Freedom Fighters

"Take it to the streets and win back New York!"

I love games where the US gets in trouble, maybe because it's something that will probably never happen in my life, or maybe because I sometimes wish to see it happen; fact is I love seeing the US get invaded. The first game that really made me enjoy this was Red Alert 2, and I think there should be more games based on ''what if'' plots. In this game WWII ended in 1945 with the Soviets dropping the first hydrogen bomb on Germany and then the USSR quickly went to on establish itself as the dominant super-power in Europe. Slowly but surely the US gets surrounded by the USSR and in 2003 the invasion begins.... You play the role of a plumber called Chris Stone, he gets caught up in the invasion and ends up leading the Manhattan Resistance. This is a squad-based game: you're not tougher than anybody else so you can't really go in guns blazing! On to the review!

Graphics
Well the game looks very nice, there's nothing to say there. The animation is smooth and there is some kind of cartoon feel to the game... The gun fights look really amazing, I really like the sparks the bullets make when they hit walls and such. and one thing that is purely eye candy is the rag-doll effect the games handles: when you shoot someone they will behave rather realistically and fall to the ground always in accordance to the position they were in when they got shot (no more shooting the guy while he's crouching and when he dies he gets up only to fall to the ground!). this is especially good looking when explosives are used: people will fly up in the sky and when they fall their bodies will always ''adapt'' to the terrain in the best way possible, it really looks good when in action, trust me!

Audio
The music made for this game is very close to the music of the movie Enemy at the Gates, I don't know, but maybe Soviets really like epic sounding soundtracks... So the music is there to really make you feel like you're in a movie I feel: with the big singing voices and orchestra; it works very well too! On the sound effect level the game is a bit of a let-down: the guns sound rather weak. They sound real enough, but not very powerful, toned-down almost. It should be noted that grenades make the best noise I ever heard in a video game, very impressive!

Gameplay
Like I said in the introduction, this is a squad-based game. You start alone but eventually you get the ability to lead other resistance members, the max you can lead is 12. The game is based on a charisma meter: the more charisma you have, the more people you can lead. You gain charisma by helping out people that need first aid, by rescuing other resistance members or by completing secondary objectives (but completing them is almost always mandatory anyway). Other than that the game plays like an ordinary third-person shooter, but the gun fights are pure fun and the way the game handles it makes it look and play like a dream. There aren't that many different kind of weapons, but in a way, it makes the game a bit more realistic in the way that you get what's available to you: you won't be seeing any laser guns and such in this game! The game is rather linear and it's difficulty isn't overwhelming. It should be noted that the difficulty setting only changes how tough you are, and how tough the baddies are, nothing more. The game is rather long for an action game: an average of 10 hours. In total it isn't that much, but for this kind of game it's just the right length I feel, anymore would be tedious... There is no mulitplayer in this game, which is a shame because the engine could be used to make an awesome online game!!

In the end the game is an awesome one, anybody who remotely enjoys shooter should like this game. I especially love it for the setting the game has, and the way it sets the mood. I like guerilla warfare, and playing it in the streets of New York is a lot of fun! Highly recommended title here guys, don't be blinded by it's rather generic and bland look like I was (that is, before I got the demo!) and get it!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/30/03