Freedom Wars

Freedom Wars may be another hunting game on the Vita, but it's by far one of the best. It screams AAA production with standout graphics, solid audio, unique gameplay mechanics and a fresh story line - bringing them to you in a one of a kind package that only Japan could come up with, but with an execution typical of the Western big shots.

It may look like a Monster Hunter clone, but Freedom Wars is much more than that. Whether you play alone, or you go online and hunt with friends, this dystopian action/ RPG will be the best thing that has happened to your PS Vita for a long time.

George Orwell meets Monster Hunter in what feels like one of Vita's oddest and most significant exclusives yet.

We sure don't have the new Monster Hunter, but Freedom Wars is a good game to keep an eye on. If the premises and the narrative structure of the game had to be maintained at early hours levels, we'd be talking about a true masterpiece. Good game, anyway.

Competent as a handheld third-person shooter/RPG hybrid. Alas, the final act doesn't deliver on the promise of its premise. [Christmas 2014, p74]

In a way, I guess, they're kind of a stand-in for Freedom Wars as a whole. They — like the game — may look nice, and they may be part of a story that's surprisingly engaging. But the moment they — or the game, for that matter — actually have to do anything, it all falls apart.

Combat is the brightest highlight, though it's still dulled by clumsy controls. Beyond that, the environments are so monotonous as to kill any passion for the thing.

This game iis incredible I love the story and its characters. The gameplay is even better though. It is a lot like other hunting games but with its own unique twists. If you want all the trophies, be prepared to grind. The AI is also not very helpful late-game; it is easier and more fun online anyway.

I'm really glad that i bought a copy and played it because it made me laugh, it pissed me off, it depressed me, and it made me put down my Vita and think deeply about society and its future and all within the first 30 minutes of the game. But then I just really didn't enjoy it, I can't say exactly why but i just wasn't having fun. the combat well, it just doesn't feel impactfull. I get bored and then I get killed a lot and i don't really care to try harder or get better at it. Still, I want to see more from this IP in the future, It had some really interesting concepts that were very creative and were implemented directly into the gameplay rather than just attached to it.

After sinking about 90 or so hours into the game, I feel this is a mediocre game overall. The combat is fast paced and exciting but the lack of variety of enemies makes it sort of bland after a while, to make up for this thought the large number of weapons as well as different move-sets for weapons of the same type lets you mix up game play quite a bit. The enemy humans are way too accurate with their guns (seriously, you'll die to them more often than the abductors) and this is post patch where its been nerfed a bit. Although not impossible to get, the top tier weapons involve a lot of save scumming, which sort of detracts from the game. Online play isn't the worst, there are frame drops here and there but nothing really terrible aside from disconnects and what not depending on who's hosting, and as you would expect online play is several times more efficient than bringing the AI characters. I found the story really poorly written, maybe it was lost in translation, like some of the item descriptions (seriously clip size up and carryable ammo should be flipped). Character customization is great, you get lots of options and you can make your character really stand out if you put some effort into it. tldr: Its alright

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".

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