Battle Cry of Freedom

Overall, Battle Cry of Freedom provides a fun and immersive Civil War experience that I hope to see grow further with future updates. For Civil War buffs, the game offers a good amount of historic immersion through the character creator, the available classes and combat roles, and the background music. The war simulator fan can enjoy combat that strikes a solid balance between historical accuracy and enjoyability. The game makes some ambitious promises, with massive maps and large amounts of people playing simultaneously, combined with a user-friendly gameplay. In this goal, it seems to have largely succeeded.

Battle Cry of Freedom sometimes plays a bit too much like a game from 2012, but its multi-hundred player battles and proximity voice chat are something straight from the future of gaming.

Battle Cry of Freedom is fun but problematic. With no tutorial you're left to figure everything out on your own. An even bigger issue is the not so subtle racism found in the community in a game that pits confederacy vs the union - and you pick whichever side you want. While players' behavior is not the fault of developer Flying Squirrel Entertainment, making a game whose topic is the civil war brings out some less than savory people. Combat is fun, but understanding the flow of battles takes patience. You don't need a PHD to play Battle Cry of Freedom, but a Bachelors probably goes a long way to understanding pivotal gameplay mechanics.

Battle Cry of Freedom is an immersive simulator more than a shooter. Though it is marred by odd design decisions and Performance issues, the game still resides as a game that can be truly engaging for players willing to step into the past.