Rocky Posted November 25, 2003 Share Posted November 25, 2003 (edited) Free Russia by AV Apollo Reviewed by Giwex Download Required : Ghost Recon v1.3 or higher INTRODUCTION After Saving Pilot Ryan I?m going on to my reviews of the ?old but gold? mods. This time it's Free Russia, released by Av-Apollo on June 6th 2002 and the first real custom campaign for Ghost Recon. CONTENTS Single-player and multiplayer mission enabled. 10 new and original missions. Custom mood music, sound effects, and pre mission briefing voice-overs.Tweaked specialists to unlock. Mission difficulty changes among recruit, veteran, and elite. At the time Free Russia was a really step ahead towards the high-quality GR experience with a list of new effects and contents such as that. Another point to highlight for the new Ghost Recon players out there (and they are many!) is that Free Russia requires only GR original. No expansions are required. The last 1.1 version is optimized for the use with patch 1.3/1.4. BACKGROUND AND CONCEPT The mod has been created with the RSE campaign concept in mind. Therefore all the missions have to be played and solved in campaign mode in order to be able to enjoy them in single mission mod. Every mission has an optional objective to fullfill in order to unlock a specialist for the next mission. The campaign is based in Russia when in the middle of 2002 (now already past!) neo-communist takes the power. Old communists leaders have orchestrated a revival of the socialist mindset among youths in the Russian military. Seeking a return to the imagined glory of the Cold War era, these new thugs have become the muscle behind a return to Communist policies. In response, a vocal and radically pro-democratic movement has risen to resist the despots and power mongers. Missions will revolve around two ultimate goals: destruction of the Neocommunist movement and support of the pro-Democratic forces. Final mission will be in Moscow on December 10, 2003. THE MISSIONS The first mission uses a multiplayer map of GR and therefore it?s a nice surprise for the beginners out there, tired of playing the same maps. But this mission will remain in the history, a mailstone for the GR experience, for one of the objective of the mission that requires to ?capture and interrogate 4 prisoners?. Rather than tell here the solution let me quote ghostrecon.net at the download page... "How do I interrogate the prisoners in the Free Russia Mod?"... we had to add the answer to that question in our site FAQ - that's how popular this mod is! Mission 2 brings another new concept into GR world: minefield! My favourite mission is mission 7 ? Silent Justice ? where you have to assassinate a russian general General Papashvili (!) while making propaganda in front of the people. To fullfill the objective you have to reach him killing a very few number of soldiers and guards and avoiding any civilian casualties. THE EXTRAS As already mentioned few extras can be uncovered in this mod but at the time I was really astonished: new kits, new sounds but expecially the briefing voice overs. The specialist to be unlocked are only the original once just with different names and no new weapons or skins have been intoduced. BUGS The mod is affected by few bugs that sometimes can make the gaming a bit frustrating. This is particularly true for mission 3 where when you try to reload a mission after having destroyed a tank you will have a CTD and mission 7 where sometimes you will have mission failed even if you didn?t make any mistake. Also version 1.1 does not correct these errors. CONCLUSION I highly recommend to play this mod for its new concept and to make a step back in the past, at the origin of GR modding. If you do it you can see how much ahead of time Apollo was and with this missions I?m sure you can really spend some hours of enjoyment. FINAL SCORE: 8/10 FAN FEEDBACK ?free russia is a good campaign and requires no mods................? Stalker ?And you'll find that some mighty good missions are in that mod? Avey2904 And every single recommended mod list has Free Russia listed! Edited August 1, 2008 by Rocky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Private B Posted November 26, 2003 Share Posted November 26, 2003 yeah..shooting them between the legs didnt work... Great Review Giwex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shemyaza Posted June 23, 2004 Share Posted June 23, 2004 Shoot them in the feet with a silenced pistol - works for me ! I did have trouble with the last mission as I had terminated all the tangoes & destroyed all the visible tanks/vehicle targets. However, the mission would not let me complete it because I could not destroy a 3rd tank (T-80 #1 in IGOR) that should appear near the crashed bus/rubble mound - it never appeared ! Still, a very enjoyable campaign apart from that, so thanks again ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman Polar Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 I did have trouble with the last mission as I had terminated all the tangoes & destroyed all the visible tanks/vehicle targets. However, the mission would not let me complete it because I could not destroy a 3rd tank (T-80 #1 in IGOR) that should appear near the crashed bus/rubble mound - it never appeared ! Still, a very enjoyable campaign apart from that, so thanks again ! ← I also ran into the missing 3rd tank on the last mission so it can't be completed. Good thing it was the last mission. All in all, Free Russia is a good campaign though; you can even get a MOH ( a first for me ) if you survive the tricky 5th mission as a lone sniper. IP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shemyaza Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 (edited) I did have trouble with the last mission as I had terminated all the tangoes & destroyed all the visible tanks/vehicle targets. However, the mission would not let me complete it because I could not destroy a 3rd tank (T-80 #1 in IGOR) that should appear near the crashed bus/rubble mound - it never appeared ! Still, a very enjoyable campaign apart from that, so thanks again ! ← I also ran into the missing 3rd tank on the last mission so it can't be completed. Good thing it was the last mission. All in all, Free Russia is a good campaign though; you can even get a MOH ( a first for me ) if you survive the tricky 5th mission as a lone sniper. IP ← ← Thats' the best way to complete the 5th mission - try not to kill anyone for added difficulty/exitement/realism ("They never knew I was there !" Edited January 3, 2005 by Shemyaza Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman Polar Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 (edited) Thats' the best way to complete the 5th mission - try not to kill anyone for added difficulty/exitement/realism ("They never knew I was there !" ← I just don't have the patience to be a true sniper, (crawling like a tortoise from shadow to shadow). Once I got the intel, I was glad to get back my license to kill. However, you've posed a challenge, Azza. I just might try that using the specialist sniper "praetorian" who has the highest stealth rating. Maybe I won't get a MOH, but it sounds like fun. I will, of course, take along my trusty silenced hunting rifle, the M-21 SD, just in case I screw the pooch and have to shoot my out of Dodge. Too bad about that 10th mission though; it was a rough day at the office even with OICWs and I would have enjoyed partying with some of those Russian beauties. IP PS. I just tried Mission 5, playing it "No Kills" and found that after getting the intel from the Hokum and the Control Tower, upon reaching the EZ the game didn't end. I was pursued by some tangos that began shooting and when I returned fire, I got the "you're dead because you're stupid" message. Very strange! Edited January 4, 2005 by Iceman Polar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shemyaza Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Thats' the best way to complete the 5th mission - try not to kill anyone for added difficulty/exitement/realism ("They never knew I was there !" ← I just don't have the patience to be a true sniper, (crawling like a tortoise from shadow to shadow). Once I got the intel, I was glad to get back my license to kill. However, you've posed a challenge, Azza. I just might try that using the specialist sniper "praetorian" who has the highest stealth rating. Maybe I won't get a MOH, but it sounds like fun. I will, of course, take along my trusty silenced hunting rifle, the M-21 SD, just in case I screw the pooch and have to shoot my out of Dodge. Too bad about that 10th mission though; it was a rough day at the office even with OICWs and I would have enjoyed partying with some of those Russian beauties. IP PS. I just tried Mission 5, playing it "No Kills" and found that after getting the intel from the Hokum and the Control Tower, upon reaching the EZ the game didn't end. I was pursued by some tangos that began shooting and when I returned fire, I got the "you're dead because you're stupid" message. Very strange! ← As you say, you have to be patient to creep around to get the intel without the exitement of shooting anyone - it does make for a different type of game & makes the next spot of carnage all the more enjoyable. I've never had the problem you had at the end though - I'll have to try it again soon to check it out ! And thank you, Iceman Polar, for using the correct version of one of my names ! Shemyaza. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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