The strategy turn-based tactics genre is a hard one to break into, mostly because a few games have already nailed it down to near perfection. XCOM, Fire Emblem, and Wasteland have basically set the blueprint, and they’ve done it so well that any new entry has to work extra hard to stand out. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for something new to shake things up a bit. Chains of Freedom definitely tries to do just that.
Chains of Freedom, developed by Nordcurrent, drops us into a post-apocalyptic Eastern Europe where everything is falling apart. You play as a squad of soldiers who are shot down behind enemy lines. The team is split up during the crash, and the early hours of the game revolve around reuniting with your squadmates — well, some of them. It’s not long before the group uncovers a much more significant threat: shady government conspiracies and rogue scientists experimenting with things they definitely shouldn’t.
The premise itself is solid, but as the story unfolds, things start to get a little messy. It throws mutated monsters at you, warring factions, cryptic science babble and a team leader who is so overly confident and smug that it honestly becomes kind of annoying. He dives headfirst into every situation, like the universe is just waiting for him to save it. The game piles on a lot early, and while it’s trying to build out its world, it ends up making things feel cluttered and hard to follow.
“If you’re into games like XCOM or Into the Breach, there’s a decent amount here that will scratch that same itch — at least for a little while.”
The biggest problem I had with Chains of Freedom was the story as a whole – I didn’t really connect with any of the characters. They’re just sort of… there. None of them stand out in any meaningful way, and the writing leans too heavily on macho army stereotypes without allowing enough time for real development. So when the game tries to throw in a big twist, it just doesn’t land. It’s hard to care when you don’t really like the people involved.
Story issues aside, I actually found myself enjoying the combat. And if you’re into games like XCOM or Into the Breach, there’s a decent amount here that will scratch that same itch — at least for a little while. Chains of Freedom uses a gridless, action-point-based system. You control a team of characters, each with a set pool of action points they can use to move, shoot, or use special abilities. You’re encouraged to find cover, consider the line of sight and set up overwatch-style reactions to incoming enemies.
Each squad member in Chains of Freedom can be customized using mutated crystals found throughout the world. These crystals give you access to new skills or passive boosts, and they are essentially the main way to build out your team’s toolkit. At first, I thought this was a cool system — you can shape your team to fit your style, and there’s a bit of flexibility. But after a few hours, I started to notice that many of these upgrades just weren’t all that interesting. The skills felt too minor to really change how I played, and the game front-loads the good stuff a bit too early.
Some of the more unique crystals are tied to environmental puzzles, which I appreciated. I love it when a game makes you work to earn something powerful. But the second time, I solved a puzzle and ended up with a weaker ability than what I already had equipped? That killed the momentum for me. After that, I mostly stuck to a few reliable boosts like healing, extra health, and more action points, and I called it a day. It kind of kills the excitement when you realize you can brute-force your way through most fights just by playing conservatively and stacking survivability.
There’s also a crafting system in Chains of Freedom layered on top of everything. You’ll collect parts and scraps from around the world to make ammo, healing items and other supplies. On paper, that sounds great — it gives you a reason to explore every corner of the map. But here’s the thing: the environments themselves just aren’t that interesting. They’ve got the post-apocalyptic vibe down, sure, but they’re not interactive or unique enough to justify digging through every nook and cranny. Eventually, I stopped bothering unless I saw something directly in my path. I just picked up scraps after battles, crafted what I needed and moved on.
And yes, running out of ammo mid-fight is rough. You can’t equip a primary weapon, a sidearm and a melee weapon all at once, which feels like a strange oversight. You end up having to burn action points just to open your inventory and swap to a melee weapon if things go south. It’s a hassle, and early on, it made a few fights more frustrating than they needed to be. Luckily, once I was a few hours in, I had enough supplies that it stopped being a real issue.
“Chains of Freedom is … fine.”
The sound design is solid. While I wasn’t particularly into the voice acting — mainly because, again, I didn’t like the characters — the sound effects were on point. Gunfire has a satisfying boom, Molotovs crackle with a nice punch, and the monsters make some genuinely creepy noises. Speaking of the monsters, the early-game designs are actually quite good. They look just messed up enough to get under your skin without going full cartoonish or overdesigned.
At the end of the day, Chains of Freedom is … fine. It’s not bad, it’s not great — it’s a perfectly average entry in a genre filled with heavy hitters. The combat is decent, the sound design is well done, and there are some cool ideas, even if they don’t all land. The story is the weakest link by far, mostly because of its unlikable cast and its tendency to throw too much at you too fast. But if you’re really into turn-based tactics and just want something new to try for a weekend or two, Chains of Freedom might be worth checking out. Just don’t expect it to reinvent the wheel.
