Freelancer have been my favorite game since 2003.. and I think it will continue to be.
But I am llways searching for a game "like" freelancer.. Especially space sims.
I'm currently waiting for the Release of Jumpgate Evolution. I really hope it turns out great.
But other than that I need a list of space sims you've tried and your comments on it. I'm mostly looking for a fun space sim, so don't say X3. Oh dear god the horror... It's eve online all over again with the learning curve.
I'd like to play something rather new, so don't suggest games before 2001.. It's just not me.
darkstar one is a space RPG. - and i would also suggest independence war 2, but then, you asked not to have older games to be suggested ( but its a very good game anyway - and even the graphics are nice enough )
other than that - freespace 2 is old, but since they released the sourcecode, the modding community has updated both the content as well as the graphics of the game to near todays standards.
It's a first person space sim, more arcade like than some others I have seen. The ship selection is a bit limited to around 13 ships that are flyable. It has two complete campaigns that are avalable depending on a choice you make at one point in the game as well. You either end up flying for the high-tech mega corporation known as The Galactic Spanning Corporation (GalSpan), or the rough and tough freedom fighters of the Bora Colonies. Bruce Campbell voices the main character, Jake Logan...who gets caught up in the conflict between the two groups as GalSpan attempts to kick the Bora out of the space they have lived in...as the Bora arrived and colonized the systems hundreds of years ago, they wanted to escape the government and never got a colonization charter...GalSpan wants the raw materials from these regions.
While you can fly around to different starbases and buy different equipment and take lots of different missions like Freelancer, you cannot just leave the base and fly around whenever you want. You can only fly around while on an assigned mission. That is the only thing I don't like about the game... But luckily, all the missions, even the side missions have points/reasons for being there, and doing them actually seems like something important, rather than just getting more credits and killing time.