Freedom Fighters is, for lack of a better word, more fun than it would
initially have you believe. An innovative concept wrapped in a very
intriguing storyline. A storyline that very nearly carries the game all
on it's own.
The storyline is one of an alternate Earth where world history has
favored the communists of the USSR during the Cold War and not the
capitalists of the USA. The Russians have slowly taken bits and pieces
of the world map until finally taking over Mexico and invading New York
City. That is where this game starts, with a plumber named Chris as the
player's avatar. Chris is immediately recruited into an underground
network of "Freedom Fighters" as levels in the game lead to the eventual,
ultimate showdown between the Freedom Fighters and the Russian forces.
What I found so intriguing about the storyline is not it's Red Dawn
wannabe/rah-rah patriotism leanings as much as it was just how eerily it
mirrors current going-ons in global politics. In a Post 911 and the Iraq
invasion world, it's more than a little disarming to see the Russians
portrayed as the evil "saviors" of the "oppressed" United States
citizens. One could spin this game in such a way as to make the current
Iraq insurgency look almost justified, even patriotic from a certain
point of view. Putting Iraq in the roll of the USA in this game and the
USA in the roll of the Russians can really make a gamer think if they
allow it.
Not that I personally don't believe in the current war or don't believe
in patriotism, I'm just saying I like how this game, post 911, made me
look at the idea of invasions in a whole new light. Whether the
developers truly meant for it to be there I'll never know, but for me,
as an observer, I'm glad it's there.
But I digress...onto the positives and negatives of this game's mechanics:
Positives are many. The graphics, while sometimes glitchy, are
adequate. The levels have a really nice art design. It genuinely look
like an invaded New York City. Bunkers, troop transports, road blocks
and patrolling helicopters, all with USSR military insignia, really
breathes life into the level design. Also having New York City as a
battle ground just oozes coolness in my book.
The gameplay is also another positive. Like the graphics they can
glitch from time to time, but all in all, once you get the feel for it,
it can become a very exciting and blood pumping experience. The
mechanics consist of a standard 3rd person shooter, but they add in a
squad of NPC and you are given a limited (but effective) set of
strategic commands. The commands are the basics of follow, attack, and
guard, but when used in the right combination you can often find
yourself going thru a entire level and never having to personally fire
a shot at anyone. In some ways the game reminded me of Full Spectrum
Warrior, but with a more hands-on approach. It's a satisfying feeling
to set your squad up to guard a corner then tempt the enemy troops to
come around that corner only to be met with a hail of gunfire.
Which is another HUGE positive for this game, the soundtrack and sound
effects. The soundtrack is totally inspired, IMHO. It's a very large
and sweeping score of Russian army choruses with just a hint of
industrial sounds. As if Trent Reznor was asked to do the soundtrack
for Hunt for Red October. The sound effects are also top shelf. All the
guns and explosions have the appropriate weight, with the big Mano a
Mano gunfights being the real standout. Voice acting is a bit weak, but
it doesn't take away that much from the overall experience.
Negatives range from very minor, to pretty annoying. The minor really are
pretty minor. I found myself a little disappointed that, after the
first few daylight missions, the rest of the game is played in
darkness. The game REALLY looks nice in the daylight, with a very nice
"early morning haze" effect. It would have been nice to see them play a
bit more with the lighting effects in this game.
My other minor gripes are that I wished that the troops in my squad had
a bit more personality. The need to care about their well being is
pretty marginal. Downed troops can be revived with one med pack or you
can just make your way to the next save spot an recruit more. Having a
squad with a bit more personality would only add to their emotional
weight when one of them goes down. They feel entirely too disposable.
The other gripe is strictly fanboy in nature, but NYC, gun battles, and
NO Statue of Liberty level? What up wit' dat?
Major gripes center around graphics, controller setup, and AI. I said
the graphics were pretty solid, but when I get a sniper rifle, zoom in
on an enemy for a head shot, and that enemy disappears and never
returns...that's a bug, and it happens pretty frequently. The
controller setup (and this could be only an issue with the PS2 version)
also really gave me fits when clicking and holding L3 to go into over
the shoulder mode. Clicking and holding to stay in this mode was not
the way to go. It should have been click once to alternate between the
two. Holding only causes the game to zoom in and out when not held
properly and is annoying when trying to line up the perfect shot
(especially with the sniper rifle). The AI of the squad is also an
issue. In guard and attack modes the AI is typically excellent, but in
follow mode the squad seems to float in this really odd area between
guard and attack. If you round a corner and it's chalk full of enemies,
half the squad might take cover while half stand there clueless and one
or two might take off running directly into enemy fire. I found myself
alternating between guard, sneaking forward solo, then issuing the
follow command and immediately issuing the guard command again, just to
stop my squad from squirreling out on me. The actual follow command
could use some AI tweaking if it were my call to make.
Overall, if you like 3rd person shooters and would like it to be
sprinkled with a little tactical strategy, then you can't really go
wrong with this game. It has a unique look, an interesting
presentation, and (as with most good shooters) it's very fun to shoot
stuff in this game.
To quote the wisdom of Bagzton, Freedom Fighter's resident mascot, "Lets chase those Russkies back to the Motherland! Y E A H !"
