Freedom Fighters

"Take down the U.S.S.R. with guns a blaze!"

Freedom Fighters is a squad-based action game that puts you in the role as a plumber that is at the wrong place at the wrong time. All hell breaks loose, and it’s you and a band of rough “freedom fighters” against the Soviet army...

Graphics: Freedom Fighters has great graphics, although I think it could be better on the Xbox. The lighting is decent, and a lot of detail has gone into the environment, characters and background. Overall graphics are fine.

8/10

Story: Freedom Fighters takes place in present time. The USSR won World War II by developing and dropping the hydrogen bomb on Berlin, beating the U.S. in the Cold War. Russia then takes control all of Europe, and takes over South and Central America a few years prior to the game date. The level of deepness isn’t as high as in a game like Metal Gear Solid 2, nor as light as Postal 2. All in all the story is good enough to keep you interested enough to kill more people.

7/10

Sound: All the sounds are wonderful. The music isn’t much, acceptable, but not anything that’ll win a Grammy. Sound effects in this game are awesome, you can hear gunshots ricochet of cars, break glass and soldiers screaming. Great sound effects and alright music leads to a good score.

8/10

Game play: Shootouts are a blast. It’s awesome to see you and 12 of your buddies storm a warehouse and use a certain amount of strategy to defeat your foes. The AI in this game is fantastic, one of the best AI I’ve seen in awhile. Your teammates wont just stand around and get shot like idiots in other games I’ve played *cough The Thing cough*, they hide behind obstacles and usually stick together. You can order your friends by the touch of three simple buttons. Y is attack, in which your team scouts out the area you point them in and kill any enemies they find. The only thing I found annoying is that sometimes your team passes hiding enemies, and you watch as your buddies get there necks broke from behind. X is retreat/follow, where your team immediately comes back to you and follows you with great path finding skills, I never found a team member spinning in circles in a corner when I go upstairs. And B is defend, where your team stays in the area you are in and..well...defends it. Definitely the most fun I’ve had since Halo.

10/10

Controls: The controls are very simple. R trigger to shoot, sticks to move, pretty basic. The only problem I found was precise aiming with the left thumb stick is difficult at times, I often let go of it and end up dead. Other then that the controls are very good.

9/10

Overall: Freedom Fighters is a great game. But you may want to rent it first to see whether you like it or not. IF you are a fan of third person shooters OR squad based Game play then I recommend this is a great addition to your collection.

Overall: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/04/03