FreeSpace 2

Article summary

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 again thrusting the player into the role of a pilot fighting against the mysterious aliens, the Shivans. While defending the human race and its alien Vasudan allies, the player also gets involved in putting down a rebellion. The game features large numbers of fighters alongside gigantic capital ships in a battlefield fraught with beams, shells and missiles in detailed star systems and nebulae. Free multiplayer games were available via Parallax Online which also ranked players by their statistics. A persistent galaxy was also available as SquadWar for players to fight with each other over territories. In 2002, Volition released the source code for the game engine under a non-commercial license. This code became the core of the FreeSpace 2 Source Code Project, which continuously improves it and enables new features. In cooperation with the FreeSpace Upgrade Project the game's graphics are kept up to date.…

Key claims

1. publication date: 2004-02-02 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. release date: 1999 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
3. release date: 1999-09-30 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
4. release date: 2002-04-25 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
5. release date: 2003 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the publication date is "2004-02-02". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the release date is "1999". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. The record states that the release date is "1999-09-30". What evidence would count against this claim?
5. The record states that the release date is "2002-04-25". What evidence would count against this claim?
6. The record states that the release date is "2003". What evidence would count against this claim?
7. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
8. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360084916