So Freedom Fighters was a video game made by IO Interactive (the same developers that made Hitman 2) that came out back in 2003 that should've gotten more love than it did. It was a third-person shooter set in an alternate history modern day, where Soviet Russia won the arms race and dropped the first atom bomb on Berlin, and so they became the more dominant power in the world. And then in the present day, they launch an invasion of the United States and occupy the country. You play as an average Joe turned resistance leader that fights against the occupation. It's like Red Dawn, except set in New York City. You had to make use of cover to avoid enemy fire, and use a squadron of up to 12 NPC fighters to flank the enemy and defend positions. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good, and never got the sequel it deserved.
When the Homefront games came out, some people were calling them a spiritual successor, but this was only because they dealt with "alternate history where enemy nation is the dominant superpower and occupies America." The first Homefront game was just a relatively bland FPS game that never really clicked to me, and Homefront: The Revolution was a hot mess of ideas that I couldn't even bring myself to finish.
So, let's see how I'd reboot Freedom Fighters.
The Setting & Plot
Where? America. When? Tomorrow.
Sure, we've seen the "Russia invades America" concept in modern games already in Modern Warfare 2, but the difference is in MW2, America was more than capable of fighting back and once the initial invasion force was defeated, Russia's forces were overextended. In FF, Russia is a powerful military power, capable of beating our forces, especially with a surprise attack. If needs must, a plausible explanation for why the bulk of our military forces were unable to stop the attack can be given, and I'll even touch on that later.
Having a modern setting fits in with the story I have in mind, but to avoid too much alternate history mucking about, we keep things more or less the same as they are now until let's say 9/11. From that point, America over-extends itself in the War on Terror, and loses a lot of international support. Meanwhile, Russia starts building up is own military, with the excuse that doing so will allow them to protect their own people from terrorist attacks. Subsequent presidential elections in America result in presidents who, despite their best efforts, cannot help the failing economy recover, causing more problems stateside. Russia continues to rise as America declines. We avoid making any political statements to any side of the spectrum, however. Any presidents that get named after George W. Bush are different people, and no political parties get named. We're not going to get into pointing fingers about anything.
So by the time the game starts, America is struggling, but still not an easy pushover. Our military forces are worn out after two decades of constant fighting overseas, in increasingly hostile countries, with little respite. In Russia, to avoid making any real-life figures over there the actual villains, some new political figure has risen to power, perhaps even having the existing president/prime minister assassinated or something. This new Russian President sets about throwing Russia's weight around, but with their increased military power, no one else is in a position to stop him.
With increasing unrest at home in America, the Russian President makes an ambitious decision to invade the United States to "stabilize a once great power." Bear in mind, this is all stuff that can be re-written or fine-tuned, but I'm giving basic ideas here. Because the American military is still a force to be reckoned with in their over-extended state, President Badguynikov has an elite group of Russian hackers crash the military networks to cripple its effectiveness.
Gameplay
The player-character should still be a relatively average Joe forced by circumstances during the Russian invasion to go underground and join up with the Resistance. I would keep the basic gist of Freedom Fighters' mission setup the same. From a central hub location (a Resistance HQ or outpost), the PC heads out to destroy a Russian supply depot, or take out a team of snipers, etc. Basic missions to start, and to gradually introduce elements of the gameplay, and then as the game goes on, longer mission strings in different hub areas, with higher stakes.
To make the game a little more in-depth and to emphasize how desperate things are for the rebels, there should be some resource management and crafting elements, but not too excessive. The PC still commands a squadron, but a squad of four (himself included), and to make the squad more than just "disposable grunts," every potential squad member is of a particular archetype. Soldiers are your jack-of-all-stats type. Heavies can use bigger guns (heavy machine guns or rocket launchers). Snipers are good for marking enemies and long-distance takedowns. Medics can heal your allies more quickly, but can't use anything bigger than an SMG, and are more fragile. Scavengers can help recover more resources. And so on.
You have limited inventory space, however. So you might come across a crafting component or something that you want to get back to HQ for XP points or whatever, but your pack might be full already. Not to worry, you have access to your squadmates' packs and can have them carry it, as long as their packs aren't full. And if a squadmate dies and can't be revived, you then have to make the choice of what to take from their pack and what to leave behind. And you can't replace squadmates until you get back to HQ. Thus, you have more incentive to keep your squadmates alive.
Characters
The PC is Chris Stone, as a callback to the original game. In deference to modern gaming, however, there is an option between having Chris be male or female, since some people do like playing as a female protagonist. Your average Jo(e) that becomes a symbol of the Resistance. Instead of a plumber, I picture Chris as a mechanic, giving them some aptitude for sabotaging enemy machinery, etc.
The new Russian President is Vasillj Tatarin, as another callback to the original game. In the original FF, Tatarin was the general leading the Soviet invasion, who is assassinated by Chris halfway through the game. In the reboot, he wouldn't be the primary antagonist, but the "bigger bad" orchestrating events from afar in Mother Russia. In his place, the Russian occupation is led by General Dmitri Zharkov, who turns the American President, Thomas Roberts, into a puppet ruler.
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That's the basics of how I'd reboot Freedom Fighters. Like I said, no real need to go too deep with alternate history, like the original did or the Homefront games did, but one could easily see it as a plausible thing to happen in reality if things went more awry. And in such things, there is great potential for storytelling.
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