Freedom Fighters

October 1, 2003

platform

Windows , Xbox , GameCube and PlayStation 2

genre

Action game , third-person shooter

Game mode

Single player

system advantages
preconditions

OS : Windows 98/2000 / ME / XP; CPU : 733 MHz, RAM : 128 MB, hard disk space : 650 MB; CD-ROM 8x; Graphics Direct3D 32 MB with Hardware Transform & Lighting; Sound DirectX 8.1 compatible

German

Freedom Fighters is the third computer game from the Danish development team IO Interactive , which became known for the Hitman series. The game is available for Windows , Xbox , GameCube and PlayStation 2 . It was published in 2003 between Hitman 2 and Hitman: Contracts , with one of the first Freedom Fighters screenshots already visible as an Easter Egg in Hitman 2 on a computer screen.

The plot

Freedom Fighters is set in a fictional story. There the Second World War was ended by the Soviets dropping an atomic bomb on Berlin. Then the Soviet Union began to develop inexorably in the West and "today" in 2003 it happened that Soviet troops invaded the USA and now an unstoppable wave of destruction is sweeping the country. One of the first targets of the Soviets: New York .

The main character of the game is the normal plumber Christopher Stone, whose brother Troy always tells him about the unsettling development and about a possible invasion, but Chris doesn't care. He doesn't believe in an invasion. But when soldiers kidnap his brother, shoot crowds of helicopters and tanks destroy the city, he goes through an extreme change. He joins the resistance and becomes a freedom fighter who, together with other resistance citizens of New York, tries to drive a larger, better trained and merciless army out of New York using guerrilla tactics . A story develops about solidarity, love and betrayal. Christopher Stone himself becomes the most feared enemy of the Soviets, known in the media as the "Freedom Phantom".

A third person shooter

Freedom Fighters is a relatively unknown, but elaborately staged and intelligently structured TPS ( third-person shooter ) with tactical elements. The player puts himself in the aforementioned Christopher Stone and steers him through the streets of devastated New York from an "over-the-shoulder perspective". You can perform the typical movements such as crawling, jumping and climbing and there is also the option of aiming more precisely using the “rear sight and rear sight”, although you slow down. In terms of gameplay, it could actually also be a first-person shooter . The whole thing becomes interesting because of the enemies and comrades. It is important that the game is very tactical, because it is possible to command a team of up to twelve men and it is necessary to use them all correctly at least on the highest level of difficulty.

The tactical element

All fighters in the game are controlled by good AI , which depends on the level of difficulty. The enemies seek cover, climb over boxes, throw grenades and even coordinate attacks with one another. Likewise, they sometimes flee and rush forward. They are influenced, for example, by officers who force them to act more aggressively. There are also snipers and later soldiers in heavy armor who can withstand heavy fire.

The comrades are initially stationed and only shoot incoming enemies, but freedom fighters standing around can all be recruited. The number of soldiers that can be recruited is limited by charisma points, which are a kind of counterpart to experience levels. Charisma points are awarded for fulfilling various mission objectives, almost all of which are optional in the game. If you have reached a certain amount, you get another slot for a comrade. So you can't control anyone at first, soon two fighters and ultimately a whole 12-man (and woman) team. These are controlled with just the three commands “Follow”, “Attack” and “Defend”. You can give the whole team an order by holding down or you can specify it with a rear sight and front sight. So one can roughly indicate in which direction comrades storm, where they should take a position or that they should simply follow. But you can also tell the target exactly which soldier should be attacked or which box should be taken as cover. No matter what order you give: The comrades react very intelligently and as long as you don't order them to storm into the middle of an enemy mass, into machine-gun fire or into the range of sight of a sniper, their chances of survival are relatively high.

What is interesting is the soldiers' behavior with the environment. They lean against walls, climb boxes, ladders and through windows and even jump over holes, they throw themselves into cover when grenades occur. The comrades very rarely die, however, as they can almost always be resuscitated with a first aid kit. But these are relatively limited and so there is sometimes no longer any possibility of getting comrades ready for battle again. You often die within a few seconds yourself, so the use of cover is essential.

Campaign building

One of the main features of Freedom Fighters is the structure of the campaign. The game is divided into several chapters that have a fixed chronological order and tell the story. They are separated from videos, but within the missions the game is completely focused on the actions of the player, which increases the effect of guerrilla warfare. Each of these chapters is made up of several areas that can be entered and exited at will via manhole covers. A chapter is won when all these areas are conquered - an area is conquered when the Stars and Stripes blow over the enemy's headquarters, but there is a reason for being able to move freely between the areas: in each area there are optional ones Objectives such as the destruction of artillery positions, bridges, helicopter landing pads and the like, which have an impact on secondary areas and also give the charisma points mentioned. The artillery, for example, shoots in the adjoining area, reinforcements for the enemy come over the bridges and, thanks to the landing pad, helicopter patrols are constantly coming. If you destroy them, the secondary areas are free from such problems and it becomes easier to capture a headquarters. Other goals are the liberation of prisoners and one can also treat civilians for charisma points and possibly useful information at the expense of first aid kits. If a headquarters is conquered before all optional objectives in the area have been fulfilled, these are automatically carried out by other fighters and the associated Charisma points are lost.

Differences between the different versions

There are three versions, although there is only one essential difference in terms of content, which makes the console versions of the PC version somewhat more extensive. The PC version lacks the multiplayer mode, which was generally received very positively, in which teams have to fight each other for positions. Otherwise, the four sockets are identical, even in the storage system.

Commercial success and future of Freedom Fighters

Despite mostly very high ratings in the trade press, Freedom Fighters was not commercially successful . The developers attributed this to the ironic and satirical scenario, which is not suitable for the masses. In April 2004, Eidos announced a sequel to the game (while the first part was being released by EA Games ), but the development team only confirmed that a new action game was in the works that would incorporate the tactical combat system of Freedom Fighters takes over. In 2006 it turned out to be found in Kane & Lynch: Dead Men , which combines this with a plot that promises greater commercial success. It was assumed in fan circles that there would be no successor to Freedom Fighters , despite the open end in the first part. At the end of 2007, a spokesman for IO Interactive announced that a sequel to Freedom Fighters was actually still on the team's development plan - but it was not disclosed for which system it was to appear.

Web links

Jesper Kyd Productions - The official site of the soundtrack composer Jesper Kyd (Engl.)

Individual evidence

↑ Moby Games (Eng.)

[1] Moby Games (Eng.)