GENRE
	Action
	DEVELOPER
	IO Interactive
	PUBLISHER
	EA Games
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1
	CONNECTIVITY
	no
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Every year or so, there’s a title that sneaks in through the gigantic hype barrage. Freedom Fighters is one of those unknown and underrated titles that made a huge impact at E3 but was buried by other, bigger titles like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. Unfortunately, many gamers may not have even heard of this game and it’s a crying shame because it is easily one of the best action titles to grace the Nintendo GameCube this year. You’ll take the part of Christopher Stone, a no-name plumber who becomes trapped in the middle of the communist invasion of America. You see, in World War II, we didn’t win. Mother Russia won. Now, the U.S.S.R. is still in power and the soviets have taken over every possible territory across the world with America being their last primary target. It’s present day, now, and it’s up to you to show what you’re made of in the resistance and recruit a small army of soldiers who will follow you to their death. Freedom Fighters offers up several excellent gameplay design ideas and beautifully produced audio. Take a look and see what you’ve been missing.

visuals

Everything in Freedom Fighters is polished, but it is still able to hold up a gritty, war-torn feel, similar to such titles as Medal of Honor: Frontline. Smooth animations mean the character models articulate well and look great. There really isn’t any jerky motion unless you’re aiming right next to a wall, in which case the character will sort of spaz out and whip around everywhere trying to find a good vantage point. Speaking of animations, enemy deaths look fantastic, thanks to outstanding rag-doll physics. This newest special effect can’t catch on fast enough, since in my opinion, it’s one of the greatest digital inventions since cel-shading. When an enemy is shot down, they’ll flail around like they're boneless, completely devoid of life. That’s because, you know… they’re dead. Bodies will cling to the side of a rail or slump against the side of a car and slowly slide down to the ground. It’s great and it’s an effect that never gets old.

Other noteworthy sights include the level design. Missions all take place in the dark and shadowy streets of Manhattan (or thereabouts), but the designers have seen to it that no two levels are really the same. With an action title, it’s hard to break up the monotony, especially when it all takes place in one specific area, but Freedom Fighters does an excellent job of showing that it can be done and done well. Levels are somewhat linear though; you can’t fully explore the area since some sections are blocked off or simply unreachable. I also found that the gritty look to the game could lead to slightly frustrating deaths via automobiles or unknown adversaries, but that’s all in the fault of the gamer for being a damn fool. Damn you, commies!! Otherwise, everything in Freedom Fighters is a meaty feast for the carnivorous eyes.

audio

Everyone knows that if EA Games is producing a war-related action title, the sound is going to be completely beautiful and stunning. Every time around, it's an improvement, and there’s really nothing better than the sound editing found in Freedom Fighters. While other titles like Frontline provide excellent, realistic sound effects, this title makes it seem like it’s you against everything else. Each weapon has its own unique sound to go with it and gunshots coming from dozens of yards away sound as threatening as if they were two inches from the character. It’s amazingly intense and every little tick and pop is produced with care and artfully recreated on the screen. As for the music, nothing can really top the beautiful soundtrack that was in Frontline or any other Medal of Honor title, for that matter. Throw into the mix some excellent patriotic themes once you’ve taken out a base, and some eerie Russian anthems that kick in during the most intense moments, and you've got a soundscape unlike anything you’ve heard in a while.

gameplay

The thing that makes Freedom Fighters what it is is the squad-based combat system. However, there are tons of those games out there right now. Titles like Brute Force and the upcoming Call of Duty have all proven that they can do squad-based gameplay. Here’s the point, though. Freedom Fighters uses a magnificently well-tuned “Charisma” system that lets you only recruit a certain number of allies considering how well you’ve performed throughout the game. You’ll start out with only two buddies who will follow you through everything. You’ll need to complete missions, help out civilians and other allies until you gradually build up your charisma to the point where you can recruit another ally to aid you. It’s basically like experience points in an RPG, only instead of leveling up, you’ll simply be able to recruit another member to your little army. Up to twelve people will be able to join you once you’re near the end of the game. The resulting chaos and anarchy that goes on in the streets is absolutely brilliant, thanks to the simple ability to assign team members to perform certain tasks such as scouting, defending, attacking or retreating at the push of a button. If you want your entire squad to perform a certain action, simply hold down said button and wham-bam, you’ve got yourself a platoon of freedom fighters at your command. It doesn't just work, it works flawlessly.

So you’ve got the squad thing down, but how do the rest of the gameplay elements come into play? Each portion of Freedom Fighters is broken into large chapters which are in turn broken into a few different task-based areas or levels. While you’re only playing from mission to mission completing these tasks, each area is plenty huge with loads to accomplish from collecting different weapons to finding secret alcoves, or collecting hidden charisma bonuses. When all is said and done, the game will last a good 12-15 hours straight through.

Controlling your character, along with your squad, is easily done. However, comparatively, the PS2 version does control slightly better than the GameCube version thanks to the extra shoulder and analog buttons. That doesn’t mean that the GameCube version doesn’t control that well, it’s just a bit less convenient. Where the PS2 version has more buttons to push and easier access to the inventory, the GameCube version allows you to control your squad a bit better with the packed-in button scheme. All-in-all, the controls are smooth, fluid and there aren’t many glitches that will frustrate any gamer.

multiplayer

Indeed, there is a multiplayer mode in this title, but not one you might expect or even want, really. As a squad based action game, you’d think that there would be a cooperative mode, right? A four-player squad of death and destruction throughout the entire single-player campaign is a marvelous idea and would give hours upon hours of replay value to a game like Freedom Fighters. It is not so, however, as the only real multiplayer mode is the mildly entertaining “King-of-the-Hill”-style mode where up to four players can duke it out in order to hoist their flag in the center square for a total duration of fifteen minutes. No deathmatch mode, no capture the flag mode (which you’d think would be simple), no nothing. Nonetheless, it is here, and it’s better than nothing, which I definitely respect , but I expect a full apology in the form of co-op for a sequel.

overall

Freedom Fighters may not win many awards. In fact, the only one that I think it would be a shoo-in for would be Sleeper Hit of the Year. For those of you who passed up this title, you may want to double back and check it out before the horrors of November are upon us all. While it may not be as good as other action titles that have been around for a while, this game easily keeps your interest for a long time. Freedom Fighters is one of the most interesting titles to come out for the Nintendo GameCube and any Cube gamer would be foolish to pass a game like this up. Check it out. Now… I’ve got a country to liberate.

9.2/10