Liberated

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.

When it comes to dystopia, nothing beats the Eastern bloc. Liberated is an innovative project of an indie studio from Warsaw. It is ambitious and interesting – and at the same time beautifully... drawn?

A dark & gloomy indie platformer with some tense gameplay and unique visuals.

Liberated is a striking stealth-action comic book come to life, even if it is a little bit derivative.

Liberated’s comic gameplay style works very well and the game provides some good entertainment. However, the story and characters are not as well explored as they could have been. If you like political thrillers, then this could scratch that itch for a few hours.

Sometimes, video game and graphic novel narratives aren’t all that dissimilar. Bombastic, over the top, stories can be aplenty. The two can allow for some minute by minute, or even second by second, means of telling a story. So much emotion, impact and emphasis can be explored in a single and effective graphic novel panel. Similarly, watching the feedback of how gameplay unfolds lets even milliseconds be crucial and provides the same feeling. Atomic Wolf and L.inc’s Liberated is a cyberpu...

Liberated wants to be so much, but it trips on its own feet within the first comic issue. The idea to read a comic book on your Nintendo Switch, and also play within those same panels, was a fantastic creative decision. However, the developers seem to have put more effort into that idea than filling out the rest of the gameplay, which is nothing short of lacklustre. If, at times, the cliche story didn’t read like a low quality YA novel, then I’d have appreciated it more.

A cyberpunk noir comic book in video game form sounds like a recipe destined for greatness. Unfortunately, in the video game industry, a perfect recipe doesn't always make for a perfect outcome. A unique art style can only carry a game so far.

A game presented in a noir comic book style, not only through its cel-shaded graphics and usage of onomatopoeia, but also by literally being presented inside a graphic novel. A story about a revolutionary group, obviously inspired by Anonymous, trying to overthrow a totalitarian, quasi-Orwellian government that keeps track of all of its populace through their online history. It should have been great. Liberated has a fantastic premise. But boy oh boy, does it fail in its execution.

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.

Liberated tries so hard to rock the comic book aesthetic while telling a story about Big Brother. Sadly, it mostly just falls flat thanks to bad gameplay and crummy moments.

Verdict: Liberated isn’t going to set the world on fire but it’s also not a bad game. There’s quite a bit to like. Not the least of which is that there are several different genres mashed in together to offer you a wide variety of game play options. The problem is that where it falls short, it really falls short. That doesn’t offer a ton of replayability.