Freedom Wars

 PlayStation Vita
  • Publisher: SCEA
  • Release Date: Oct 28, 2014
User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 297 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 239 out of 297
  2. Mixed: 32 out of 297
  3. Negative: 26 out of 297
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  1. Bertoflyingfox
    Mar 13, 2015
    4
    After finally slogging through this game, I just couldnt keep doing it. The shoehorned stealth is bad, the challenge jumps between Disney Kid's Club and spam-based difficulty. The thing is, spamming abductors and trash mobs with perfect aim still wasnt much of a challenge.

    All the missions are lacking in the "fun" or even "slightly enjoyable" department....I could pretty much see a    After finally slogging through this game, I just couldnt keep doing it. The shoehorned stealth is bad, the challenge jumps between Disney Kid's Club and spam-based difficulty. The thing is, spamming abductors and trash mobs with perfect aim still wasnt much of a challenge.

    All the missions are lacking in the "fun" or even "slightly enjoyable" department....I could pretty much see a bunch of developers in a conference room saying "Screw it, just put more abductor missions, Vita owners will buy it anyway". The ending is also the biggest joke for a boss-hunter game. Ever.

    Get Soul Sacrifice or the stellar MH games instead, not this half-empty excuse for a "game".    … Expand
  2. LogainAblar
    Dec 20, 2014
    4
    To the point -

    Positives - Customization One of the first positives is the level of customization of your character and your Accessory (AI partner/overseer) that is allowed. From head to toe you can change the appearance, height, clothing, color and gender. The design options are limited to strictly Japanese anime styles. If that's your thing then you'll find a lot to love among the    To the point -

    Positives - Customization
    One of the first positives is the level of customization of your character and your Accessory (AI partner/overseer) that is allowed. From head to toe you can change the appearance, height, clothing, color and gender. The design options are limited to strictly Japanese anime styles. If that's your thing then you'll find a lot to love among the features. If not, the level of depth in customization will turn into a negative.

    Combat
    Other positives are select parts of the combat. Freedom Wars features gun and melee combat allowing users to wield a combination of both during missions. There's also a Thorn which is basically a grappling hook that allows users to zip through areas of the stage and up to higher elevations very similar to Lost Planet. There are three Thorn types and each has their own characteristics for attack, defense and health. There's a very limited cover system too. I say limited because Freedom Wars will allow you to take cover but you can't move while in cover, you can't shoot from cover (as in Uncharted or Gears of War). You can use items while in cover but the limitations in the cover system shows the developers didn't think that aspect through. But it is welcome in a few moments that I've played through, there just weren't enough of those moments.

    8 Player/Character missions
    The other positive that I thought I would hate but came to love are missions feature 8 players versus the enemy. 4 main characters including your own and 4 Accessories for each character which are robots/overseers that fight with you. This is a stark change from games like Monster Hunter, GodEater and Soul Sacrifice that feature 1-4 player missions with an occasional minion that will fight with you or 1-3 AI characters. Mechs in Freedom Wars are powerful and it will require all 8 people to complete some of the tasks presented in the game.

    Negatives - Learning Curves/Controls
    The problems start with the controls. They can't be fully customized. Only a number of presets are available. Also, there is absolutely no use of the touch screen or back panel at all. The problems become clear when trying to select items in the middle of a fight. It's easy to find the item using the D-pad, but pressing R+O button is a clumsy mess in actually using an item. The reason for this is the O button also shoots out the Thorn. So in many cases, you'll try to use an item but get the Thorn instead. Or you'll try to grab an item from an area (which requires a press of the O button) but get the Thorn instead. When an enemy is bearing down on you and you have to grab an item and keep moving, this is unacceptable. I would have preferred an option to use the touchscreen to grab items.

    A.I.
    This is a deal breaker, as the game inspired me to give it a 4. In very specific situations, the A.I. is competent. But later in the game when coordinated teamwork is essential, the A.I. is godawful stupid. Case in point, There is a CODE 7 mission that tasks you to destroy 2 Ramosa S Types, GO7-6: Liquidation. It's what could be called a "G-Rank" or advanced mission in the game. Before you face the S Types (two cyborg tiger mechs) you have to destroy a four legged mech that has two missile launchers on each side and a cannon on it's head. That's wouldn't be too much of a problem except human enemies constantly respawn and attack you from your blind sides which is cheap because you can barely see them most of the time. Unless you give the order for your team to attack the incoming enemies, they won't until it's too late if they attack them at all.

    Worse still is when the S Types actually arrive. These mechs jump around a lot like tigers. The common sense tactic would be to keep them separated and split your team. But the A.I. is too stupid to follow orders. I told the team to "Scatter" but told my Accessory to "Follow me". My Accessory did as ordered, but the team stayed where they were and kept fighting. Because the team was bunched together in one central location, the S-Types ripped them apart. To make it worse, human enemies where still constantly re-spawning in the area. I've also seen A.I. characters stand in front of a mech and take direct hits with no attempt to dodge what-so-ever. I could go on but there's no "if", "and", or "but" about it. The A.I. in Freedom Wars is dreadful.

    Difficulty Spike
    There comes a point in the game toward the end of CODE 6/beginning of CODE 7 when the game becomes so difficult to the point of pointlessness. There is so much crap thrown at you with no real way to counter it that the game becomes a rage inducing chore to play. I have no idea how Shift, Dimps or Sony's Japan Studio thought this was a great idea. Monster Hunter G-Rank missions are very difficult by comparison, but they're fair and well designed. Freedom Wars CODE 6/7 and Special Missions are not fair and are not well designed.

    I may give up on Freedom Wars and stick with Soul Sacrifice and Monster Hunter    … Expand
  3. NepNepy
    Feb 17, 2015
    0
    good combat system and anything but my finger crammed because of all button mashing and ridiculously hard enemy (if you are in singleplayer tho)

    AI is so dumb, poor story,

    i recommenced this if you like grindfesting and repetitive gameplay
  4. ArioX
    Nov 9, 2014
    2
    I am a person who read reviews, not write them. BUT this time I decided to change it, why? Well this game was named in few reviews as flag-ship for PS Vita. I STRONGLY disagree. Because this game has one HUGE (as elephant) flaw!!!

    From the beginning I will write – it is NOT about grinding! Grinding is something I do like/love – but just a heads up – IF YOU DON’T LIKE grinding – you    I am a person who read reviews, not write them. BUT this time I decided to change it, why? Well this game was named in few reviews as flag-ship for PS Vita. I STRONGLY disagree. Because this game has one HUGE (as elephant) flaw!!!

    From the beginning I will write – it is NOT about grinding!
    Grinding is something I do like/love – but just a heads up – IF YOU DON’T LIKE grinding – you don’t even have to read this review – what You may do is FORGET about this game forever!!!

    CUSTOMALIZATION
    Well – it is just AMAZING. You can create your character as You want (haircut, hair colour, face, eyes, body, skin, clothes. 10/10 GRAPHIC. Again – it is just astonishing. The way World in FW looks is great.
    10/10

    STORYLINE
    Pointless, useless and not needed. This game would be much better if kept without storyline, like Monster Hunter (BUT just to be clear DO NOT compare this something to such a brilliant game as MH).
    SO reassuming story in game – it is there but don’t expect it will interest You in any way. No fireworks there. 5/10

    USER INTERFACE
    It is clear and You can easily catch all important information without need to open any additional sub-menu. But there is some room for improvements.
    8/10

    And finally…

    …GAMEPLAY
    I could write and write here but before I’ll do so I will just say – IT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    1. Moves:
    - dodging only works to avoid some traps and “jumping” over some objects – like monsters temporarily lying on the ground – it will in any way help you with dodging monster attacks
    - “web-thing” (called “thorn” in the game) – it is good idea and if only shooting-system would be better thought through it could work – unfortunately monsters moves too chaotic (not at first levels)
    - jumping – you can only jump while hanging from your web – which is IMO idiotic – the only “jumpish” move is dodge-button – but it is not quite what I was looking for
    - moving – no way you can assign keys as You want – game gives you few options, but for me none of it works as it should

    2. Monsters / Soldiers
    - easy at the beginning, MUCH MUCH too hard soon after
    - until lvl 7 you just fly-by without any problems, as lvl 7 YOU get STUCK!!! (not only my problem), it is because difficulty grow is BADLY(!!!) balanced
    - monster movements is MUCH TOO CHAOTIC – there is no way to predict what happens – so You it does not matter how skilled you are… what matters is LUCK
    - some guns (like blowtorch) that soldiers use can block you – which is completely idiotic when you make 1-person mission

    3. Missions
    - sneaking – you just go or run or whatever – it is like this soldiers were deaf
    - rescue – all perfect at the beginning BUT when You got to higher levels You see that monsters are not so easy to kill so You want to rescue civilian without killing monster (usually you must free from 3 to 5 people). And now SURPRISE – you freed 1 person from one monster and in THE SAME SPOT that 1st monster is 2nd appears!!! And you have 2 monsters in some small area. Now try to imagine what happens if you must free 5 people…
    - kill – ohhh until lvl 7 it is just delightful adventure – you go and you kill. BUT AGAIN from lvl 7 you are screwed. Your weapons (that were more than perfect so far) are just incredibly weak and useless. Monsters appears together with lots of soldiers (and other monsters of course) which makes almost impossible to kill them, again why?
    5 reasons:
    • they are really strong(!)
    • they are chaotic – so there is no chance to predict what they’ll do (not even small chance) – it is like gamble
    • Your companions are too weak (didn’t I say You can have companions? Well You can and it helps – but don’t expect mirracles)
    • Your weapon is too weak
    • and my favourite – THERE IS NOT ENOUGH TIME!!!!!!!

    2/10

    My overall score for the game is: 2/10
    (GAMEPLAY SUCKS!!!)    … Expand
  5. BlazingSoul
    Oct 31, 2014
    0
    Another dull MH clone. Vita needs real RPG!!! All you do is kill the same monsters , get a new quest, kill another monster, get a new quest, kill another monster, and the cycle keeps repeating. It is always the same repetitive maps, but that is not surprising since MH and all of its clones are the same. Actions RPGs need to vanish from the game industry.
  6. ikereview
    Dec 6, 2014
    0
    we need a real rpg not this piece of junk i know why this flopped because it is terrible all you do is kill the same monsters and get points but this game is still better than earthbound
  7. Khodaka
    May 13, 2016
    2
    This game tries to jump into the Hunting Genre of games but doenst do to much actually original of its own. Besides a very nice character creation menu and steller character graphics, nothing else stands out as something unique. Random small mob enemies are never to diverse to care and the abductors are minimal, there are only 6 or 8 in the entire game and they would rather spam variousThis game tries to jump into the Hunting Genre of games but doenst do to much actually original of its own. Besides a very nice character creation menu and steller character graphics, nothing else stands out as something unique. Random small mob enemies are never to diverse to care and the abductors are minimal, there are only 6 or 8 in the entire game and they would rather spam various numbers of them on the same map for "difficulty" instead of actually balancing out anything.

    You play, You, in the world of "not fleshed out enough" with the set goal to "do as your told". You get told what you will be looking out for story wise and as it comes forward, your character is SET on completing the missions on hand to achieve said goal. This idea doenst sit well with me since a lot of the actions come off extremely brash and unrealistic. If I'm playing "Me" why would I break the law, then immediately attempt to break the law again? not even a single mission in between? That isn't what I would do but "I" dont have much say in the matter. Its jarring but I would at least stick with it, if the story was interesting even slightly.

    When not ignoring the story you have 3 types of gameplay missiones you will be doing. Either : Destroy unit(s) on map, Capture points/people, or stealth. The stealth missions are easily the worst. The AI is terrible, the field of vision to spot you is so low you can actually run in a straight line from start to finish and not get caught. They are bad. Next would be Capturing points, these are easily the next worst in line. It wouldnt be hard to just take one point, then another, then another, but the enemy team is smart enough to spread and also take points. Your team? dumb as bricks caught on 1 abductor and losing. 6 humans all losing to 1 abductor and not capturing any points. So while you may be able to capture all of them easily and solo all enemies near you, you cant beat this mission without first beating the abductor then letting your team be freed from their constant loop cycle of losing to actually do the mission at hand. It is aggravating at the least.
    The actual fights with abductors goes like this: latch onto one, lob off a piece, repeat. You do this enough times until it enrages and does more damage and moves faster. Sound familiar? this is straight from every single hunting game ever, whats worse is that they are robots. Why do they enrage when they should simply fight at max capacity? I get this is part of the 'genre' but if things dont work, fix it. This game lacks an identity of its own and stick so close to the formula its embarrassing.

    Outside of the actual fun of the game, you wlak around the prison you stay at. What starts off as very penalizing slowly builds into more freedoms and being able to walk and talk to whoever you want over time. Whie fun at first, it runs its fun right into the ground fairly fast and you'll want nothing more than to just not get the pop up that "hey you messed up, plus 30 years". Just add the 30 and let me go, thank you.

    There is also a crafting system and while not hard to understand... it uses real life timers. if you want to make your sword into a better sword, you better be ready to burn from 6, to 13, to 20+ minutes sitting around, real time, waiting to use your main weapon in a fight again. What a bad design choice. When people say "Oh i pumped 70 hours into this game" they easily are saying "I had 60 hours real game time, 10 hour waiting to play the actual game"

    You have a game where its tiring to walk around the main HUB area, a game that wastes your times with the majority of playable modes that simply just arent that fun or balanced, and the final mode that is meant to be fun, the creaters just have no clue how to balance it, so it never comes off as "I lack the skill to beat this" as it does moreso feel like "my team is useless, these rocket launcher spams are the worst, this is just such BS" and thats what this game is, a bunch of rehashed, refirbished, BS that lacks any orginallity of its own besides the very amazing character designing, having your own robot companion, and using your thorn ability, and even those cant save a fundamentally broken game.    … Expand
  8. OwtDaft
    Oct 30, 2019
    3
    + Good graphics and music
    - Not much of a story.
    - Game is ultra tedious. it's ultra diluted, not ideal for single player gamers.
    - Combat is very frustrating and not very fun.
    - Controls are very clunky.
    - The AI is really bad.
  9. lightningalex1
    Jun 6, 2023
    0
    This game is impossible to do solo especially the missions which you get no allies. The enemies aimbot you, while your shots don't hit if they're a pixel off. Aiming sucks, as to be expected on a handheld. Some resources sometimes don't spawn and you have to play a mission 5+ times just to get 1 or 2 of a resource. I got this game because the reviews made it sound good, but this game just sucks.

Awards & Rankings

23
#23 Best PS Vita Game of 2014
2
#2 Most Discussed PS Vita Game of 2014
1
#1 Most Shared PS Vita Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 39 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 39
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 39
  3. Negative: 0 out of 39
  1. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Dec 28, 2014
    60
    Freedom Wars can't match the series it aims to ape, but this is almost as worth checking out for its bizarre, clever conceit as its satisfying, if shallow, combat mechanics. [Christmas 2014, p.87]
  2. Riot Pixels
    Dec 22, 2014
    63
    For game that wants you to spend hundreds of hours playing it, Freedom Wars is depressingly shallow.
    Read full review
  3. Eurogamer Italy
    Dec 16, 2014
    80
    Not only is Freedom Wars one of the best games available for PlayStation Vita, but it will keep you busy for months with great gameplay and the superb 4-player co-op mode. A must-have for any action/RPG fan.
    Read full review
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