Liberated

Liberated wants to be a playable V for Vendetta, but despite a beautiful hand-drawn art style, it can't match the quality of its inspirations.

More than the sum of its parts, Liberated tells a rollicking tale with plenty of style. It doesn't run as well as it should do, and it's far from lacking in clichés (some of the "people would rather take selfies than open their eyes" stuff is a little eye-rolling) but it's a fantastic take on a dystopian platformer that avoids the major pitfalls that such games often fall into. With responsive controls, enjoyable shooting and strong level design, Liberated is an atmospheric, absorbing treat and far more than the sum of its parts.

I respect what the developers were going for and think the comic look is still cool, even if it is a bit lacking in other areas. The game works decently, in terms of mechanics. I can just think of plenty of other games you'd probably rather play more than this one. If you're in the mood for a relatively quick cyberpunk-tinged romp, though, Liberated isn't the worst you could do.

Liberated: Enhanced Edition is to be commended for trying to do something a bit different. It’s just a shame that the gameplay here isn’t a little deeper and more polished. But ultimately, it’s not really the focus of the experience: that’s the story. If you’re a sucker for tales that draw you into dark, dystopian worlds, chances are you’ll still get a considerable amount of enjoyment out of it.

To tell such a cohesive and well-thought-out tale across several perspectives in just four chapters was impressive. With the enhanced edition, two more chapters have been added, but not necessarily to end the narrative. It was more of an additional segment to further iterate the story that was already told. The entire game including the extra chapters can be knocked out in sitting of fewer than 4 hours, which makes repeat sittings to explore alternate choices much more manageable. It was a game that did not overstay its welcome while still delivering an immersive experience that didn’t feel too short either.

Liberated: Enhanced Edition fails to deliver on a promising premise. At its core, the game tells an interesting story in an innovative manner, however, the gameplay sequences let it down. The gunplay is formulaic and lacks variety. Predictable enemy placement means that the game quickly becomes repetitive. While Atomic Wolf attempts to vary the gameplay with puzzles and QTEs, these are few and far between. With some technical issues thrown into the mix, this comic-inspired title has a few too many issues.

Liberated is a great comic book turned video game. Dark and dystopian, almost absurdly gorgeous visuals, and a compelling story make this a surprising, but welcome, entry in the Switch library. Although you can beat the game within a few hours, don’t let the short run-time turn you off. There’s a lot of game packed into that those few hours.

Great game but held back in animations and forced QTE sections

Liberated is a vivid noir work that does a great job with the visual presentation and can charm you with a story, but completely fails in many other departments.

Liberated is a game that could have been better. The premise is fine but full of clichés, and there's nothing new to make it more interesting to those who have heard these stories countless times already. The presentation is nice, but the pauses between page turns feel unnecessary considering the style. The gameplay feels repetitive, since direct violence is the only viable answer. Unless you've been dying to get this one the moment it was announced, you'd be better served putting it off for something else instead.