Freedom Fighters

This game?s too good to put a bad pun in its blurb.

Sometimes a game almost slips under the radar and surprises you, popping up at the last minute and blasting you with fun gameplay and an ?ber-cool story line. Freedom Fighters is one of those games?a sleeper hit that proves that a game doesn?t have to be a sequel to be great.

Stone Cold Plumber
You are Chris Stone, a simple plumber faced with the task of assembling a popular resistance against a Soviet invasion of the United States. You start out by yourself with only a pipe wrench and a pair of overalls, and you must somehow become a battle-hardened leader capable of commanding squads of revolutionaries in battle against the occupying Soviets. It?s quite a job, to be sure, but Freedom Fighters takes great pains to make it fun.

From within your secret rebel base in the sewers, you stage attacks on key Soviet targets with the goal of hoisting the American flag over each enemy installation. As you complete tasks, you gain Charisma points that add up to enable you to recruit and command ever greater groups of rebel soldiers. At first you?re by yourself, but by the end, you?ll command up to 12 soldiers at a time using a simple interface that makes giving orders simple and effective. Additional goals along the way help you bolster your Charisma, and individual goals in one area might impact conditions in all other nearby areas, so you?ll want to employ some strategy in choosing your targets to best disable the enemy.

Vive La R?sistance!
With just a little more work, Freedom Fighters could have been a real monster hit, but a few minor nitpicks keep it down. The game?s soundtrack is awesome except for some poor voice acting that invokes a modern retelling of Braveheart, and the graphics tell the story with flair but could use a little more polish. Also, while it?s one of the game?s high points, the squad command controls could have been a little more complex; you?re trading control for simplicity here, and it works, but sometimes you might wish for more precision when giving orders to your companions.

The Price of Freedom
Be aware: Freedom Fighters isn?t the next Metal Gear Solid. It?s a fairly mindless shooter with some cool strategy elements, and aside from some optional tactical coolness, it?s pretty straightforward. It?s a fun and violent game with a really great reward structure, and it?s worth a look for anyone who likes just a little brain with their brawn.

Also on the PlayStation 2 and PC

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