History YMMV / Freelancer

** During the Liberty section of the game, most locations (planets or {{Space Station}}s) are green or friendly to you, and red is reserved for enemy fighters. Then, when Trent and Juni are framed and have to make their escape from Manhattan, '''everything''' save for Juni's fighter is red. Including the Newark Station, Trenton Outpost, the trade lanes, and ''Planet Manhattan itself''. What was once the safest place in the universe for you is now the most dangerous. And you're stuck in a small, weak single fighter against a ''huge'' Liberty Navy fleet that promptly starts to [[GangUpOnTheHuman open fire on you]] from all directions. Essentially, it's the opening battle against the Order fighters, [[OhCrap only inverted against you]].

** During the Liberty section of the game, most locations (planets or {{Space Station}}s) are green or friendly to you, and red is reserved for enemy fighters. Then, when Trent and Juni make their escape from Manhattan, '''everything''' save for Juni's fighter is red. Including the Newark Station, Trenton Outpost, the trade lanes, and ''Planet Manhattan itself''. What was once the safest place in the universe for you is now the most dangerous. And you're stuck in a small, weak single fighter against a ''huge'' Liberty Navy fleet.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: During missions, the music makes ''flying in a straight line to a waypoint'' feel absolutely ''epic''.

* NightmareFuel: During the Liberty section of the game, most solars (planets or space stations) are green (friendly) to you, and red is reserved for enemy fighters. Then, when Trent and Juni make their escape from Manhattan, ''everything'' save for Juni's fighter is red. Including the Newark Station, Trenton Outpost, the trade lanes, and ''Planet Manhattan itself''. What was once the safest place in the universe for you is now the most dangerous.

* ParanoiaFuel: The whole first part of the game seems to be a tale of one unlucky man (you) being caught in a hard place by the shifting tides of interstellar politics. Awkward but not terrifying. And then, suddenly, one of your adversaries turns out ''not to be human.'' And you're told, matter-of-factly, "The Nomads can infest anyone, mimic anyone. And they've already infiltrated all the human governments. Essentially, they've ''already'' won."
* ScrappyWeapon: Missiles are laughably useless in that they don't track properly and don't deal the damage they should. You're better off taking another gun over them.

* StrawFeminist: Zigzagged with the Golden Chrysanthemums. On the one hand, they are an all-female organization whose stated intention is to overthrow the current Kusari government and establish a matriarchy. On the other hand, they maintain a very close relationship with the masculine Blood Dragons. It's unclear whether this is just a long-running EnemyMine setup or a true alliance. On the ''other'' other hand of this mutant monstrosity, the GC also require all their members to get addicted to Cardamine and treat their founder as an explicitly religious prophet.

* LoveItOrHateIt: The control scheme. Keyboard-and-mouse users love it, while joystick users who can't use their preferred controls like every other space sim consider it a deplorable ScrappyMechanic that ruined the game and possibly the whole genre.
** This fight, by natural progression, is still going on over at the StarCitizen forums to this day; although joystick controls are supported, they are considered inferior in performance to the mouse.
** For that matter, just suggesting the addition of a ''Freelancer''-style control scheme in any other space sim community is a great way to start a FlameWar.

* MostAnnoyingSound: Police cargo-scan announcements. Edges into HellIsThatNoise if you're actually carrying contraband.

* HellIsThatNoise: Quite a few.
-->''"I'm engaging Freelancer Alpha 1."''
-->''"Okay, drop the cargo. You've got loot, and I want it '''now'''."''
-->''"Danger: Radiation damage/volatile gases/mines detected."''
-->''"Trade Lane disrupted."''
-->''"Good job, but you're not done yet. There are more hostiles at the next waypoint."''
-->''"We read that your primary target's not there. Hold off his cronies until we can locate him."''
-->''"Shield failed."''

* StopHelpingMe: Allied ships have a tendency to fly into your sights during a heated battle, hence causing several unnecessary friendly fire incidents that can turn them, as well as their allies, against ''you'' if they are hit hard enough. This is more common in Liberty space, especially in the New York System, where most [=NPC=] fighters cannot survive more than three hits from the most powerful weapons in the game.

* AnticlimaxBoss: The bombing run on the Nomad city is almost the same as the rest of the "blow up the shield generators" you are given ''every other mission''.
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: [[Funny/{{Freelancer}} Has its own page.]]
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: During missions, the music makes ''flying in a straight line to a waypoint'' feel absolutely ''epic''.

* MaryTzu: Casper Orillion managed to steal an entire battle cruiser, among other things.
** Then again, it ''did'' have a cloaking device.

* ParanoiaFuel: The whole storyline. The WHOLE storyline.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: "Hey ... hey ... hey, wake up!" '''* SLAP* '''
-->'''Trent''' (after you accept one of the final missions): Sure. As long as I'm not shot at, knocked out, held at gunpoint, electrocuted, skewered alive by giant alien shapeshifters, have to dive out windows or fight off spindly Nomad incubi...everything should be fine.
* ParanoiaFuel: The whole storyline. The WHOLE storyline.

* StrawFeminist: Zigzagged with the Golden Chrysanthemums. On the one hand, they are an all-female organization whose stated intention is to overthrow the current Kusari government and establish a matriarchy. On the other hand, they maintain a very close relationship with the masculine Blood Dragons. It's unclear whether this is just a long-running EnemyMine setup or a true alliance. On the ''other'' other hand of this mutant monstrosity, the GC also require all their members to get addicted to Cardamine and treat their founder as an explicitly religious prophet.

* StrawFeminist: Zigzagged with the Golden Chrysanthemums. On the one hand, they are an all-female organization whose stated intention is to overthrow the current Kusari government and establish a matriarchy. On the other hand, they maintain a very close relationship with the masculine Blood Dragons. It's unclear whether this is just a long-running EnemyMine setup or a true alliance. On the ''other'' other hand of this mutant monstrosity, the GC also require all their members to get addicted to Cardamine and treat their founder as an explicitly religious prophet.
* AnticlimaxBoss: The bombing run on the Nomad city is almost the same as the rest of the "blow up the shield generators" you are given ''every other mission''.

* StrawFeminists: Zigzagged with the Golden Chrysanthemums. On the one hand, they are an all-female organization whose stated intention is to overthrow the current Kusari government and establish a matriarchy. On the other hand, they maintain a very close relationship with the masculine Blood Dragons. It's unclear whether this is just a long-running EnemyMine setup or a true alliance. On the ''other'' other hand of this mutant monstrosity, the GC also require all their members to get addicted to Cardamine and treat their founder as an explicitly religious prophet.

* StrawFeminists: Zigzagged with the Golden Chrysanthemums. On the one hand, they are an all-female organization whose stated intention is to overthrow the current Kusari government and establish a matriarchy. On the other hand, they maintain a very close relationship with the masculine Blood Dragons. It's unclear whether this is just a long-running EnemyMine setup or a true alliance.

* StrawFeminists: Zigzagged with the Golden Chrysanthemums. On the one hand, they are an all-female organization whose stated intention is to overthrow the current Kusari government and establish a matriarchy. On the other hand, they maintain a very close relationship with the masculine Blood Dragons. It's unclear whether this is just a long-running EnemyMine setup or a true alliance.

* StopHelpingMe: Allied ships have a tendency to fly into your sights during a heated battle, hence causing several unnecessary friendly fire incidents that can turn them, as well as their allies, against ''you'' if they are hit hard enough. This is more common in Liberty space, especially in the New York System, where most [=NPC=] fighters cannot survive more than three hits from the most powerful weapons in the game.

* {{Shipping}}: Done in fanfiction as a reaction to the lack of romance between Trent and Juni.

* LoveItOrHateIt: Among [[SimulationGame space "sim" fans]], ''Freelancer'' gets this reaction in terms of its '''controls''', having eschewed joysticks entirely for pure keyboard-and-mouse control. Either you love not having to buy a joystick to play effectively, or you hate not being able to use the one you already have because piloting a ship with anything else would feel totally wrong.

* HellIsThatNoise: ''"I'm engaging Freelancer Alpha 1 - 1"''
** ''"All right, drop the cargo. You've got loot, and I want it'' now."
** "Warning: Radiation damage/volatile gases/mines detected."
** "Trade Lane disrupted."
** ''"Good job, but you're not done yet! There are more hostiles at the next waypoint."''
** ''"We read that your primary target's not there. Hold off his cronies until we can locate him."''

** "Dock. Dock denied. Destination is too far."

** Oddly, "Hull Breach Imminent" is not this, since before it could possibly repeat you either use Nanobots or blow up.