Yes, there is an alpha version which is still very rough and where many functions are missing. For beginners I would still not recommended it yet. It is possible to land on planets (server with 50 players at the moment) and everything goes without loading screens etc. I don't know the Draw Call numbers but it would be interesting to know them. CIG wants to ship the game with a low level API (Vulkan).
Very good video where I agree on most points. They are all well-founded and the ship design is indeed illogical in some areas. However, I wouldn't say the Freelancer "sucks" as a whole.
I wouldn't expect a big redesign of the Freelancer as it has been completely redesigned before but what I can imagine is that they improve the cockpit view because this one is really too bad and that has a huge effect on the fun factor. Let's see how the other Freelancer versions will be. Its sure that the UI/HUD is still undergoing general revisions.
I've never seen the top airlock before so maybe it's even relatively new. ^^ In the middle freight area weapon shelves can perhaps be placed at some point? Who knows.
Many functions will be added which is why I would not say that both two rear seats are superfluous but three seats (like in the Constellation) in the whole cockpit area would definitely be enough.
All in all, for the same money I would prefer the Cutlass which is brilliant and one of my favorite ships.
I'm not playing it right now, but I'll let you know. I don't even know if my name is X-RAY-86 or X-RAY-89 or something like that since I have several similar ones.