Freedom Fighters
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.jpg) "So i ask you now to take up arms against the evil invaders and yell in their faces that THEY WILL NEVER TAKE OUR FREEDOM"
-Christopher Stone | ||||||||||||
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Freedom Fighters is a 2003 third-person shooter video game for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows. It was developed by IO Interactive and published by Electronic Arts.
The game is set in an alternate 2003 history in which the Soviet Union invaded and occupied New York City. The player takes the role of Christopher Stone, a plumber turned resistance movement leader, fighting against the invaders.
The Windows version of the game was re-released digitally on September 21, 2020, by IO Interactive on Steam, GOG.com, and Epic Games Store. Included in the purchase of the re-release is the full "Official Freedom Fighters soundtrack" together with 2 bonus tracks that were never included in the game.
Sypnosis
The Soviet Union became a world superpower by dropping the first atomic bomb on Berlin, ending World War II, and propping up communist states throughout the globe which began to surround the US in the present day. New York plumbing brothers Chris and Troy Stone travel to meet with their next client, an activist named Isabella Angelina, only to find her apartment abandoned. The Soviet Union launched a surprise invasion of New York City and suddenly Soviet soldiers, led by General Vasilij Tatarin, seized Troy. Amidst the attack, Chris escapes to the streets, encountering a man named Mr. Jones and resistance member Phil Bagzton and Dihn 'The Kid' Nguyen. After rescuing Isabella from a police station and Troy from a post office, the group retreats to the sewers and sets up a base of operations as New York is lost, with the media now being controlled by the Soviet Union.
Why It Has The Freedom
- The graphics look stunningly impressive by 2003 standards, even today.
- The main feature of the game: Squad Commands works incredibly well.
- As you progress throughout the game, you can control up to twelve units of Freedom Fighters to help you on the missions.
- There are a total of three commands you can order to your squad: Follow, Attack, and Defend.
- Simplistic yet satisfying gunplay.
- There are multiple routes you can take to complete certain missions, there are locations to select, and completing them in a different order makes the other missions much easier to pass.
- The story is quite interesting: You play as a plumber named "Christopher Stone" on another job to fix a toilet when suddenly the Russians start to take over New York, you then escape through a sewer and have been chosen to take back the country from the Russian Invaders.
- The multiplayer in the console version is fun.
- In 2020, the Windows release was re-released with widescreen support on digital platforms: Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store after 17 years of being abandonware.
- Amazing and cinematic soundtrack by the famous Jesper Kyd (known for being the composer of other IO Interactive games such as the Kane & Lynch series and Hitman series).
- The voice acting is good.
- The A.I for the friendly squads are smart.
- The game concept of a rebel gang leader trying to take back the country from the invaders is pretty interesting and unique.
- This is the first third-person shooter game to make use of the over-the-shoulder aiming feature which functions similarly to aiming down sights in first-person shooters as both functions allow you to kill certain enemies at longer distances.
Bad Qualities
- The level "Boat Landing" is incredibly hard, especially on the harder difficulties because you don't have enough units to join you in the fight and you start with weak weapons.
- The first part of the game can also be hard because of not having enough units.
- The multiplayer from the console version is absent in the PC version.
- The console version controls are stiff because they heavily rely on auto-aiming.
- Just like its spiritual successor Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, the bullets will never go where you're aiming, especially when you're using a low-caliber weapon like a pistol or a submachine gun.
Reception
Freedom Fighters received generally positive reviews, with an average scoring of 81.5/100 overall by Metacritic and 82.69% overall by GameRankings. It was praised for having an excellent AI for squad tactics, which served to enhance the sense of immersion in the "extremely detailed" environments and maintain the illusion of working with a team. The game's sound quality was also of note, both for the realistic combat noises and the game's Russian-influenced music, which "adds a perfect level of drama to the proceedings. GameSpot named it the best GameCube game of September 2003.
Critics noted that while the game "does a marvelous job" of creating a realistic environment, the story was lacking in substance and fairly predictable, and while the squad AI is good, the enemy AI was lacking. Another source of criticism was the game's length. The game can be cleared relatively quickly but offers little replay value. According to Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot, "The only real problem with Freedom Fighters is that there simply isn't enough of it.
Trivia
- As of 2020, the Windows version of the game has been re-released on multiple digital platforms.