KK Game Studio has outdone themselves on their latest update for “Freeman: Guerrilla Warfare.” Twenty-five days ago, KK Game Studio made a statement that the next update for “Freeman” would mark the inclusion of armored vehicles into the game. Boy oh boy, did they deliver.

The update was released Wednesday, Oct. 24, and it increased the fun of “Freeman: Guerrilla Warfare” by about 100 percent. My first experience with vehicles in this new update came in the form of a group of Uman terrorists I attacked. It was awesome.

Flaws exposed

While I will not be swayed about the excellence of this update, I do reserve the right to point out the two flaws it has brought with it. The first problem with this update is the enemy armies are heavily reliant on and abusive of the vehicles.

Since the update, enemy armies of bandits, terrorists and the other three warlords have large amounts of vehicles in their armies. So much so that the uniqueness of the vehicles is lost. After destroying the hundredth assault car, one does not care to destroy another.

Vehicles should not be a rare sight, but should be something scary to deal with on the battlefield, that should force you to change tactics. This is lost, however, when the enemy has about 30 assault cars and five infantrymen to back them up.

The second flaw in the update is more of a fixable glitch than anything, but it is still a bother. Enemy armies sometimes consist of nothing but vehicles. This is fine because I like to imagine them as a convoy carrying supplies somewhere.

The problem happens when you go to attack them. When you get close enough, the normal screen that asks you if you want to attack or withdraw appears, but the options to do either do not show up. Then you are screwed because there is no exit button and the game basically freezes. This means you will have to force quit the game and open it up again to play it. Even worse is if you did not save before clicking on the convoy because you lose all progress since your last save.

The playthrough

After spreading out my squads of troops in the tree line, we waited for the enemy to come at us. What I was not prepared for was the sound of an engine being gunned. I scanned the horizon, and there, crossing the battlefield, was an armored car with a tank turret and a machine gun poking out, aiming directly at my lines.

To make a long story short, I won the battle, but lost two squads of soldiers, and I would say half of my casualties were due to the armored car alone. One thing is for certain — the introduction of vehicles is a game changer.

There are currently five fighting vehicles that were introduced to the game with this new update. While all available vehicles are not what would be expected for a game with the word “guerrilla” in it, their badassery makes up for the lack of aesthetics.

The five vehicles from heaviest class to lightest class are the ALVT light tank (ironically enough), which works great against other vehicles; the SG80 armored car, which is the vehicle I had to fight in my first engagement and decent against enemy armor and infantry; the PHA 187 armored vehicle, which is good against infantry; the PA64M, an armored car that has an anti-infantry mortar on its back side, which provides long-range support; lastly, the PA64 assault car, which is extremely light, fast and perfect against infantry. These are the only fighting vehicles currently in the game, but KK Game Studio said there are more on the way.

Along with this update were a few new things other than combat vehicles, making the battlefield a bit more dynamic and exciting. There are now medics in the game, which is very cool. The only way to get a medic that I know of is to recruit female fighters and upgrade them to be a medic. I have not actually seen what they do in combat, but I assume they heal and revive downed troops. They maybe even heal during travel time on the campaign map.

New weapons have also been released into the game world. There are explosive based and anti-tank/armor firearms you and your troops can equip. These are the rocket propelled grenade (RPG) and anti-tank rifles. Both are necessary if you are going up against larger forces with supporting armor.

This latest update for “Freeman: Guerrilla Warfare” has made the game much better. From awesome new vehicles to play with to medics and new weapons to destroy the vehicles, it gives so much more for gamers to use. It has some flaws, but my faith in KK Game Studio is the highest it has ever been. They hit this one out of the park.