I liked Freelancer. But I thought that DarkStar One was quite similar and that is on the GOG catalog if anyone is interested.

DS1 is nothing like Freelancer. For one, DS1 has no multiplayer. DS1's also limiting you to a single ship and all systems look alike. Yes it's got a more recent engine, but it gets boring a lot faster.

You're talking as if Freelancer's mutliplayer was something to shout about...
In terms of being like Freelancer there are a LOT of elements in DS1 that are LIKE freelancer, compared to the two that are DISLIKE freelancer that you just posted. And to be fair, multiplayer is a pretty moot point in that case.. And last time I checked the multiplayer "as it is" is pretty much considered to be junk. Whether the fan community did anything to fix that is a different question entirely.
Being "like" a game and not sharing a "feature" are two completely different things to be fair.

Darkstar 1 has no Juni. And for me, Juni -is- something to shout about.
...
What? She's cute. :D

She's annoying :P

Titan, which actually is the most powerful of the bunch, though the Sabre got the highest damage potential, because of the top mounted turret.

I think it came out that the Sabre was the heaviest armed, the Titan was the heaviest armoured and shielded and the Eagle was the most agile.
At least they were distinctly different rather than just basically being reskinned models of one craft.
Though I remember playing a mod that had a ton of craft from film and TV and Darth Mauls ship from The Phantom Menace was about the most powerful. :)

She's voiced by Jennifer Hale.
Jennifer Hale = Hawt voice to be hearing over your radio. (Laughs) But, you know, just my opinion. :D

When you say Jennifer Hale. I think Bastila. Hence the annoying comment even MORE so ;).
But, I will agree, if there was a Queen of video game voice overs.. Jennifer Hale would be in the running. Not only that, she's pretty darn good and versatile also.

Somewhat releated; Steam has Tachyon the Fringe, almost as good as Terminus. Yeah!

Freelancer - the game that looked awesome and promising, but failed in almost every aspect except for the graphics.
Horrible AI, combat/equipment dynamics was pure fail, trading was as static as it could possibly gets, every freighter ship was virtually completely useless thanks to the failed turret system/combat mechanic - where you could get shot down in less than a second or be invulnerable depending on where you were - the level system was just plain idiotic and made 0 sense.
If Freelancer only had the economy of X3/Elite and the space sim aspects of the Freespace series, it would probably end up going down as one of the greatest space sim games ever. But alas, it had absolutely nothing except for the atmosphere and that alone is not enough for a good game.

If you want my advice: go for it!
Tachyon is a different and much more linear game than Freelancer; there is no trading involved, and the free-roaming is rather limited, but I personally still consider it a better game. It has a solid story line, a perfect sci-fi atmosphere without aliens (for a change), some rather unique mission objectives, interesting side-missions, several sectors which each has its own unique look and feel, and two separate campaigns. You can either join a group of early settlers and fight the good fight against a greedy corporation, or you can join the corpers and get a rather profitable career by chasing away the settlers in the name of capitalism. Either way, the story remains human, and you get to see things from both sides; there is no real good or evil in the game; just desperate people trying to get by in a hostile, inhospitable and merciless universe.
While the game is no Freespace 2, the graphics are still quite nice; there are massive space stations, nice lighting effects and colourful backgrounds. There are some muddy textures about, but you really won't notice it so much. The two sides also have their own distinct space-ship design and weaponry that truly adds to the scenario: the Corporation use clean, sleek, streamlined models that looks straight off the assembly line, while the rebels use improvised, "home-made" hardware made by assembling probes and machinery and tying it all together with nuts and bolts and duct-tape. The difference can be seen and heard, as well as felt.
It has been a while since I played the game, but as far as I can remember, all the voice acting were top-notch (with Bruce Cambell leading the pack, of course, but everyone did a great job), as was the music and the rather different, but good-sounding sound effects.
Overall, I view the game as an extremely polished but overlooked gem, and one I would heartily recommend to any fellow science fiction or space-combat fan.

Tachyon still has an active fanbase, and there is still a group of modders out there who are trying to -slowly- update the graphics engine.
www.fringespace.org

sheepdragon: Should be no problem mate, just ask the admins of the server if they move your old characters to your new ID.
@Monkey: Eh, try out the MP, it is the best part of the game ;)
Eh..open/free universe - How many Space-sims have this feature? There is a reason why the MP community is quite still active after 7-8 years after release of the game. ;)
Nimagraven, some differents between FL and DS1 got already counted - DS1 has always the same systems, only one ship, (afaik) not almost that much factions and bg stories that FL has, no MP.
@Skyrage: Freighters are meant to be weak - Where would be the sense if a freighter can take out same level fighters, which are specialized in fighting (unlike cargo ships)?
And you forgot the completly free universe in MP - One of the main and best aspects of the game.
BTW, some mods/servers have introduced rebalancing and/or dynamic economy meanwhile. (www.freelancerserver.de,www.crossfire.swat-portal.com)
PS: There is a freelancer mod out there which really enhances the graphics:
http://the-starport.net/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26&topic=352.0