History VideoGame / FreedomFighters

* WhatIf: ...the Soviets got the bomb first?

* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: It's your [[ElaborateUndergroundBase underground base]], a raft big enough to fit a dozen men can float comfortably along, and it's [[LaResistance the resistance]]'s preferred mode of travel for bypassing Soviet roadblocks. The game [[JustifiedTrope IS]] set in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity after all, which really does have sewers ''that'' big (some even describe the network as an underground city).

* AKA47: All the weapons are obviously real, but none are mentioned by name, just "assault rifle" or "[[ShotgunsAreJustBetter shotgun]]".

* ATeamFiring: It's rare that the friendly AI hits anything beyond a few feet, especially if there is cover, unless they are using a sniper rifle, or a machine gun. None of them are trained soldiers or otherwise have firearms training.

* AwesomeButImpractical: The sub-machine gun. It has considerable stopping power, but it's only accurate to pistol range and it's high rate of fire is a mixed blessing, since ammunition for it is quite hard to find.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The opening cinematic of the final assault on Governor's Island is deliberately invocative of the famous painting ''[[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington Washington]] Crossing The Delaware'': the only real differences are that this crossing is in (an ice floe-littered) New York Harbor and the Soviets are actively shooting at the Americans.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: Colonel Bulba [[spoiler:is almost personally responsible for the resistance's existence, helps you obtain several key victories, and directs you to ''assassinate his own superior'' before showing his TrueColors and taking the reins as ''General'' Bulba.]] Said assassination [[spoiler:the assassination ''might'' have been intended as a UriahGambit to get rid of Chris -it's certainly one of the harder missions- and the ensuing KlingonPromotion was simply a happy accident.]]

* HeyItsThatVoice: In a happy little ShoutOut to ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2'', General Tatarin is voiced by the guy who played General Vladimir, while [[spoiler: Mr. Jones/]]Colonel Bulba is none other than Premier Romanov himself!

* IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels: Demonstrator, Rebel, Freedom Fighter, and Revolutionary.
** Made even worse by the fact that save games use an ''entirely different set'' of names for the 4 difficulty levels: "A walk in the park"; "Have a blast"; "You got what it takes?"; and "Against all odds".

* ItsUpToYou: Even surrounded by allies and part of an organized resistance movement, Chris seems to do everything important, from demolition to assassination. Even when he [[spoiler:becomes the ''leader'' of the movement]]. Although, to be fair, he's never actually ''alone'' on any of his operations, with anywhere from two to ''twelve'' friendlies directly supporting him at any given time.

* JustifiedTutorial: Chris is a plumber. He needs the help.
* KarmaHoudini: Colonel/General Bulba is nowhere to be found by the game's ending after [[spoiler:having your hideout destroyed and revealing himself as {{the mole}}]]. [[FridgeBrilliance Of course, that doesn't mean he got off scot free]], due to the [[YouHaveFailedMe probable response]] of the Soviet Command to [[spoiler:his formation of a resistance group in New York for personal glory that actually THREW him and the Red Army out of the state?]]

* SleeperHit

* ATeamFiring: It's rare that the friendly AI hits anything beyond a few feet, especially if there is cover, unless they are using a sniper rifle, or a machine gun. It's justified in-game due to the fact that none of them are trained soldiers, and thus lack firearms training.

* HeyItsThatVoice: In a happy little ShoutOut to ''[[CommandandConquer Red Alert 2]]'', General Tatarin is voiced by the guy who played General Vladimir, while [[spoiler: Mr. Jones/]]Colonel Bulba is none other than Premier Romanov himself!

*** On lower difficulties, you are substantially tougher than the men at your command. Ratchet things up a few notches, however, and you are no tougher than the standard mook.
**** Actually, according to 1 FAQ, allied soldiers always have 2x your health, regardless of difficulty. This makes it a bit ridiculous on the easiest difficulty, where you are essentially a walking tank.

* BilingualBonus: The Soviets really speak Russian.
** [[AliensSpeakingEnglish But gain a rudimentary understanding of English if you heal them when they're wounded.]]

* DragonWithAnAgenda: Colonel Bulba [[spoiler:is almost personally responsible for the resistance's existence, helps you obtain several key victories, and directs you to ''assassinate his own superior'' before showing his TrueColors and taking the reins as ''General'' Bulba.]]
** [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation On the other hand,]] [[spoiler:the assassination ''might'' have been intended as a UriahGambit to get rid of Chris -it's certainly one of the harder missions- and the ensuing KlingonPromotion was simply a happy accident.]]

** Not that hard: The basic soldier can survive 7 assault rifle hits, and thanks to ATeamFiring on the part of the enemy, it's rare to get shot 7 times without getting to cover and pop a medkit.

* KarmaHoudini: Colonel/General Bulba is nowhere to be found by the game's ending after [[spoiler:having your hideout destroyed and revealing himself as {{the mole}}]].
** [[FridgeBrilliance Of course, that doesn't mean he got off scot free]], due to the [[YouHaveFailedMe probable response]] of the Soviet Command to [[spoiler:his formation of a resistance group in New York for personal glory that actually THREW him and the Red Army out of the state?]]

** To be fair, almost everyone in the game is this to some extent, especially if you compare it to a more modern ''ModernWarfare'' type game. Even the most basic assault rifle-wielding Mooks can take surprising amounts of punishment (about 7 assault rifle shots on Normal difficulty), which, coupled with the ridiculously low accuracy of most weapons, leads to constant ammo shortages.

* RevolversAreJustBetter: [[AvertedTrope Nope]]. Even disregarding how difficult it is to find ammo for them, they kinda suck.
** Well, the Revolver does a lot more damage and is much more accurate than the other pistol, but it's also slower and you never get more ammo for it during a mission, so usually if you take it with you you'll end up chucking it for the automatic before the mission's over.

** Except {{Molotov cocktail}}s, which you only get from the base and rebel stockpiles.

** One of the lines your allies can call out when taking control of a mounted machine-gun is [[{{Scarface}} "Say 'ello to my little friend!"]]

* AwesomeYetPractical: The PKM machine gun deals ludicrous damage, has reasonable accuracy, never needs to be reloaded except when you find more ammo, and provided you don't waste your bullets Franchise/{{Rambo}}ing everything and use your allies to help you fight, you won't have any difficulty keeping your ammo stockpiles high.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The opening cinematic of the final assault on Governor's Island is deliberately invocative of the famous painting ''[[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington Washington Crossing The Delaware'': the only real differences are that this crossing is in (an ice floe-littered) New York Harbor and the Soviets are actively shooting at the Americans.

* TookALevelInBadass: Chris was just an everyman plumber to begin with. But when Chris gives his RousingSpeech to all of New York City, and when he and his men approach Governor's Island for the final assault, you can see just how far he's come as the leader of the American resistance. So much so that in the final fight, you [[GeorgeWashington cross the frozen water on a boat with Chris standing on the bow.]] Whatever the ultimate outcome, Chris becomes a very significant player in this AlternateHistory.

A ThirdPersonShooter released in 2003 by the makers of ''Hitman''. An AlternateHistory began when the [[DirtyCommunists Soviet Union]] developed the first [[AtomicHate atomic bomb]], shifting the balance of power firmly in their favor. The [[SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn USSR]] [[RedScare steadily expanded]] to encompass most of the world, with only the [[{{Eagleland}} United States]] opposing them, until a massive invasion quickly overwhelmed the US. The player takes control of former [[ActionSurvivor plumber]] Christopher Stone, now the "Freedom Phantom", as he fights against the [[RedsWithRockets invaders]] to liberate NewYorkCity.

* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: It's your [[ElaborateUndergroundBase underground base]], a raft big enough to fit a dozen men can float comfortably along, and it's [[LaResistance the resistance]]'s preferred mode of travel for bypassing Soviet roadblocks. The game [[JustifiedTrope IS]] set in NewYorkCity after all, which really does have sewers ''that'' big (some even describe the network as an underground city).

**** Actually, according to 1 FAQ, allied soldiers always have 2x your health, regardless of difficulty.

* [[OminousLatinChanting Ominous Russian Chanting]]: based on the Soviet Army Choirs, nonetheless!
* OneBulletClips: to the point where the game automatically reloads for you if you go more than a couple seconds without firing, whether you want it to or not.

** To be fair, almost everyone in the game is this to some extent. Even the most basic assault rifle-wielding Mooks can take surprising amounts of punishment, which, coupled with the ridiculously low accuracy of most weapons, leads to constant ammo shortages.

* FiveBadBand:
** [[BigBad The Big Bad]][=/=]TheBrute: General Tatarin
** TheDragon[=/=][[EvilGenius The Evil Genius]]: Colonel Bulba
** [[DarkChick The Dark Chick]]: Tatiana Kempinsky

* {{Made of Iron}}: The Soviet heavy machine gunner {{giant mook}}s take about 3 full mags of assault rifle fire to bring down, and can even survive several direct frag grenade hits. Hint: [[spoiler:A direct hit with a Molotov will sap their health to something manageable over time. Grenades can help too, if they get knocked over; you can pump them full of lead or beat the crap out of them while they're down and unable to respond.]]

* [[OminousLatinChanting Ominous]] [[strike:[[OminousLatinChanting Latin]]]] [[OminousLatinChanting Russian Chanting]]: based on the Soviet Army Choirs, nonetheless!

** In the beginning of the game, there's a movie poster starring Agent 47 from ''{{Hitman}}'', IO Interactive's more well-known franchise.

* ItsShortSoItSucks: Averted. Despite the short length it was well-received by critics.

* [=~Hey, It's That Voice!~=]: In a happy little ShoutOut to ''[[CommandandConquer Red Alert 2]]'', General Tatarin is voiced by the guy who played General Vladimir, while [[spoiler: Mr. Jones/]]Colonel Bulba is none other than Premier Romanov himself!

* [=~It's Short, So It Sucks~=]: Averted. Despite the short length it was well-received by critics.
* [=~It's Up To You~=]: Even surrounded by allies and part of an organized resistance movement, Chris seems to do everything important, from demolition to assassination. Even when he [[spoiler:becomes the ''leader'' of the movement]]. Although, to be fair, he's never actually ''alone'' on any of his operations, with anywhere from two to ''twelve'' friendlies directly supporting him at any given time.

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* [=~Dude, Where's My Respect?~=]: It's shown right there in the corner. By completing missions and objectives, you gain charisma, which lets you get more allies to command. But if you try to recruit more people then you're allowed, they blow you off, which is a little insulting after you [[spoiler:infiltrate the enemy command center and shoot the supreme leader in the face.]]

* AwesomeYetPractical: The PKM machine gun deals ludicrous damage, has reasonable accuracy, never needs to be reloaded except when you find more ammo, and provided you don't waste your bullets {{Rambo}}ing everything and use your allies to help you fight, you won't have any difficulty keeping your ammo stockpiles high.