The ultimate comfort game for me. The game isn't physically demanding and it has a simple, yet nice look that evokes the PS2 era perfectly. The gunplay and missions are great fun, but what really elevates the experience is THE MUSIC.
It easily has one of my favorite soundtracks of any game. Jesper Kyd did a fantastic job and it easily makes Freedom Fighters a great game because of it.
It easily has one of my favorite soundtracks of any game. Jesper Kyd did a fantastic job and it easily makes Freedom Fighters a great game because of it.
Taught me more about communism than Miss Smirnova in high school
Freedom Fighters is a game I missed back in 2003. For whatever reason, I missed it entirely. I'm glad I got a second chance to play it. Despite some flaws, it was worth digging up and playing.
The story of Freedom Fighters is one you'll instantly recognize. Red Dawn, anyone? A fictional Soviet Union, that somehow isn't the economic and social disaster that the real one was, manages to invade the US with almost no opposition. The intro cinematic, one of the best parts of the game, depicts the invasion with four Russian nuclear subs parking just off the coast of New York. The cinematic is punctuated with exposition detailing the dates leading up to the invasion. At the same time, a masterful score provided by Jesper Kyd (who did the music for most of IO Interactive's games) plays in the background. I found myself watching the cinematic every time I booted up the game.
Anyway, you play as Chris Stone, your typical blue-collar everyman. He's called to a job at the house of a suspected rebel fighting the Soviet occupation. A little bit of wrong-place-wrong-time ensues, and Chris becomes the resistance leader. You spend the rest of the game fighting the Soviets to regain control of New York. Along the way, you gun down more Russian forces than I care to count, blow up a few vehicles, and cause general mayhem for the Soviet occupiers.
The graphics are serviceable. They're dated by modern standards but are comparable with most of the games released in 2003. It's also nice to play a game that has more than just brown and grey as colours.
The sound, especially the music, is a highlight of the game. Jesper Kyd's score is a blend of Soviet-era marches and more modern synth music, and it fits the game well. The voice acting is decent enough, although the Russians have stereotypical cartoon villain Russian voices. The sound effects are much like the graphics; they get the job done and are on par with what you would expect from a 2003 game, but they're nothing notable.
The gameplay makes Freedom Fighters the cult classic it has become. Each level of the game has you completing a primary objective with a smattering of side objectives across a series of zones. Each section is divided into four zones; you can travel between them using manhole covers.
You might load into one zone, find out you need C4 to complete an objective, then travel to another zone with a weapons cache, collect the C4 and return to the previous zone. You can tackle each zone in whatever order you want, although completing certain side objectives in certain zones will provide benefits in other zones. Blow up an attack chopper refuelling pad in one zone, and attack helicopters will stop spawning in the other zones.
Each zone has a primary objective that requires you to fight your way to a flag, tear down the Soviet flag and hoist an American one. Complete all the main objectives for each zone, and you complete the level and move on to the next one.
Chris has help, too. As you complete both primary and secondary objectives, you earn "Charisma," which fills up a meter. Each time the meter fills up, you gain the ability to recruit another freedom fighter to assist you. These freedom fighters can be found standing around in parts of each level. Near the end of the game, you can field a large group of squadmates, which helps with the increased volume of Soviet forces.
Your compatriates can be given simple orders like follow, attack and defend, allowing you to direct them around the battlefield. Their AI is also adequate. While they will occasionally charge headfirst into a machine gun nest or run up to enemies to bludgeon them with their guns, they're otherwise pretty good at taking down the enemy by themselves, especially in larger numbers. I never felt like I had to babysit them, and I was comfortable having them charge into the unknown in my place. This works well because by using the health kits around each level, you can revive them. There's almost no penalty if they die. If you die, however, you have to restart your zone and any progress you made since your last save.
All in all, I had a great time with Freedom Fighters. I see why it is on so many "overlooked games" lists.
The story of Freedom Fighters is one you'll instantly recognize. Red Dawn, anyone? A fictional Soviet Union, that somehow isn't the economic and social disaster that the real one was, manages to invade the US with almost no opposition. The intro cinematic, one of the best parts of the game, depicts the invasion with four Russian nuclear subs parking just off the coast of New York. The cinematic is punctuated with exposition detailing the dates leading up to the invasion. At the same time, a masterful score provided by Jesper Kyd (who did the music for most of IO Interactive's games) plays in the background. I found myself watching the cinematic every time I booted up the game.
Anyway, you play as Chris Stone, your typical blue-collar everyman. He's called to a job at the house of a suspected rebel fighting the Soviet occupation. A little bit of wrong-place-wrong-time ensues, and Chris becomes the resistance leader. You spend the rest of the game fighting the Soviets to regain control of New York. Along the way, you gun down more Russian forces than I care to count, blow up a few vehicles, and cause general mayhem for the Soviet occupiers.
The graphics are serviceable. They're dated by modern standards but are comparable with most of the games released in 2003. It's also nice to play a game that has more than just brown and grey as colours.
The sound, especially the music, is a highlight of the game. Jesper Kyd's score is a blend of Soviet-era marches and more modern synth music, and it fits the game well. The voice acting is decent enough, although the Russians have stereotypical cartoon villain Russian voices. The sound effects are much like the graphics; they get the job done and are on par with what you would expect from a 2003 game, but they're nothing notable.
The gameplay makes Freedom Fighters the cult classic it has become. Each level of the game has you completing a primary objective with a smattering of side objectives across a series of zones. Each section is divided into four zones; you can travel between them using manhole covers.
You might load into one zone, find out you need C4 to complete an objective, then travel to another zone with a weapons cache, collect the C4 and return to the previous zone. You can tackle each zone in whatever order you want, although completing certain side objectives in certain zones will provide benefits in other zones. Blow up an attack chopper refuelling pad in one zone, and attack helicopters will stop spawning in the other zones.
Each zone has a primary objective that requires you to fight your way to a flag, tear down the Soviet flag and hoist an American one. Complete all the main objectives for each zone, and you complete the level and move on to the next one.
Chris has help, too. As you complete both primary and secondary objectives, you earn "Charisma," which fills up a meter. Each time the meter fills up, you gain the ability to recruit another freedom fighter to assist you. These freedom fighters can be found standing around in parts of each level. Near the end of the game, you can field a large group of squadmates, which helps with the increased volume of Soviet forces.
Your compatriates can be given simple orders like follow, attack and defend, allowing you to direct them around the battlefield. Their AI is also adequate. While they will occasionally charge headfirst into a machine gun nest or run up to enemies to bludgeon them with their guns, they're otherwise pretty good at taking down the enemy by themselves, especially in larger numbers. I never felt like I had to babysit them, and I was comfortable having them charge into the unknown in my place. This works well because by using the health kits around each level, you can revive them. There's almost no penalty if they die. If you die, however, you have to restart your zone and any progress you made since your last save.
All in all, I had a great time with Freedom Fighters. I see why it is on so many "overlooked games" lists.