Posted on: December 20, 2020
JGrayDingler
Games: 415 Reviews: 11
Bold Underfunded Mess
Honestly, all three Freedom Chronicle episodes feel so thin on content you're better of waiting for the season pass to go on sale and get them all cheaper than it would cost to buy any individual episode, but I figure people might appreciate separate reviews of each episode to get a better idea what they're buying. The first Freedom Chronicle episode opens with a lot promise. Joe Stallion was once a young quarterback living the American dream, then the Nazis took over and he's forced into throwing games to make the "master race" look good. Eventually he gets sick of that and beats them anyway, gets thrown in prison for his trouble, but naturally breaks out and start offs of on a rampage against the Nazis and the local Klansmen to try to met up with father, a resistance fighter. Like all the Freedom Chronicles episodes, this one suffers badly from not having the budget needed for this kind of concept. Most of the characters are regulated to very short cutscenes, most of what we do is recycled bits from the base game (the rideable Panzerhund segment is shamelessly redone on a much less visually striking map), and there's some questionable choices with this episode in particular. Joe has a natural version of the ramshackle upgrade which lets you plow through enemies. A natural fit for him, it's a shame it's not used all that creatively. I was hoping to constantly knock over Nazis like bowling pins but most of the levels don't favor rush tactics. Also instead of knives or hatchets, you get... cans. Joe can throw cans so hard they kill people... I get they wanted to work in the football gimmick, but why not something more exciting, like he throws grenades so hard they detonate on impact? There's a few memorable bits, in particular this nightmare segment on a football field against seemingly endless Klansmen and Nazis, but there far and few. Sadly, despite a great premise for a Wolfenstein adventure, the execution is mired by a low budget and some very odd choices.
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