It sorta is the predecessor of Freelancer I think, with a cast of actors, the character which you play was performed by Clive Owen, if you know that dude.
You travel between planets, blow stuff up, trade, buy bigger ships with bigger guns, buy container ships to fill with your goods. But if you try to fill em with female sex slaves, guns, drugs and what not the police will come after ya!
Anyhoo, Wiki said this: "Privateer 2: The Darkening (1996)
As Lev Arris, a man with amnesia, the player must take the life of a privateer in the Tri-System region of space, finding out about his past along the way.
Although The Darkening features no obvious connection with the "mainstream" Wing Commander series, there are several links that bind it to the larger universe. The game features references to a "Confederation", and one of the easter egg derelicts is a Talon light fighter. Perhaps anticipating a future title connecting The Darkening with Wing Commander, the game's developers set the plot sufficiently far in the "future", in the year 2790.
The game features live-action video directed by Erin Roberts. The cast included Clive Owen, John Hurt, Christopher Walken, Brian Blessed, David Warner and J