Rating: 
Summary: Worth Fighting For. . .
Review: "Freedom Fighters" is easily one of the best 3rd person action games to come around in a long time, and though it has a few flaws that keep it from achieving a classic status, it's innovative and visceral, and well worth purchasing. The game plays upon old Cold War fears by creating a scenario in which the Soviet Union successfully invades the United States. You, the player, are a plumber turned resistance fighter who gradually becomes one of the rebellion's leaders as the game progresses. It's worth noting that the events in the game span a period of several months, and the game's main character gradually becomes more and more grizzled even as the seasons change from late summer into deep winter. The feeling of fighting a long, hard fight is well conveyed. Even so, the game's storyline is pretty weak. The game's few twists are easily predicted, and the transition from plumber to freedom fighter is more than a little implausible. Still, it all does the trick of setting up the action quite efficiently. If you've played the developers' previous title, "Hitman 2" (a likewise splendid game), then you have some idea how the game plays, minus that game's element of stealth. "Freedom Fighters" uses the same engine, point of fact, and the same physics apply, but the missions are less diverse and more action-oriented. The biggest change, though, is the lead character's ability to lead other freedom fighters into battle. What bullet time was to "Max Payne," this element is to "Freedom Fighters." It's every bit as innovative and cool as the aforementioned, and as the game progresses you will genuinely feel like a squad leader moving your troops into battle. Gameplay in "Freedom Fighters" is so wonderfully addictive that it certainly contributes to the game's greatest flaw - and that flaw is its length. Just when you're having the most fun, the game is over. Still, winning the game enables you to go back through all of its previous levels as you choose, which is quite useful. Even so, that doesn't make up for the brevity of the finished product. Ultimately, though, "Freedom Fighters" is hugely entertaining, and so good that you won't be able to make yourself stop playing it. What more can I say? Final Score: A-
Rating: 
Summary: A decent value. Solid, if lackluster.
Review: (7.3 out of 10). Not the best, not the worst. Don't get me wrong, Freedom Fighters is a playable, somewhat enjoyable game. But ranking it with the likes of Mafia and Grand Theft Auto is misguided. GAMEPLAY: 7 Not having played a squad-action based game before, I have not experienced the frustration of squad based AI in the past. Having squad AI that acts as it should isn't grounds for a great review, and it isn't as flawless as one may thing. The squad AI frequently gets bogged down in firefights when it should continue following the lead character to a better coverage situation. There are parts of levels that require you to move QUICKLY and having your squadmates stop and engage enemies every few moments quickly becomes frustrating. That being said, the AI does work pretty well most of the time. You can plant some of your squad at strategic locations to support your efforts in scouting or in sniper removal. Having reliable AI partners that will do as they're told for the most part allows you to make thoughtful tactical decisions that help complete the game's challenging levels. Your AI comrades take appropriate cover, as do the enemies, but all too often you can take down an enemy without other opposing forces even noticing. The save system is the game's weakest aspect. While I believe that a game that allows you to save every five seconds doesn't pose much of a challenge, this game goes too far in the other direction. You can only save your game progress one you complete a sub-level's objectives. You can quick-save at any manhole, but the quick-saves are lost if you have to quit the game. With the levels being as challenging and long as they are, this requires possible hours of gameplay before reaching a true save point. Limiting the number of saves per level, as in the Hitman series, is a much better system. The in-game maps are completely useless. They are confusing at best; don't help you determine where you precisely are or where you need to go; and don't contribute to the gameplay whatsoever. The character briefings in the rebel base are equally useless. What little information you do get is impossible to decode on the EGA-quality maps supplied. The controls are responsive and intuitive. Commanding your other team members is easy and well thought out. Using fixed-position weaponry is likewise as easy. GRAPHICS: 6 The graphics are the weakest part of the game. The textures are pretty bland and repetitive. Every building looks washed out. The supposed snazzy-looking level of neon signs looks more like a reject from Smash TV. The character models all pretty much look the same. The enemies you face are cookie-cutter repeats of all the other cannon fodder you'll face in the game. The ridiculously large crosshair is distracting and cannot be changed. The game looks like it was directly ported from a console and does not take advantage of the PC's graphic superiority. Gunfire resembles laserbeams and the introduction looks like it's from games several years old. There is no real reason why this game requires polygonal character models since sprites would have worked fine for the level of detail, animation, and realism offered in Freedom Fighters. SOUND: 8 The music is appropriate and the sound effects pretty good. The game doesn't seem to take advantage of EAX capabilities as other shooters do. No matter what direction you face, the sound comes from directly in front of you. Although the voice acting is laughable and all the weapons pretty much sound the same, other sounds are well done and not out of place. The enemies you face shout at you in Russian, and the soundtrack changes to match the action you're experiencing. VALUE: 9 The best part of Freedom Fighters is that it is a solid--if lackluster-game that can currently be found for $20. If you are a fan of shooters and are looking for a bargain, you could do a lot worse than Freedom Fighters. TILT: 7 This is an average game. The squad-level actions by the AI may be the best to date, but this is no real reason to stand up and applaud. The graphics are marginal, the save system stupid, the character models repetitive, and the best part of the game is its low price. That being said, it is a fun diversion if you can overlook the difficulties. This isn't a classic, certainly not in the league of 2002's Mafia, and has been rated way too high by other reviewers. I wouldn't say to avoid it, and I wouldn't recommend it. That's a solid "C" in my book, and worth my final rating of 7.3.
Rating:
Summary: A decent value. Solid, if lackluster.
Review: (7.3 out of 10). Not the best, not the worst. Don't get me wrong, Freedom Fighters is a playable, somewhat enjoyable game. But ranking it with the likes of Mafia and Grand Theft Auto is misguided. GAMEPLAY: 7 Not having played a squad-action based game before, I have not experienced the frustration of squad based AI in the past. Having squad AI that acts as it should isn't grounds for a great review, and it isn't as flawless as one may thing. The squad AI frequently gets bogged down in firefights when it should continue following the lead character to a better coverage situation. There are parts of levels that require you to move QUICKLY and having your squadmates stop and engage enemies every few moments quickly becomes frustrating. That being said, the AI does work pretty well most of the time. You can plant some of your squad at strategic locations to support your efforts in scouting or in sniper removal. Having reliable AI partners that will do as they're told for the most part allows you to make thoughtful tactical decisions that help complete the game's challenging levels. Your AI comrades take appropriate cover, as do the enemies, but all too often you can take down an enemy without other opposing forces even noticing. The save system is the game's weakest aspect. While I believe that a game that allows you to save every five seconds doesn't pose much of a challenge, this game goes too far in the other direction. You can only save your game progress one you complete a sub-level's objectives. You can quick-save at any manhole, but the quick-saves are lost if you have to quit the game. With the levels being as challenging and long as they are, this requires possible hours of gameplay before reaching a true save point. Limiting the number of saves per level, as in the Hitman series, is a much better system. The in-game maps are completely useless. They are confusing at best; don't help you determine where you precisely are or where you need to go; and don't contribute to the gameplay whatsoever. The character briefings in the rebel base are equally useless. What little information you do get is impossible to decode on the EGA-quality maps supplied. The controls are responsive and intuitive. Commanding your other team members is easy and well thought out. Using fixed-position weaponry is likewise as easy. GRAPHICS: 6 The graphics are the weakest part of the game. The textures are pretty bland and repetitive. Every building looks washed out. The supposed snazzy-looking level of neon signs looks more like a reject from Smash TV. The character models all pretty much look the same. The enemies you face are cookie-cutter repeats of all the other cannon fodder you'll face in the game. The ridiculously large crosshair is distracting and cannot be changed. The game looks like it was directly ported from a console and does not take advantage of the PC's graphic superiority. Gunfire resembles laserbeams and the introduction looks like it's from games several years old. There is no real reason why this game requires polygonal character models since sprites would have worked fine for the level of detail, animation, and realism offered in Freedom Fighters. SOUND: 8 The music is appropriate and the sound effects pretty good. The game doesn't seem to take advantage of EAX capabilities as other shooters do. No matter what direction you face, the sound comes from directly in front of you. Although the voice acting is laughable and all the weapons pretty much sound the same, other sounds are well done and not out of place. The enemies you face shout at you in Russian, and the soundtrack changes to match the action you're experiencing. VALUE: 9 The best part of Freedom Fighters is that it is a solid--if lackluster-game that can currently be found for $20. If you are a fan of shooters and are looking for a bargain, you could do a lot worse than Freedom Fighters. TILT: 7 This is an average game. The squad-level actions by the AI may be the best to date, but this is no real reason to stand up and applaud. The graphics are marginal, the save system stupid, the character models repetitive, and the best part of the game is its low price. That being said, it is a fun diversion if you can overlook the difficulties. This isn't a classic, certainly not in the league of 2002's Mafia, and has been rated way too high by other reviewers. I wouldn't say to avoid it, and I wouldn't recommend it. That's a solid "C" in my book, and worth my final rating of 7.3.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT GAME.
Review: Freedom Fighters is a great game, and it's only problem might be that there is not enough of it. The game is very simple, but it somehow just manages to be nonstop action and fun. The price for this game has dropped so far that even despite the fact that it's a bit short, buying it should be a no-brainer. The game is played in a series of chapters, each of which contain 2 or 3 submissions. In each submission, you usually blow something up like a bridge or depot, and then capture an important building. The best part of every mission is at the end, when you go to the roof of the building and raise the Stars and Stripes over it. You get this warm, fuzzy patriotic feeling and then move on to the next mission so that you can shoot some more evil Commies. Yes, it's corny, but it works great. The game does a great job of paying homage to Cold War era action movies like "Red Dawn" and "Missing in Action". Between each mission, you get to watch a Soviet propaganda news broadcast describing your activities as "terrorism". The news broadcasts are usually pretty funny and provide a good reward for completing each chapter. The graphics for the game are decent, but not great. The scenery is immersive enough to be believable, but other games out there look sharper. The cutscenes don't look very good, and characters don't move their lips when they talk. The core gameplay is what is so great about this game. You control a squad of Freedom Fighters, and you lead them through the streets, pointing them at objectives and generally shooting anything with a red star on their uniform. Mission design is great, and no two missions are quite the same. Gameplay isn't complex. There aren't that many weapons that you can use, and you can only give three simple commands to your squad ("Follow", "Attack", and "Defend"). Usually, your squadmates are good at fighting, but you will do most of the work. AI for enemies is good enough to give you a good challenge, but never frustrating. Enemies are pretty good at using cover and avoiding grenades, but you can often snipe them from far away, and they won't do much to retaliate. The action is always exciting, but you still have to use your head. You are usually outnumbered, and lots of areas are guarded with machine gun banks or guys behind walls. You have to use your head, but the game never gets bogged down with micromanagement. Freedom Fighters has a checkpoint save system that we PC gamers love to hate. However, the game is very forgiving. Squad mates never get killed. They just get incapacitated, and you can revive them with health packs. You never have to worry about running out of those, since each level has tons of them laying around. You can take plenty of bullets yourself, so if you get surprised, it usually won't kill you. The soundtrack might be my favorite part of the game. Jesper Kyd composed the music for the game, and it's simply excellent. The opening track is a booming orchestral piece of music that sounds like it could be a Red Army cadence. The action music is great at raising the tension in the levels and giving the game a sense of drama. The interface for the game is not good. You can tell that this game was not designed for the PC. If the game wasn't so simple, then this might be a problem. Also, as I said before, the game is pretty short. I finished it in about 10 or 11 hours, although I liked it enough to play it again. Other than that, the game doesn't have any real problems. Since the missions aren't very scripted, you can find different ways of fighting the same battles. It might have only been 4 stars when it first came out and cost fifty bucks, but now that it's really cheap, there is no reason to miss this game.
Rating:
Summary: A diamond in the bargain bin
Review: Freedom Fighters is a great game, and it's only problem might be that there is not enough of it. The game is very simple, but it somehow just manages to be nonstop action and fun. The price for this game has dropped so far that even despite the fact that it's a bit short, buying it should be a no-brainer. The game is played in a series of chapters, each of which contain 2 or 3 submissions. In each submission, you usually blow something up like a bridge or depot, and then capture an important building. The best part of every mission is at the end, when you go to the roof of the building and raise the Stars and Stripes over it. You get this warm, fuzzy patriotic feeling and then move on to the next mission so that you can shoot some more evil Commies. Yes, it's corny, but it works great. The game does a great job of paying homage to Cold War era action movies like "Red Dawn" and "Missing in Action". Between each mission, you get to watch a Soviet propaganda news broadcast describing your activities as "terrorism". The news broadcasts are usually pretty funny and provide a good reward for completing each chapter. The graphics for the game are decent, but not great. The scenery is immersive enough to be believable, but other games out there look sharper. The cutscenes don't look very good, and characters don't move their lips when they talk. The core gameplay is what is so great about this game. You control a squad of Freedom Fighters, and you lead them through the streets, pointing them at objectives and generally shooting anything with a red star on their uniform. Mission design is great, and no two missions are quite the same. Gameplay isn't complex. There aren't that many weapons that you can use, and you can only give three simple commands to your squad ("Follow", "Attack", and "Defend"). Usually, your squadmates are good at fighting, but you will do most of the work. AI for enemies is good enough to give you a good challenge, but never frustrating. Enemies are pretty good at using cover and avoiding grenades, but you can often snipe them from far away, and they won't do much to retaliate. The action is always exciting, but you still have to use your head. You are usually outnumbered, and lots of areas are guarded with machine gun banks or guys behind walls. You have to use your head, but the game never gets bogged down with micromanagement. Freedom Fighters has a checkpoint save system that we PC gamers love to hate. However, the game is very forgiving. Squad mates never get killed. They just get incapacitated, and you can revive them with health packs. You never have to worry about running out of those, since each level has tons of them laying around. You can take plenty of bullets yourself, so if you get surprised, it usually won't kill you. The soundtrack might be my favorite part of the game. Jesper Kyd composed the music for the game, and it's simply excellent. The opening track is a booming orchestral piece of music that sounds like it could be a Red Army cadence. The action music is great at raising the tension in the levels and giving the game a sense of drama. The interface for the game is not good. You can tell that this game was not designed for the PC. If the game wasn't so simple, then this might be a problem. Also, as I said before, the game is pretty short. I finished it in about 10 or 11 hours, although I liked it enough to play it again. Other than that, the game doesn't have any real problems. Since the missions aren't very scripted, you can find different ways of fighting the same battles. It might have only been 4 stars when it first came out and cost fifty bucks, but now that it's really cheap, there is no reason to miss this game.
Rating:
Summary: Done...already?!
Review: Got this game yesterday...finished it yesterday. Took all of 8 hours to get from beginning to end in medium difficulty. The lack of multiplayer seriously hinders replayability score. But it's fun. I wouldn't sit around playing a game for 8 straight hours if it wasn't enjoyable. The enemy AI is really tough, but I find the friendly AI to be less then helpful. Don't get me wrong, sending in 6 or so of them against an enemy held position can do wonders for your health. And the casualty is minimal and usually none as long as you take out any enemy machine gunner or heavy infantry or tanks or anything besides regular enemy. Yeah...baby sit them a bit, if you will. The game touts that what you do in one area effects your other misson. True to a point. You see, the game is divided into 7 different 'chapters'. Each chapter has around 3 missions. What you do in one mission only effects what the other mission in each chapter. New chapter has nothing to do with the last or the next one other then to carry the story along. My biggest gripe, in this review full of it, is the total lack of recoil control for your shots. You line up your shots and pray that the bullets hit the target. Shots go towards the general direction of where you aim...NOT a good thing for a game so shooting oriented.
Rating:
Summary: One Excellent Game
Review: I am a new and learning gamer and I bought this game cause I have heard great things about it but I had no idea that it would be this great I often times loose tract of time because of the excellent grafics and ability to recruit other people into your battle and another great thing about this game is that you can play it with other people via internet on gamespy.com I have a friend who is overseas fighting the good fight and we play this game together all of the time just so that he can get his mind off of what is really happening there cause it is a complete different world over their and he thinks that no one should have to live like that and this game brings him back in to the USA which makes him feel closer to home. So if I could say anything about this game is that it is well worth the 20bucks that you spend on it because you will have hours and hours of fun playing it and sniping people off with miscellaneous high powered weaponry.
Rating:
Summary: A short, somewhat interesting game
Review: I finished this today. The game has some rough edges. However, after the first few missions I started to get into the game and worked around the faults. Once I got into it, the game was over quickly. It is worth $15, but not $40. This is a play once game; the storyline is scripted enough that replay would be the same thing again. There is no multi-player. If you like shooter games, especially on game consoles, this game is for you. The squad aspect is a good part especially when you get 6+ members; saves you getting shot up as much. They are helpful but require some babysitting. The storyline is simple with some interesting twists. The weapon choices are realistic and you can only carry 1 long gun and 1 handgun at a time. You can pick up dropped weapons. This game is designed for closer range action so medium and long range accuraccy is poor except for the sniper rifle. Choosing which long gun to carry can be a challenge depending on the mission. Saving before completing a mission is difficult and frustrating when you're used to saving anytime like most shooter games. This game is a third-person shooter. Some people like that format; I prefer a first person view. It was an interesting game, it just felt like playing on a game console instead of a PC; that is why 3 stars instead of 4.
Rating:
Summary: Completely WOW
Review: I have been playing games all my life and this is one of the best games I have played. I had been following the production of the game and I was not disappointed about the wait. The story, the action and the music all blend together wonderfully. I just finished the game and you are completely glued and addicted to it until the end. One of the things I loved the most was the feeling of attachment and responsibility to my teammates that were fighting along with me and keeping them healthy. An instant classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Not very good & Target ripped me off
Review: I paid $19.99 at Target and saw it here at Target the next day for $14.99. The game is only fair. I do not like third person shooters, I prefer first person shooters. The inability to save in the middle of a game also sucks. I got through a hard sequence and got killed. To start over and go thgrough it again takes about 10 to 20 minutes just to get killed again. After playing it once or twice it is probably shelfware. Not bad if you pay $6.99 and like having your time wasted.
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