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Chains of Freedom is a turn-based tactical RPG that plunges players into the heart of a bleak, dystopian vision of Eastern Europe. The game is set in a crumbling regime known only as “The Sovereignty,” a totalitarian state unraveling under the weight of a mysterious affliction called EDEN. This disease mutates the infected, causing grotesque crystalline growths and stripping away their humanity. You lead a hardened military squad tasked with confronting not only these dangerous mutations but also the tangled web of political and moral decay at the core of this broken world.
Mechanics necessary for the challenge
At its foundation, the gameplay revolves around tightly designed, grid-based combat encounters. Each encounter is a self-contained scenario where positioning, line of sight, and careful use of cover are crucial. Victory often hinges not on brute strength but on clever tactics—flanking enemies, setting up ambushes, or using elevation to your advantage. The enemies are brutal and varied, forcing you to adapt your approach from mission to mission.
What makes the combat stand out is how it’s interwoven with survival elements. Ammunition is scarce, health doesn’t regenerate between encounters, and careless aggression is frequently punished. This scarcity adds tension to every decision. Will you risk looting that abandoned house at the far end of the map, knowing it might hold the ammo you desperately need—or walk into an ambush and lose a squad member forever?
The game offers three difficulties which are indeed very different with not only varying health pools but also enemy variety. I personally went for the normal difficulty and I have to say I struggled at times. There are many mechanics the player can use to their advantage that are essential to keep restarts to a minimum. Between sneaking around, setting up ambushes, swapping and utilizing skill there are many ways to make encounters easier.
An OK story, beautifully presented
Narratively, Chains of Freedom leans hard into political paranoia and moral ambiguity. You’re not simply fighting monsters; you’re navigating a society on the brink of collapse. The EDEN infection may be the most visible threat, but beneath the surface are layers of corruption, lies, and betrayal. The narrative itself is nothing special with the familiar story beats we’ve seen so many times. It’s serves the point of driving the gameplay forward and the performance does it justice but certainly nothing unique.
Visually, the game uses a combination of detailed hand-drawn comic-style cutscenes and grim 3D environments. It’s not pushing technical boundaries, but it knows exactly what tone it’s aiming for. The decayed buildings, abandoned villages, and eerie caves are atmospheric and immersive. There’s a certain stark beauty in the ruined landscapes, and the enemy designs—especially the mutated infected—are grotesque in all the right ways. The art direction carries a consistent mood throughout, evoking a feeling of dread that stays with you even outside of combat.
Sound design plays a significant role in reinforcing that tension. The ambient audio—distant sirens, the crackle of radio static, infected groans. The best are the myriad of weapons all sound good and feel great to use. the meatiness of a shotgun never gets old.. The soundtrack is mostly minimalist, letting the environment speak for itself, though it occasionally surges during combat or story beats to good effect. Voice acting is solid, delivering just enough emotional nuance to ground the characters without becoming overly dramatic.
Criticism and conclusion
If there’s a criticism to be made, it’s that Chains of Freedom leaves little room for error. It’s very difficult to pull back from an encounter if the ambush it set up wrong. Or getting caught while sneaking which results in every enemy in the encounter opening fire while your team stands in the open. This is an issue because poor planning almost always results in a restart instead of a difficult fight.
Still, for fans of tactical strategy games with survival elements, Chains of Freedom is a compelling and thoughtful experience. It succeeds creating encounters that give players a sense of pride when finishing them with casualties. It also succeeds in making players think about resources and whether they’re worth the reward. It certainly succeeded in keeping me hooked throughout the whole journey.
