Freedom Fighters

"Solid in some areas and lacking in others"

I was never a big fan of EA and their games. I always felt they were over-using their franchises and milking them yearly. I was and still critical of their actions and their games. Being critical of them like I am, I never even glanced at Freedom Fighters. I figured it was going to be the same old junk that EA has been coming out for years, but when I saw the game for 19.99 I decided to give it a chance. I was wrong, while Freedom Fighters is not without its flaws, it is a bold attempt by EA to try something new. While the gameplay mechanics are similar to that of other 3rd person shooters what makes Freedom Fighters unique is commanding a small army into battle. While we have seen team based games such as the Tom Clancy games, Freedom Fighters allows more support then any of those. The story begins with the city of Manhattan being invaded and taken over by the Russians. Now it is your duty to liberate yourselves from them. You will recruit, command troops, and use weapons as you see fit to guide yourself to regaining your freedom.

Now Freedom Fighters is by no means a bad looking game, but compared to other Xbox games it's just not that great looking. Character models and backgrounds all look good and provide some good detail. The game also runs steadily with very few slow downs. The animation is smooth and the characters movements seem lifelike. The backgrounds overall are solid, but nothing to brag about. All in all it is a very good looking game, but it definitely isn't the best looking game on the Xbox.

Being a Squad Based game, you are required to recruit fighters and give out commands that you see fit. You can tell them to fall back or go in with their guns firing. Using the X, Y and B button you can tell your soldiers to defend, attack or follow you. The controls are well designed for this game. With L being the jump button, R being the trigger that shoots, X, Y and B to give out orders, A being the action/use button. Now you can bring up a menu that allows you to use your med kits and switch weapons by pressing the directional keys. The black button is for crouching and avoiding enemy fire. A minor complaint about the control layout are the close combat moves, which is the white button. I do, however have a major gripe about how you have to pull up the menu. Bringing up the menu keys are a hassle at times because it gets in your way of fighting. Now the camera system is decent, you can rotate it but at times it does get in your way. The game allows you to make use of weapons such as the sniper rifle, pistols and assault rifles and they are all useful in their own ways. Coming up with strategies to take out an enemy is quite fun. But at times the enemy A.I is too easy, not only do they go down easily but they don't do a very good job of taking cover. The gameplay gets repetitive towards the end. Running and gunning is always fun for a certain amount of time, but when the game lacks strategy in how you approach the fire fight makes it rather stale after a while. Now with that being said the game play in Freedom Fighters is solid overall with certain flaws that drag down the gameplay.

The Voice acting was decent, but nothing special, it didn't take away my enjoyment of the game though. Also gun sounds and explosions do sound pretty good and life like but again the sounds are just not that great.

Freedom Fighters is not a long game by any means, but it's a very fun game that should be played more then once. Also there is a multi-player mode that will give this game much added replayability. Running and gunning is fine and dandy, but it gets a bit stale after a while. That is a major gripe, is the game lacks strategy that would make you come back for more. The multi-player mode allows you to form your own army and take on another friend's army. The multi-player mode it fairly good, but you will also find yourself running and gunning most of your time. There really isn't much depth in the gameplay to make the multi-player mind blowing. If you want a multi-player game that has a bunch of mindless shooting then Freedom Fighters is that game.

Well the average gameplay, coupled with average sound and graphics make a very average game. That is what Freedom Fighter is....very average. Freedom Fighters is a game that was obviously rushed and lacks any innovation or quality. If gamers are looking for a mindless shooting game then this game might appease them.

I must applaud EA for trying something new. While the game is not spectacular I respect EA for trying something else other then their Bond or Madden series. There is definitely some issues with the game that could of been better. With a little more polish and more time put into it, Freedom Fighters could of been a good title. Hopefully a sequel will be made and the kinks will be worked out. Overall Freedom Fighters is a solid game and for 20 bucks I would suggest getting it. Had it been any more I would not, but for 20 you will find some enjoyment out of it.

Pros
+ Controlling a vast number of troops into battle
+ Smooth frame rate
+ Warfare type gameplay
+ Control layout fits the game
+ You can find this game for 20 bucks or less

Cons
- Repetitive run and gun gameplay
- A.I is lacking
- Sup-par multi-player mode
- Voice acting could of been better
- Rather short
- Lack of depth

Graphics - 7.5/10
Gameplay - 7/10
Sound - 6/10
Value - 6/10
Presentation - 6/10
Overall - 6.5/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/19/04, Updated 01/03/05