Freedom Fighters Review - Xbox

All of these questions are about to be answered with the new title by Io-Interactive, published by Electronic Arts: Freedom Fighters.

A group of enthusiastic men and women led into battle by one man can change a war. So grab a gun, we're fighting for our freedom now.

Gameplay

This game is a serious pleasure to play, especially for the action fan. You can tell that Io-Interactive have really thought this one through. In the starting sequence, you're given a bunch of dates and events that put you up to date with what's happening in the game's world. As soon as you hit the single player experience you find out that you control an ordinary New York plumber turned Freedom Fighter when the Soviets invade the country baring the hammer and sickle. Throughout the game, there will be biased news reports from a new Soviet news station. This makes out for a nice cool extra feature, which could change the amount of aggression you have towards the Soviets.

When you set up in a little rebel base camp where you can gear up and get some info, look at a map and plan your moves before you even think about leaving. It's really just a street map; you're not exactly taking bus routes so it actually does differ to Io-Interactive's Hitman 2 that required all the careful planning and proper execution to get the job done. Once you're out in the game you get to select a bunch of freedom fighters to come along with you and hit the action. It's a great third-person shooter, but it does have its liabilities. When out in the war zone, you don't really have a huge library of guns. Freedom Fighters would have been much more varied if there were more varied guns around the city. There's only a few and regardless, because of all the ammo your using the only gun you'll really get to use is the assault rifle because it's the enemy standard issue and so they drop the ammo for it. This is a down side of Freedom Fighters, but don't worry, you'll still find some situations where a convenient rocket launcher is lying about near a vantage point. When using a rocket launcher or lobbing a grenade, you'll see the game's fantastic rag doll physics.

What's always been the worst part of squad games? Your squad. I've seen a friend die in a burning house in Diablo 2 because his mercenary was standing in the door way. It's these kinds of horrible AI problems that can really get on your nerves. But rejoice because Io has thought that part out. When you run at your team mates (continued next page)