It doesn't feel much like Freelancer, except superficially.
The Roguelike idea behind the game design, in particular, rather than the distinct Places of that title, made a big difference; whatever story they hang on this has to hang within a semi-random palette that may or may not end up feeling very dull and similar after a while.
It's very pretty, though, and frankly, I think that I sense real enthusiasm from the team about this one; they clearly played Freelancer at some point (the UI is full of nods to its design) and that is the one game that many have talked about making a proper sequel to, but it never happens.
The only really serious problem I see with the proposal is that it's essentially not possible to even mod it, starting from that premise, and arrive at anything like FL.
Being a Roguelike, designed around a single ship that you just tack Opti-Max Stuff® to... it's just not really equivalent, and frankly, if weapon balance or the difficulty ramp isn't darn-near perfect, it'll suck, because so many runs will end due to RNG. I'm not sure a game built around the premise of, "if you don't have <this gun>, you die" is a winner.
