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Freedom Fighters Review
Chris Leyton
29/09/2003
From the creators of 'Hitman 2' comes an action-packed frenzy that see's you as America's only hope against a Soviet invasion...
Weâve been looking forward to âFreedom Fightersâ ever since IO Interactive rose up our list of impressive developers with the amazing âHitman 2: Silent Assassinâ.
The all-action scope of the game appears to be the complete antithesis of the âHitmanâ series, giving IO Interactive the chance to display their cutting-edge technology on a different level.
âFreedom Fightersâ pitches players in an alternative reality, whereby the Cold War didnât bring about the collapse of the USSR. Opening with a couple of plumbers driving to the residence of Isabella Angelina, who happens to be a senior member of a party devoted to informing the American public of the threat of the Soviet Union. Troy and Chris simply appear to be one-dimensional Brooklyn plumbers that must be an in-joke towards Mario; however before you have chance to whack out your wrench and fix the blockage, a troop of Soviet Union troops ambush the apartment and capture Troy wrongly believing him to be Isabellaâs partner. Hence the Soviet Union invasion of America has begun, and you as Christ Stone venture forth to be the unlikely hero â“ a Freedom Fighter.
The opening scene is mightily impressive and sets the tone for the rest of the game. Having hidden in Isabellaâs apartment to escape the clutches of the Soviet troops, Chris escapes to find himself equipped with nothing more powerful then his trusty wrench. Itâs not long however before an old man leads you onto the streets below, gives you a handgun and draws the first gasp from the game. Itâs absolute carnage on the streets of Manhattan; gun-ships hover above and rain down fire on the cars and people below, explosions are rife whilst you and your newly acquainted chum make your way through the crowd.
This scene certainly sticks in your mind as itâs just so chaotic and so much is happening; but unfortunately the game shows a limitation at this point that lessens the illusion, shooting civilians (accidentally of course) results in absolutely nothing, not even a different animation. Itâs a small point but one that has to be made, the scene looks so amazing but is ruined when you realise that you canât interact with the dozens of people running for their lifeâs â“ how cool would it have been to see civilians jumping out of the way of gun-fire, whilst your character was screaming at them to get down.
Itâs not long before you rescue Isabella and enter the Freedom Fighters HQ in the sewer system. Starting as a lowly recruit, as you progress through the game your actions bring you charisma rewards that in turn allow you to command squads of increasing size.
In comparison to the cinematic offerings of âHitman 2â, the story running through âFreedom Fightersâ and the dialogue throughout is a little disappointing. The story is typical action faire, whilst the characters are mainly built up from your traditional action-hero material. We would have liked to have seen IO Interactive truly go to town with the cinematic offerings of the game and created a true next-gen action title, as it stands itâs unlikely youâll spend any time with the story or what characters have to say. Thankfully the overall quality of the game makes up for the inadequacies in presentation and dialogue.
Although weâve long gotten tired of squad-based shooters, âFreedom Fightersâ wins by ensuring everything is kept as simple as possible and therefore not interrupting the fun gained from playing.
The game plays just like any other in this genre; Chris can hold two guns at a time, whilst a range of peripheral weapons such as Molotovâs and Grenades can be collected throughout the game. Controlling the main character uses the traditional system of camera/movement mapped to the two analogue sticks, pressing down the right analogue stick draws the camera in just behind your shoulder and displays a targeting reticule for a very cool view that helps with precision shots. Itâs possible to move whilst in this closed view, but because you have to keep your thumb pressed down and move at the same time itâs quite difficult and would have been better implemented with a click to switch between the different views.
The game incorporates IO Interactive rag-doll physics engine to spectacular effect. Explosions shoot bodies and debris into the air, which always look cool, whilst bodies will realistically fall down stairs and off edges. In a game of this type with explosions happening all the time it really adds to the atmosphere to see such things occurring.
As weâve said previously, earning charisma points by rescuing prisoners, healing those in need and demolishing targets allows you to recruit a follower to your squad. Beginning with two characters, progress in the game will ultimately result in the ability to command a squad of twelve freedom fighters, which adds a suitably epic feel to the proceedings.
Thankfully the squad commands implementation has been kept as blissfully simple as possible. One button allows you to target enemy troops and send your squad members to go and attack them, another allows you to draw them back whilst itâs also possible to target a piece of land in the closed-view to set up a reconnaissance act. Tapping the corresponding buttons will send off the first member and so forth, whilst holding on to the button allows you to send the entire squad at once.
Whereas in most games of this type youâre making sure your guys are doing the right thing half the time, the advanced AI working in âFreedom Fightersâ usually means that you can issue the order and then get back to what youâre doing. Your colleagues will intelligently find their way to a target instead of just rushing to it so you donât have to worry about setting waypoints, using anything as cover and stopping to form groups without you having to worry about the micro-management of these actions â“ you simply point a direction and press the right button.
The game is essentially built upon a number of missions, however thereâs a certain degree of non-linearity as to how you progress through these. Often missions will require you to perform something else beforehand, in one of the games first examples youâve got to free Isabella from the Police station, however Snipers on top are making any progress to the station impossible. So youâve got to go to the Gas Station first and pack it full of C4 to blow the place up and the snipers that are hiding out on top of it â“ the resulting explosion is once again a highlight of the game.
To switch to different locations youâve simply got to find one of the sewer manholes that are scattered throughout the town. IO Interactive have done a good job of making the whole lot feel like one big town, so for example after blowing the gas station up and going back to the police station youâll see the flames in the background of the resulting explosion.
Although this is definitely a nice addition compared to the typically linear nature of titles in this genre, we would have liked to see the developers stretch the barrel a little bit further. Despite the claims of both IO Interactive and EA of âinterconnected missions that mean the war waged in one level affects the battle in anotherâ, the end result still feels a tad linear as you donât have that much choice in the matters i.e. you have to blow up the gas station before entering the police station, there is no choice. The end result initially impresses but ultimately leaves you feeling as though there arenât any consequences to your actions.
Visually we have to say weâre slightly disappointed with âFreedom Fightersâ after the magnificent splendour that was âHitman 2â. Textures feature nowhere near to the detail or crispness of that title, whilst character models are comprised of low polygon counts which certainly shows. That said when everything is going off the game does impress, the explosions look particularly cool and thereâs rarely any hint of slowdown.
Naturally the Xbox version looks superior, although to be fair the multi-format development is apparent, as there are precious few differences between the versions. Bizarrely the GameCube version is prone to showing the creases between polygons, which really detracts from the overall look and quite frankly is extremely crude.
The game includes a multiplayer aspect but unfortunately itâs nowhere near to as strong as weâd hoped for. Instead of letting players take on a Co-Op of the games single-player mode, instead weâre presented with a âKing of the Hillâ scenario that allows you to recruit more fighters to your team by holding a position for a set amount of time. It provides entertainment for a few hours but itâs extremely unlikely to unsettle your âHaloâ or âPro Evolutionâ sittings.
