Freedom Fighters - Xbox - initial impressions

[therealjohnpeat]

I've got the PS2 version on rental here and - erm - I'm none-too-impressed so far (I've not gotten far for a reason - honest!).

It's the total opposite of Hitman in it's initial approach in that Hitman dropped you right in at the sharp end without any hints wheras this is mega-hand-holding for the first few levels (childishly and tediously so).

I'm also starting think that the enemy and squad AI is a bit buggy and a bit stupid - it's going to frustrate some I think.

Targetting also seems screwed up - you can pump bullets into some enemies and not register hits wheras shooting 'well away' from other enemies puts them down. As this is a mostly combat-based game which relies on you using first person tagetting a lot anyway - why not make it a first-person game - 3rd person shooters typically suck, has no-one noticed this??

Close up fighting is 'random pot luck' at times with the camera spearing all-over-the-place and - oh, it's just horrible it really is

There's some clumsy design in there too - most out of keeping with the excellent Hitman again. Early on there's a mission which starts with you following a woman you've rescued into a building - she takes her time wandering in telling you the story etc - but EVERY time you die you have to do through this ALL OVER AGAIN - FFS!!

Add to all of that the moron-level story and stupid things like NPCs knowing your name/knowing where you've come from (how? - why?) etc. and any 'atemosphere' is well skewered.

Big disappointment IMHO - feels rushed, unfinished and has the hand of EA all over it making it babyish and nonsensical

That said - I may press on a little further - perhaps - but I'm DAMN glad I didn't buy it based on the mostly glowing reviews...

JP

[MonkeyWrench]

Sounds like a completely different game to the one I'm playing. It could be that some of those problems are only inherent in the PS2 version. The AI is pretty tight in the Xbox version.

I think the decision to make it 3rd person was a wise move, as there's quite a bit of climbing and jumping on later levels whilst trying to find those sweet vantage points.

I think I'm getting close to the end and I'm going to be a bit sad to complete it. Definitely one of my tops picks of the year so far.

[Omizzay]

A lot of people were complaining about the lack of customizable controls, and especially the fact that you can't precision aim and crouch at the same time. This is the controller equivalent of R-stick + L-stick + R-trigger + L-click (held), + white (held) - pretty much impossible unless you have three hands. I posted this on the rllmuk forums, so I decided to help you guys out too

Note - this only works on modded xboxes :

What you have to do is edit the fist part of FFXBoxGamepad.cfg (found in the root directory) to the following :

[code:1:0a4e671459]<ActionMap Name="T1Control">
<Mapping Action="HoldMoveForward1" Activation="Hold">
<Key SCode="GC1_AXIS1_UP" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>
<Mapping Action="HoldMoveBackward1" Activation="Hold">
<Key SCode="GC1_AXIS1_DOWN" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>
<Mapping Action="HoldMoveLeft1" Activation="Hold">
<Key SCode="GC1_AXIS1_LEFT" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>
<Mapping Action="HoldMoveRight1" Activation="Hold">
<Key SCode="GC1_AXIS1_RIGHT" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>

<Mapping Action="HoldInventoryWheelMode" Activation="Hold">
<Key SCode="GC1_WHITE" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>
<Mapping Action="TapUse" Activation="Tap">
<Key SCode="GC1_A" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>

<Mapping Action="HoldAttack" Activation="Hold">
<Key SCode="GC1_Y" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>
<Mapping Action="HoldDefend" Activation="Hold">
<Key SCode="GC1_B" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>
<Mapping Action="HoldFormFormation" Activation="Hold">
<Key SCode="GC1_X" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>

<Mapping Action="HoldPrecisionAim" Activation="Hold">
<Key SCode="GC1_LEFT1" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>

<Mapping Action="HoldFire" Activation="Hold">
<Key SCode="GC1_RIGHT1" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>
<Mapping Action="TapFire" Activation="Tap">
<Key SCode="GC1_RIGHT1" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>
<Mapping Action="TapCloseCombat" Activation="Tap">
<Key SCode="GC1_ABUTRIGHT" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>
<Mapping Action="PS2_HoldStrafeMode" Activation="Hold">
<Key SCode="GC1_ABUTRIGHT" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>
<Mapping Action="TapJump" Activation="Tap">
<Key SCode="GC1_BLACK" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>
<Mapping Action="HoldJump" Activation="Hold">
<Key SCode="GC1_BLACK" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>
<Mapping Action="HoldCrouch" Activation="Tap">
<Key SCode="GC1_ABUTLEFT" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>

<Mapping Action="TapActivateMenu" Activation="Tap">
<Key SCode="GC1_START" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>
<Mapping Action="TapActivateMap" Activation="Tap">
<Key SCode="GC1_SELECT" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>

<Mapping Action="PS2_HoldPointerUp" Activation="Hold">
<Key SCode="GC1_AXIS2_UP" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>
<Mapping Action="PS2_HoldPointerDown" Activation="Hold">
<Key SCode="GC1_AXIS2_DOWN" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>
<Mapping Action="PS2_HoldPointerLeft" Activation="Hold">
<Key SCode="GC1_AXIS2_LEFT" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>
<Mapping Action="PS2_HoldPointerRight" Activation="Hold">
<Key SCode="GC1_AXIS2_RIGHT" Device="GameControl"/>
</Mapping>
</ActionMap>[/code:1:0a4e671459]

This makes the

L-trigger - precision aim
R-click - melee attack
L-click - crouch [toggled]
Black button - jump
White button - inventory


The game actually becomes a lot more playable this way, and a lot more fun.

Enjoy.

[Kerraig UK]

Listen to Omizzay, that new control system makes the game much more playable.

Just wanted to point out a couple of things I read in this thread.

FF is only 2.5 gigs, so boxplorer is copying the whole thing for ya.

Also, CDS 2 does have an invert aim option, so you can buy it after all!