Freedom Fighters is a Third-Person-Perspective Shooter set in an alternate reality where the Soviet Union is bonkers OP and keeps winning the Cold War, culminating in a Soviet invasion of the USA. You are a New York citizen who's forced to flee underground and join the resistance against the occupying Soviet forces. As a rebel, you complete main objectives (capturing HQ buildings by raising a flag on top) and side objectives (rescuing prisoners and bombing infrastructure) in each area, which affects the enemy's strength in nearby areas -- ex. destroying a landing pad will stop enemy choppers from appearing, which is advisable because they have zero chill and will gun you down in seconds even on normal difficulty. Doing these missions and treating wounded civilians will earn you charisma, which increases the number of rebel fighters that you can ask to follow you at a time, up to a maximum of 12 in the late game. While not as effective as the player individually, these friendlies are an important asset, since weapons in this game tend to be rather inaccurate and you can hold little reserve ammo. You can carry grenades, molotovs, one sidearm (of 2), and one primary weapon (of about 6). All of them have their useful niche, but ammo can be hard to find for most weapons other than the Assault Rifle carried by most enemies. Medkits are also a limited resource needed for both your injuries and helping downed allies, so it pays to be careful with positioning. The story is pretty straightforward, and doesn't have much going on other than one foreshadowed twist. It's enough to keep you playing, but don't expect much in the way of complexity. Overall, none of this game's elements (shooting, tactics, story) are amazing on their own, but together they are greater than the sum of their parts, and make up an experience that's surprisingly fun for how simple it is. The original price feels a bit steep to me for a <10 hour game of this caliber, but it's worth picking up on sale.
