"Does this fight for Freedom fight your boredom as well?!"

Introduction

Before I get started, I would like to apologise for the terrible pun in the title of this review...

Freedom Fighters, the latest game from the team behind Hitman 2 is available on PC and the three current major consoles. The question is though... is it any good?

The main gimmick with Freedom Fighters is the ability to commandeer a team of up to 12 troops to lend you a hand in your battle for freedom! How this works and whether it is any good I will divulge into below...

Gameplay

Freedom Fighters is a third person shooter which is controlled through keyboard and mouse. The levels of the game are all mission based, which vary from having to destroy helipads to collecting C4, the levels usually end up with you having to (ever so patriotically) raise the American flag over the level you have just defeated. Also, when you finish a level you are usually transported to your ''Rebel Base'' in which you can have a quick walk around and then get the brief on the next mission. A nice little touch which this game has is that as the game progresses things in the Rebel Base do too. For example as you advance through the game and gain more power you can see tents off in the distance with allies occupying them.

The whole idea behind controlling a team of other people works like this. You gain charisma for doing certain things in the game, for example healing a wounded soldier... destroying a certain building of the enemy etc. when this charisma fills up a bar in the top left of the screen (Just below your health bar) you can get one more person to join you, and the charisma bar starts anew!

To get an ally to join you, all you have to do is walk right up to them and press whatever button you have assigned to 'Use' they will then either follow you, or decline your invitation to battle if you do not have enough charisma for them to follow.

When you have got your team ready there are a range of things that you can do with them. You can send them to check out a certain area by simply looking at the area and pressing the corresponding button, if you do this on, or near an enemy you will send out the order to attack! If you only tap the button then only one of your troops will obey your command. If you keep it held down they all will, this applies to all of the orders you can give them... the rest of which I will go into right now!

Defending. You can get your troops to defend an area by, just like with the attacking, looking at the area and pressing whichever key it is you have assigned to do this. You can also command your troops to regroup and follow you around.

This whole idea works very well in the game and truly adds a new dimension to it, you can send them all out into battle to keep the enemy busy whilst you find a way to get through them, or to take out their leader etc. There are a whole range of different possibilities available with this addition to the game. A truly valuable addition indeed!

Story

The story of Freedom Fighters isn't exactly the area in which the game shines... it isn't that bad, but it could have used some work. Basically, it is this; Russians have invaded America (just as America have so many other countries) and taken power claiming the American government is corrupt and has committed many crimes against other countries of the world, assassination attempts etc.

In the game you control a plumber who is just on the job one day and you walk into a house which is suddenly stormed by numerous Russians asking a whole range of questions... then you are thrown into the action and you meet a few people who tell you of what has happened and what you must do. Your aim is to gather as much resistance against the Russians as you can and retake control!

Graphics

The graphics of Freedom Fighters is not truly groundbreaking, or amazing at all by today's standards... but there is something about it, something about the way that the world is presented in the game that makes the graphics quite a pleasure to view. The graphics certainly do fit the game and as I said, they are quite nice... but they do not stand out, and certainly aren't the best thing about this game, unlike the musical score...

Sound

Ahh, the music of this game truly is superb. It includes epic orchestra laden tracks with all sorts of grand sounds and various operatic bellows which fit in with events in the game like a puzzle! The music really is fantastic and suits the game amazingly well. On some parts it is sort of techno-classical-esque which works surprisingly well, but the best part is triggering a key event in a level and having a full orchestra reconfirm the fact you have triggered a key event by blasting out beautiful, yet powerful music accompanying whatever action is going on in the game. The music is spot on, a real treat to hear.

Other sound effects are pretty good... gunshots, footsteps etc. the regular old stuff, some of the voice acting can get quite annoying at times though, like when one of the main character continuously yells a variety of pro-American sayings every so often which usually ends in him screaming ''WHOOOO HOOOOO!'' or ''YEAAAAAAAAAAH!''... but on the whole, the voice acting is okay... but any problems it may have are by far covered up by the fantastic soundtrack that the game boosts.

Play Time

Freedom Fighters has a pretty standard length for the genre that the game is. It is neither too short nor too long to an extent at which it stands out to you... I would say it is just right, but perhaps a few more levels could have been added. It will still keep you busy for quite a bit though.

Replayability

There are a range of different difficulties to play this game on, and after finishing it once you are given the option of playing any level of the game on whatever difficulty/difficulties you have finished it on. Also, if you finish it on the harder difficulties you can unlock a bonus level to play!

Final Recommendation

I certainly recommend that fans of the genre buy this straight away! People who are weary of it should perhaps find a demo or read more into it... but at very least give it a go, because Freedom Fighters... although not too deep in terms of story, is a nice little treat to play and shouldn't be missed.

I give Freedom Fighters a 9/10... good mindless fun with a bit of tactics thrown into the mix!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/20/03, Updated 12/22/03