Freedom Wars Review: Fight For Your Freedom!

 

NOTE: The images used in this article are promotional pieces from the developer.

 

Story

Self-contained city-states known as Panopticons have sprung up in response to conflict over the world's depleted and ever more limited resources. The residents of the Panopticons live under totalitarian law, receiving a one million-year prison sentence the moment they are born as punishment for being "a drain on the Panopticon's resources". These "Sinners" are deprived of almost all rights and privileges. They have no choice but to work off their sentence and earn various small freedoms by completing "voluntary contribution operations" - fights in surface battles against men from rival Panopticons and their machines called "Abductors".

The goal is to whittle down your sentence and earn "Entitlements" - the right to sit down, stand still, wear a certain color or talk to people of the opposite sex, and so forth. The setting is quite immersive and unsettling; in fact you can have anywhere from twenty to thousands of years added to your sentence for committing infractions such as walking too much, or being too quiet. Infractions are impossible to avoid, no matter how hard you try, and add a fitting bit of paranoia to the gameplay experience.

Gameplay

Missions take place within one of several arenas that vary in size and theme, usually industrial or nature based. The objective is to destroy all, or certain enemies within the mission area, or to save captives. Using swords and guns, the player must bring down Abductors, gigantic robots that capture and hold productive citizens captive. "Thorns" (hooks) are used to grab specific parts of the Abductors body and drag it down. Alternatively the Thorn device can be used to climb onto the Abductors, allowing the player to saw limbs and weapons off. Detached pieces then become collectibles that are used to upgrade player weapons and augmentations, or they can be given as gifts to earn the Panopticon's favor.

The targeting system could use some work. More than once it went haywire when I got too close to a target. The game's crafting system was also a bit more complicated than I would have liked. For the most part I ignored it, until a massive difficulty spike around Level 6 or 7 made it hard to progress without utilizing the crafting system.

Conclusion 

Freedom Wars was a fun romp for a while. The oppressive world was strangely enjoyable and not something I have encountered in too many other games. Obviously it sucks to be living in that situation, but exploring what it is like to suffer through so many unjust rules, having to just "accept it" knowing there is no escape - no change to the system, no grand uprising, was a unique role-playing opportunity. The story was serviceable and the combat had some great maneuverability. Solo play becomes difficult in the latter half (even with AI team revivals), which is what eventually got me to put it down until I could find the time required for a stretch of grinding and crafting. Worth a try if it strikes your fancy.

First posted to videogamegeek.com on September 20, 2019.

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