... Well they didn't get anywhere even with 80 Jugs (whether or not they wanted to get through is beside the point here). The FS2 Shivans just seemed weaker than those in FS1...

What do you think, take in to account atmosphere and storyline; not only atmosphere.

[cloneof]

I concur! Shivans in FS1 where more dangerous then ever, we had o pull back  every time and we had one change to stop them.
Now in FS2 we can just shoot their cruisers down like they where normal Henris class cruisers.

[Snail]

Yarr, FS2's atmosphere didn't terrify me as much as FS1.

I notice this is another wanton act of sacrilege.

[Herra Tohtori]

I answered FS2, because I bought them bundled and the difference in graphics was great enough to turn the tide for FS2.

However, I would ultimately like to answer FS Port, and obviously FS2_Open... and TBP, and likely all the upcoming total conversions as well.


In fact, TBP was how I found out about FS2_Open in the first place. Before that I was cluelessly playing with retail FS2...

[Dark Hunter]

I don't know about them being weaker in FS2. The impression I got from the nebular conflict (and especially from the subsequent Capella invasion) was that no matter how many Shivan ships got blasted, three more came to take its place. I felt the GTVA was fighting an uphill battle for the entire campaign.

Basically, the impression I got was that the Shivans outnumbered the GTVA a hundred to one (and not just with the Sathanas Fleet, I'm talking about with their destroyers, cruisers, etc.).

As for the atmosphere... that's a toss-up. FS1 had a creepy atmoshpere, FS2 had an (to me anyway) epic atmosphere, and neither of them can hold a candle to Sync/Transcend. 

[Snail]

Perhaps I shouldn't have said "Which do you ENJOY the most", the main question was which sort of atmosphere was the best, really.

[jr2]

...reset the poll; edit the first post and change the title to Best atmosphere: FS1 or FS2?

[lenard27]

The atmospere in Freespace 1 was better, but the storyline in Freespace 2 was better.  I felt like it was scarier in Freespace 1 because of the lucifer being invincible and all, but the story in Freespace 2 was more interesting to me.

[peterc10]

the only way i could enjoy freespace 1 fully is to go bak 2 wen i first played the campaign. the atmosphere was brillaint, but it was missing from freespace 2.

[Snail]

FS1 just had that 'spook' to it, but FS2 just didn't...

[Wobble73]

I preferred FS2 as you were fighting a war throughout on two fronts, the NTF and the Shivans, In FS1 you were fighting the Vasudans, then you were fighting the Shivans and allied to the Vasudans. Wjat would have been better if there would have been a hardcore rebel group of Vasudnas in FS1 who fought back harder after the arrival of the Shivans as it was the Terrans who brought down the wrath of the Great Destroyers upon them (Hammer of light in reverse???? )

[Snail]

Why not just plain HoL?

[Grizzly]

FreeSpace 2 was my first freespace

and I enjoyed it the most

[BS403]

Freespace 1 was much better. It had better atmosphere and better storyline. In fs 2 you killed 1 shivan, 3 more popped up in its placed, but then you just destroyed them too(except for the sathanas fleet).

[CP5670]

The overall atmosphere was about equally good in both of them (certain cutscenes played a large role there in both games), but FS2's story had way more depth and originality to it.

[jr2]

FS1 made my hair stand on end .  FS2, sometimes (DIVE!...).  I think what some people are noticing is the sense of utter vulnerability felt with FS1.  You get shields, great, the Lucy has impenetrable shields.  You get better fighters, but you feel like you're in a MiG 21 vs an F-15 most of the time.  You get the sensation of a bug being played with by a mean school kid that is stomping the ground, not squishing his prey just yet; he wants to play first.  The ending kind of hangs by a thread.

Now, in FS2, you have the big C... which evens things out a bit.  Your fighters don't suck quite as much (except for the Herc2, unfortunately), and you feel that, with a lot of effort, you might just turn the tide of this war.  The Knossos brings a sense of awe and wondering, but when the Shivans come in, you pretty much think "Oh, great, now the C has something to shoot". 

When you see the Sathanas, you realize that the Shivans are extremely powerful, and this isn't going to be easy; you get a bit scared.  Then, when you find out there are 80 of them, you start getting the FS1 atmosphere, but it is quickly replaced by confusion as the fleet just sits at Cappella, surrounding the sun, which is still worrying.  At the end, you're kind of struck with the Shivan's huge technical superiority and strength, but so many more questions are raised, and almost none answered.  You don't have time to develop the horror that you sense in FS1.  If it had taken longer for the Sath fleet to arrive, then maybe...

[FlyingBadger]

Your fighters don't suck quite as much (except for the Herc2, unfortunately),

Sort of a threadjack, but the Herc II is more of a missile-boat.  Yeah if you try dogfighting and using primaries, it doesn't have the punch that the Herc1 or even the Myrm has.  But the thing can carry over 70 Harpoons, enough for about 35 splashes on their own.  The primaries are just for cleanup, or to load a Maxim.  If you want short-range power, bring along a load of Tempests, one bay can hold a few hundred of them.  The shielding is really tough too.  I think the Herc2 is a great assault fighter if you load it out right.

As for the comparison...I love battling around capital ships, which makes FS2's atmosphere better for me.  Not as much in the overall story (although it did have much more depth than FS1, I loved the Bosch/ETAK angle), but the individual missions involving capital ships were much more exciting.  Whether to take the time and risk of blasting vital beam and flak turrets off cruisers was something you had to consider carefully every time they showed up.  Not to mention being under heavy flak, slamming your burners to get away while staring at your shield indicator hoping they can stay up just long enough to get you out of range.  I thought the new, dangerous capital ships added a lot of 'atmosphere' to the missions.

[Mobius]

WELCOME TO THE HLPBB! 25th!


I think it's just because of beam cannons.

[S-99]

I played the fs1 demo and liked it, then i found the fs2 demo and like it better. Then i bought fs2 and beat it. And then i bought fs1 and beat it. It's really fun to play games with the sequel first and work your way down to the first game. Playing fs2 first made fs1 really interesting.

[jr2]

Played ST yet?