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Weapon / Enemy Guide

by Joylock

Freedom Fighters Weapons and Enemies Guide: 

July 02, 2005
by Alan Chan ([email protected])

The Usual:
This document is mine. Please don't rip it off or take credit for it. That
being said, feel free to post it on any site you want, provided you a) 
don't make any changes to it, and b) don't charge money for it. You don't even 
have to get my permission to post it (as long as it remains unaltered), but it 
would be nice if you emailed me and let me know ([email protected]).

Why? 
Freedom Fighters might not have the most diverse cast of enemies 
out there, but there a few different Soviet types with different 
attributes and slightly varied behavior. So I decided to write a quick 
weapons/enemy guide for the game.

Version History:

1.0: Initial Release

The latest version of this FAQ can be found at www.gamefaqs.com.

Contents: 
- General Notes
- Weapons
- Allies
- Enemies 

****************
*GENERAL NOTES:*
********************************************************************************

- Health indicates the amount of health each character has for each 
difficulty setting, in the order of Demonstrator/Rebel/Freedom 
fighter/Revolutionary. A ? indicates I don't know the health for 
Demonstrator difficulty, because I never bothered to finish the game 
on Demonstrator difficulty (it's just so Kindergarten). 
 
- Headshots do 5x damage. You cannot score headshots with melee 
attacks or explosives.

- You can carry a total of 8 health kits at any one time. Since your 
health kits will be refilled up to the maximum amount every time you 
revisit the Rebel Base, there is no real need to conserve them, and 
you can use them freely. 

- Ammo for weapons not in your inventory does not carry over into the 
next map. So, if you pick up 90 shotgun shells in a map, you can use 
those shells any time you pick up a shotgun on that map, but as soon 
as you leave the map those shells are gone (unless you're carrying a 
shotgun with you when you go).

- Every time you re-enter a map, all enemies, allies, and items 
respawn in their original positions. You can use this to stock up on 
ammo for weapons whose ammo supply is otherwise very rare, such 
as the rocket launcher or sniper rifle. 

**********
*WEAPONS:*
********************************************************************************

In Freedom Fighters, you carrying capacity is limited. You can carry 1 pistol
and 1 primary weapon, and must drop your current firearm if you want to pick
up a new one. You can always carry grenades and your monkey wrench, however,
and never have to drop them.



Punch: 
Real Name: Mr. Fist
Damage: 17.5

Your basic melee attack. Like in Halo, punch and shoot are two 
separate commands, so you can punch an enemy at any time, with 
any weapon. You can even punch enemies with your medkits, which 
is pretty ironic, although not as ironic as if your guns squirted a 
healing salve that cured all wounds (shameless Red vs. Blue 
reference). 

Because most of the game's combat involves firearms and takes 
place at long range, you won't use your punch that often. Still, it can 
be a decent ammo-saving move in close quarters and indoor areas. 
You can run at an enemy while shooting them to stun them and 
prevent them from firing back, then punch them to death to save on 
the last couple of bullets you'd otherwise have used to kill them. 
Alternatively, if you run low on ammo you can try sneaking up behind 
a lone Soviet soldier and punch him to death to steal his weapon. 

Each punch will stagger an enemy for a split second, so if you punch 
fast enough you can kill an enemy without letting them fire back at 
you. However, this usually doesn't work against enemies with lots of 
health, such as Soviet black ops or heavy machine gunners, since it 
takes so many punches to kill them that they can eventually shrug off 
your punches and gun you down. 



Wrench:
Real Name: Stillson Pipe Wrench 
Damage: 30

Your trusty metal monkey wrench, from your former life as a hapless 
Manhattan plumber. You start the game out with this weapon, and will 
always have it available to you. The wrench actually hits pretty hard: it 
does more damage than your basic melee attack, and is in fact just as 
powerful as the revolver or sniper rifle. The downside of the wrench is 
that it is completely limited to melee combat, and you'll need to switch 
to another weapon to shoot someone. You also cannot score 
headshots with it.

Just as with your regular melee attack, hitting an enemy with the 
wrench will cause them to stagger for a split second. Thus, if you hit 
fast enough, you can pummel an enemy to death without allowing 
them to fire back. Because the wrench does more damage than the 
basic punch, you can even do this against enemies with lots of health. 
It is possible to pummel a Soviet heavy machine gunner to death 
using only the wrench, provided that 1) you can get the jump on him 
before he has a chance to start shooting at you (try luring him around 
a corner), and 2) there are no other enemies to shoot you while you're 
busy wailing on him (it takes at least a minute of constant hitting to do 
the job). 



Pistol:
Real Name: 9mm Beretta 
Damage: 15 
Accuracy: Average
Clip Size: 17
Max Ammo: 17 + 43 

This Soviet 9mm pistol is the first firearm you'll acquire. The pistol 
actually has decent stopping power; it does slightly more damage 
than the assault rifle, and a clean headshot will drop a regular Soviet 
soldier on all but the highest difficulty level. It also has a good rate of 
fire, a decent clip size, and a faster than usual reload time. 
Unfortunately, its accuracy is only average, so you won't be able to hit 
anything with it past medium range.  

The pistol makes a good backup weapon for when you're low on 
ammo for your primary weapon, or when your primary weapon slot is 
occupied by a special weapon such as the sniper rifle or rocket 
launcher rather than your trusty assault rifle. However, because of the 
pistol's lack of range, the more accurate assault rifle makes a far 
better gun for most of the game's firefights. Pistol ammo also 
becomes less common after the first couple of missions, as fewer and 
fewer enemies will carry them (you can still get pistol ammo by 
picking up ammo boxes, though). 

On the whole, the pistol is a decent gun and is a preferable secondary 
weapon than its alternative, the revolver. However, it is still a 
secondary weapon, and you're better off mainly using a primary 
weapon such as the assault rifle, shotgun, or machine gun.

Soviet Security forces will mainly use the pistol against you on the first 
couple of missions, and afterwards you'll occasionally see Soviet 
soldiers fighting with it. Overall, these enemies are relatively easy to 
fight since the pistol has less accuracy and a lower rate of fire than 
the assault rifle, although they do have decent aim and can hurt you 
at medium range.

NOTE: There's an odd glitch in the game where, if you pick up a pistol 
at the Rebel Base, it might come with more ammo than you can 
normally carry. I once picked up a pistol with more than 800,000 
rounds in reserve. As far as I can tell, this glitch mostly occurs when 
you replay a mission after beating the game. 



Revolver:
Real Name: .44 Magnum
Damage: 30
Accuracy: Average 
Clip Size: 6
Max Ammo: 6 + 54

This .44 Magnum-style revolver is the only American weapon in the 
game. You'll be able to pick one up from the Rebel Base after 
finishing the first mission.  It does twice as much damage as the 
regular pistol. However, as a trade-off, it has a slower rate of fire, a 
much smaller clip size, and is a wee bit less accurate (as a result, it's 
overall accuracy is crappy). Additionally, the reload time is somewhat 
longer than for most other weapons.

The revolver is as powerful as a sniper rifle, and a single headshot will 
kill regular Soviet soldiers even on the highest difficulty setting. 
Unfortunately, because of the revolver's below-average accuracy, it 
can be difficult if not impossible to score a headshot with it. 
Additionally, the small clip size and relatively long reload time are a 
serious handicap, especially in large firefights against multiple 
enemies. Also, the extra power really doesn't make all that much 
difference (it takes 3 shots to kill a Soviet soldier with the revolver, 
while the pistol requires 5 shots). On the whole, I'd prefer the pistol 
over the revolver, as the fact you can get off so many more shots 
before needing to stop and reload more than compensates for the 
slightly reduced damage of each individual shot.   

Soviet enemies almost never use this American-made weapon. 
Throughout the entire game, I've only ever seen one or two Soviet 
soldiers equipped with revolvers. This makes revolver ammo a bit 
more scarce than regular pistol ammo. However, since you still 
receive several rounds of revolver ammo from every ammo box that 
you pick up, you can still max out on revolver ammo by collecting 
ammo boxes (although you will run out if you rely on it solely as your 
main weapon). 
 


Shotgun:
Real Name: SPAS-12
Damage: 50
Accuracy: Poor
Clip Size: 8 
Max Ammo: 8 + 112

As expected, the shotgun fires a spread of several pellets that 
disperse over distance. It has a decent clip size and a relatively fast 
semi-automatic rate of fire. It also does good damage, and at close 
range can kill most enemies with just a couple shots to the chest or a 
single shot to the head. At close range, you can quickly defeat 
multiple Soviets with good use of the shotgun.

Ammo for the shotgun can be a bit uncommon, but you'll use up less 
ammo with it than with an automatic weapon, and thus won't run out 
quite as quickly. It only takes 1 or 2 shots from the shotgun to kill a 
regular Soviet soldier, as opposed to 7 or more shots from the assault 
rifle. You can also pick up a shotgun at any time from the Rebel Base, 
loaded with a generous supply of 60 shells. Shotgun ammo also 
becomes somewhat more common in later missions, when the Soviet 
officers who carry it start to show up more often.  

The downside of the shotgun is that it's not as handy as the assault 
rifle at medium range, and it's almost impossible to hit anything with it 
at long range. You cannot precision target an enemy at medium range 
with the shotgun, because the pellets disperse so widely at that 
distance. On the plus side, since the gun fires a spread of shots, at 
least a couple will usually hit the enemy at medium range, and you 
can even hit multiple enemies with one shot if they're grouped 
together. You can still fight reasonably well at medium range with the 
shotgun, you just need to use up more ammo since the enemy won't 
be hit as often. For long range shootouts, however, you'll need to find 
an assault rifle.

Shotguns are used by Soviet officers, and can seriously hurt you at 
close range. 4 or 5 close range shots from the shotgun will kill you on 
Freedom Fighter difficulty. Fortunately, the damage done by the 
shotgun decreases over distance, so as long as you avoid fighting 
Soviet officers up close, their shots shouldn't do too much damage to 
you. 



Assault Rifle:
Real Name: AK-74 
Damage: 10
Accuracy: Very Good
Clip Size: 30
Max Ammo: 30 + 150

The stock weapon of fictional bad guys everywhere, this is easily the 
most common firearm in the game. Most of the Soviet soldiers you 
encounter carry one. As a result, it's easy to obtain, and ammo for it 
will always be plentiful. That fact alone will make the assault rifle your 
primary weapon for most of the game. It's a good general, all-purpose 
weapon. Other guns usually do one thing better than the assault rifle 
(better accuracy, more power, greater rate of fire...), but the assault 
rifle is the most well-rounded gun and is decent in all aspects.

As accuracy goes, it's second only to the sniper rifle. While you won't 
be able to hit enemies at extreme long range, the assault rifle is still 
accurate enough to snipe enemies outside their range of fire (just 
don't expect to be accurate enough to score headshots with it). Use 
aim mode and fire single shots rather than bursts for maximum 
accuracy. You'll miss a few shots at long range, but will score enough 
hits to kill enemy soldiers relatively effectively. The assault rifle also 
has a quick rate of fire, and a reasonably fast reload time, so you can 
run-and-gun with it at close range too (just don't go up against too 
many enemies at once without someplace to take cover). Overall, it's 
good for both close range and long range combat, making it a nice, 
dependable weapon for a variety of situations.
 
The only downside to the assault rifle is that it is the weakest weapon 
in the game. You'll need several shots to the body, or 2 of 3 
headshots, to bring down a single Soviet soldier. Because of this, 
you'll want to pick off enemies one-by-one while firing from cover. 
Never try to rush a group of Soviets with the assault rifle. 

The majority of Soviet soldiers will use the assault rifle against you. 
The individual bullets are weak and do only minor damage, but 
several consecutive hits can do significant harm. Since Soviets have 
very good accuracy and a high rate of fire, you'll probably want to fight 
from cover rather than facing them head-on, especially when 
confronted by a group of several Soviets. Fortunately, Soviet soldiers 
fire in bursts, rather than emptying their entire clip into you, so even if 
you do stray into their line of fire, if you act quickly you'll probably be 
able to take cover before being killed.
 


Sub Machine Gun:
Real Name: Bizon SMG
Damage: 10
Accuracy: Poor
Clip Size: 40
Max Ammo: 40 + 140

The sub machine gun does the same amount of damage as the 
assault rifle, but it has a much higher rate of fire, spraying out bullets 
more than three times as quickly. It also has an extremely quick 
reload time, allowing you to maintain a steady output of hot lead. The 
downside is that it's also much less accurate at range than the assault 
rifle, making it almost impossible to hit anything past medium range. 
You can cut through enemies quickly in close quarters with the sub 
machine gun, but won't be able to hit anything at medium or long 
range.

It's extremely difficult to use the sub machine gun as your primary 
weapon for an extended length of time, largely because it's hard to 
maintain enough ammo for it. Ammo for the sub machine gun is fairly 
rare, and because of the high rate of fire and low hit rate the gun also 
burns through ammo all too quickly. 

The game's A.I. characters can actually be pretty deadly with this gun, 
mainly because they have infinite ammo and can pretty much 
constantly spray bullets at you, guaranteeing that at least some will hit 
even at longer range. As a result, many of the high-end Soviet units 
carry the sub machine gun, and can really hurt you with it, especially 
in close quarters. You, on the other hand, are limited to 180 bullets, 
and due to the low hit rate it's quite easy to spend 20 to 30 shots just 
to kill one enemy at longer range. In general, it's best to stick to the 
assault rifle, which is more accurate and easier to control. 



Sniper Rifle: 
Real Name: Dragunov SVD
Damage: 30
Accuracy: Excellent
Clip Size: 7
Max Ammo: 7 + 23
 
As you would expect, the sniper rifle has the longest range and 
greatest accuracy out of all the game's weapons. Use aim mode to 
activate the scope and zoom in on distant targets. The sniper rifle is 
100% accurate, and your bullets will always hit precisely where the 
crosshair points. While you can fire the sniper rifle unzoomed, the 
whole point of the weapon is to use the scope to sniper distant 
targets. The rifle actually has a pretty decent rate of fire, and while 
there is a brief pause between shots, it's shorter than you might think 
(after every shot, you can hear your character bolt the next round into 
the chamber. However, you can actually fire BEFORE the bolting 
sound finishes).

Scoring consistent headshots is essential for effective use of the 
sniper rifle, since shots to the body with it aren't particularly powerful. 
You'll need 3 shots to the body to kill a regular Soviet soldier (4 on the 
highest difficulty level), and more if you're trying to kill an officer or 
commando. Headshots, on the other hand, do 150 damage each and 
thus are consistantly lethal against most enemies on all but the 
highest difficulty setting. 

Unfortunately, the sniper rifle is more of a specialty weapon for 
specific situations rather than a general purpose weapon you can use 
all the time. Ammo for it is quite scarce, and you can only carry a very 
small amount in reserve. Usually, if you find a sniper rifle, you'll only 
have the 7 or so bullets in the clip when you pick it up. Generally, you 
should make those shots count (by finding a good spot and sniping a 
few particularly obnoxious enemies, such as soldiers in guard towers 
or manning machine gun turrets), then discard the empty sniper rifle 
for another weapon. If you have a high charisma score and have 
several Freedom Fighters with you, you can find an elevated position, 
command your squad to attack an enemy encampment, then use the 
sniper rifle to pick off particularly dangerous enemies (such as 
soldiers who try to man the machine gun turrets) while your squad 
mops up the rest. 

Only Soviet snipers will use the sniper rifle against you. Fortunately 
they cannot score headshots, so the amount of damage they do to 
you is not instantly lethal, and they will need to snipe you several 
times to kill you. Additionally, Soviet snipers do not have perfect aim, 
and can miss, especially if you keep moving. 



Machine Gun:
Real Name: PKM machine gun 
Damage: 20
Accuracy: Good
Clip Size: 300
Max Ammo: 300 + 0

The machine gun is a portable version of the powerful machine gun 
turrets you've previously encountered. You start finding them about 
halfway through the game, after "Desperate Revenge", when the 
Soviet heavy machine gunners who carry it start showing up. It's not 
as accurate as the mounted version (mainly because it isn't bolted to 
the floor), but it has the same high rate of fire and damaging bullets.

Overall, the machine gun is an awesome weapon. It does twice as 
much damage as the assault rifle and is almost as accurate, even at 
long range. It also has a high rate of fire (slightly greater than that of 
the assault rifle), and you never need to reload. Great for mowing 
through the heavier opposition you'll encounter in the game's later 
levels. 

The only downside is that ammo for it fairly rare. However, when you 
do find ammo for it, you'll usually find a lot. Each Soviet heavy 
machine gunner usually drops about 150 machine gun bullets, and 
heavy machine gunners become more common in the game's last 
couple of missions. If you conserve ammo by having your Freedom 
Fighters do a fair share of the fighting, and make sure to grab ammo 
from every heavy machine gunner you kill, you can actually stretch 
this weapon out to be your primary gun on the last couple of missions.

Soviet heavy machine gunners use the machine gun against you, and 
they are extremely dangerous. Not only do their bullets do a decent 
amount of damage, but they also have a high rate of fire and won't 
stop shooting until you die. On the higher difficulty settings, they can 
cut you to pieces in just a couple of seconds, and even on the lower 
difficulty settings they can do severe damage. Like the mounted 
machine gun turrets, you should never directly attack a machine gun 
carrying enemy, and instead find indirect means (such as grenades or 
your squad) to beat them.



Rocket Launcher:
Real Name: RPG-7 
Damage: 400
Accuracy: Excellent
Clip Size: 1
Max Ammo: 1 + 9

The rocket launcher is easily the most powerful weapon in the game, 
a single direct hit will kill any opponent with the exception of the 
heavily armored Soviet heavy machine gunners. The rockets also 
have a respectable splash damage radius, and can send a group of 
Soviet soldiers flying into the air (the rockets' splash damage is 
somewhat less than the damage from a direct hit, but still enough to 
kill most enemies with one shot). The rocket launcher is also highly 
accurate, and will always hit dead-on where you point the crosshair. 
However, since it doesn't have a scope you can zoom with, you really 
can't snipe with it. Also, the rockets do not hit instantly and instead 
must travel the distance, so it is possible to miss a moving target at 
long range (although the splash damage will usually still damage 
them if the rocket hits a wall or floor nearby). The rocket launcher is 
also the only weapon that can destroy Soviet vehicles, such as 
assault helicopters and tanks. 

The rocket launcher has two big drawbacks. Firstly, it needs to be 
reloaded after each shot and thus has a relatively slow rate of fire. 
Secondly, you can only hold a maximum of 10 rockets at a time, and 
ammo for the rocket launcher is EXTREMELY scarce (each ammo 
pickup only gives you 1 additional rocket). The large splash damage 
of the rockets also means that you cannot use it at close range, or 
else you will seriously harm or even kill yourself. 

Overall, the rocket launcher is best used for specific tasks, such as 
destroying enemy vehicles. The low ammo amount and rarity of 
ammo prevents you from carrying it around for an extended period of 
time, so you should just use it when you find it, then discard it for a 
more general purpose weapon.

Only a couple Soviet soldiers throughout the entire game are 
equipped with rocket launchers. These guys can kill you in one shot, 
and they can also seriously mess up a squad of your Freedom 
Fighters. If you spot a Soviet soldier firing rockets at you, don't try to 
send your squad to rush him. If you've got enough guys, you might 
take him down, but you'll lose a few men in the process. Instead, take 
him on yourself (you can dodge rockets, your men cannot). If 
possible, try sniping the rocketeer from just outside his firing range 
with your assault rifle. Alternatively, chuck a grenade or molotov at 
him, then run in and gun him down when he tries to dive for cover. 
 


Molotov Cocktail: 
Damage: 150
Accuracy: Average
Max Ammo: 10

A glass bottle filled with gasoline, the Molotov cocktail is the 
incendiary weapon of choice for rioters and malcontents. Molotov 
cocktails are thrown in a gravity-affected arc, the longer you hold 
down the fire button, the further you'll toss them. Since they don't 
travel in a straight line, it may take some practice before you can 
throw them with decent accuracy.

As soon as they hit a hard surface, such as a wall or floor, the 
Molotov cocktail will shatter and spill out a wall of flames more than a 
dozen feet in diameter. Any enemies caught in the flames will be set 
on fire and take damage. As a bonus, enemies on fire will be 
occupied with flailing around in pain, and will have difficulty 
concentrating enough to shoot at you.

The great thing about Molotov cocktails is that they detonate on 
impact. This prevents enemies from diving for cover, like they do with 
grenades. Molotovs also do lots of damage. On Rebel difficulty, a 
single direct hit will kill any enemy soldier except for the heavy 
machine gunners and the female black ops. As a plus, the wall of 
flames created by a Molotov cocktail will last for a couple of seconds, 
and sometimes Soviet soldiers not caught in the initial blast will 
stumble into the flames and set themselves on fire.

Molotovs are a Rebel-only weapon. Soviet forces do not carry them, 
and you will not find any Molotov pickups inside Soviet bases. 
However, you'll be restocked with a full 10 Molotovs every time you 
revisit the Rebel Base, and you'll also sometimes find them lying 
around the map in areas where Rebels hang out, such as Rebel 
hideouts or near manholes. 
 


Fragmentation Grenade: 
Damage: 100
Accuracy: Average
Max Ammo: 10

Frag grenades are thrown in an arc, with the strength of your throw 
determined by how long you hold down the fire button before 
releasing it. They don't do as much damage as Molotov cocktails, but 
they still pack a decent punch. A direct hit will kill a regular Soviet 
soldier on any difficulty level (although you will need multiple 
grenades to kill any of the higher-end Soviet units). The problem is 
that grenades don't explode immedietely, instead they lay on the 
ground for a few seconds before detontating (unlike other games, you 
can't make the grenade explode faster by holding onto it longer). The 
enemies in this game are no idiots, and are quite good at diving for 
cover the moment they spot a grenade land. They might take partial 
splash damage, but they'll rarely take the full amount of damage 
(however, even partial splash damage can kill regular Soviet troops 
on the lower difficulty levels). One way to get around this is to throw 
multiple grenades... while they're still on the ground from diving from 
the first grenade, the second grenade will explode next to them and 
kill them. 

While grenades might not be as lethal as Molotov cocktails, they're 
good at scattering a group of enemy soldiers. Chuck a grenade into 
the middle of a group of Soviets, and they'll dive haphazardly for 
cover. If you're lucky, the explosion may even kill a few unfortunate 
Soviet troops who were unable to get clear of the blast radius in time. 
Also, because they rebound off walls, you can bounce grenades 
around corners to take out Soviet troops without getting directly into 
their line of fire.

Grenades are reasonably common among the Soviet forces. Within 
any large group of Soviet troops, at least one or two will carry a few 
grenades. You'll also often find grenade pickups in Soviet weapon 
stockpiles. 

Be careful of Soviets that toss grenades at you; the blast can do 
significant damage to you, and in the middle of a firefight its easy to 
miss noticing a grenade sail through the air and land next to you. 
Fortunately, grenades make a distinct clinking sound when they land, 
which you should learn to recognize and take as a sign to dive for 
cover. Grenades are also annoying as they can seriously damage 
your squad of Freedom Fighters (who seem less adept at dodging 
them than the Soviet troops). On the plus side, it's fairly uncommon 
for Soviets to actually use grenades in battle. 

*********
*ALLIES:*
********************************************************************************

Chris Stone:
Health: 750/250/150/100 
 
This is you. This shows how much health you have on each of the 
game's difficulty settings. On "demonstrator" difficulty, you're a 
walking tank, while on "revolutionary" difficulty you have the same 
amount of health as the regular Soviet troops you're facing. Proceed 
accordingly.



Freedom Fighter: 
Appearance: Varies 
Health: Varies
Favorite Weapon: Assault Rifle 
Other Weapons: Pistol, Revolver, Shotgun, SMG, Molotov Cocktails

Your ragtag squad of rebels. A large portion of the game's gameplay 
mechanics revolve around you commanding a squad of these guys 
into battle. The higher your charisma, the more Freedom Fighters you 
can have in your squad, for a total of 12. They can be ordered to 
defend a position, attack an area, or to simply follow you. They are 
also essentially immortal, as whenever they run out of health they 
simply are knocked "unconcious" and can be restored with a health 
kit. 

Freedom Fighters are superior in every way to Soviet troops. They 
have better aim, superior range, they fire in longer bursts, and they 
have much more health. Freedom Fighters have more than twice as 
much health as you do on any difficulty level, and thus on all but the 
highest difficulty setting, they have more health than any single Soviet 
unit, save for the heavy machine gunner. Don't be shy about sending 
them into combat, a squad of 5 or more Freedom Fighters can pretty 
much mop the floor with any opposition the Soviets can send against 
you. To minimize damage to your fighters, have them take cover 
behind something (by ordering them to defend behind a wall or car), 
and let them mow down Soviet troops from their shielded position.

Out of all the Soviet troops, only Soviet heavy machine gunners can 
really stand up to your Freedom Fighters. However, those troops 
never appear in groups of more than one, and a squad of 5 or more 
Freedom Fighters can effectively overwhelm a lone heavy machine 
gunner (especially if you help out with your own firepower).

The only things that really pose a danger to your Freedom Fighters 
are explosives (such as grenades or rockets), mounted machine gun 
turrets, or assault helicopters. Few enemies use explosives, so they 
aren't a common concern. Assault helicopters can be disabled by 
destroying their helipads before tackling the area they patrol. As for 
machine gun turrets, never send your squad to rush them, they'll just 
be cut down. Elminate the gunners yourself before sending in your 
squad to mop up the rest. 

In "Follow" mode, your fighters can be a bit reckless, and will 
sometimes charge right into enemy machine gun fire. To prevent 
them from doing this, order them to "Defend" an area, and this will 
keep them from running off on their own.

In the normal course of the game, you will not find any Freedom 
Fighters equipped with grenades, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, or 
heavy machine guns. However, on the "Liberty Island" bonus level, 
some recruitable defecting Soviet soldiers carry heavy machine guns. 
Be sure to grab these guys when you find them, with their high health 
and great weapon it's almost like having your very own Soviet heavy 
machine gunner in your squad. 

NOTE: On Revolutionary difficulty, your Freedom Fighters aren't quite 
as durable. They only have about 200 health each, and thus tend to 
die more quickly than usual. On this difficulty, you'll need to position 
your squad intelligently behind good cover to maximize their survival, 
and be generous with your medikits. 



Mr. Jones:
Appearance: Gruff, older ex-military guy, wearing an Army surplus 
jacket.  
Health: Infinite 
Weapon: Revolver

Mr. Jones, the first ally you meet upon starting the game, will help you 
fight your way through the game's first map (which is essentially a 
tutorial). You won't encounter many enemies in the first level, but 
Jones will help you kill the few that you do run across. Jones leads 
you along a pre-scripted path. You follow him around, but can't issue 
him orders or lead him off the beaten path. He's got exceptionally 
good aim, and can often score headshots with his revolver. He is also 
invincible, so there's no need to worry about his safety.



Isabella Angelina:
Appearance: Cute redhead gal, wearing brown winter jacket.  
Health: Infinitel 
Weapon: Sub Machine Gun

You'll find and rescue your resistance leader and love interest Isabella 
Angelina in the last map of the game's last level. She's armed with an 
SMG, and will accompany you for the remainder of the last level. You 
are unable to issue orders to Isabella, but she will follow you around 
and attack any enemy soldiers she sees. Isabella is invincible, so you 
don't have to worry about her losing any firefights.
 
Isabella also appears as a recruitable fighter at the beginning of the 
game's bonus level, Liberty island. She's still armed with an SMG, but 
is no longer invincible. 

**********
*ENEMIES:* 
********************************************************************************

==================
=SOVIET INFANTRY:=
================================================================================

Soviet Security:
Appearance: Average-sized Soviets, wearing dark brown Fascist-style 
uniforms and brown caps. 
Health: 45 / 65 / 70 / 100
Favorite Weapon: Pistol
Other Weapons: Assault Rifle
Special Skills: None
 
Soviet Security forces are the first and weakest enemies you'll 
encounter. They only show up in the game's first two missions, 
"Soviet Domination" and "In A New York Minute". They behave more 
or less like regular Soviet soldiers, except they're usually armed only 
with pistols rather than with assault rifles. Their pistols do about as 
much damage as an assault rifle, but have less accuracy and a 
slower rate of fire. They also generally do not travel in large groups, 
so unlike Soviet soldiers they can't gang up on you in great numbers.

Once you get an assault rifle, it's fairly easy to mow through these 
guys. Also, since their pistols have slightly less range than your 
assault rifle, you can actually snipe them down before they can get 
close enough to shoot at you. 
 


Soviet Soldier:
Appearance: Average-sized Soviet wearing round helmet and light 
brown camouflage coat. 
Winter Appearance: Average-sized Soviet wearing long white coat 
and green cap.
Health: 45 / 65 / 70 / 100
Favorite Weapon: Assault Rifle
Other Weapons: Pistol, Revolver, Shotgun, Rocket Launcher, 
Grenades
Special Skills: Can wield many different weapon types

The most common and versatile Soviet troop, you'll spend most of the 
game facing off against these guys. Soviet soldiers are quite bright; 
they fire from behind cover, advance in squads, and can even try to 
flank you. If they're feeling confident, they can charge straight at you 
firing their weapons, but if you're dug in behind cover they duck down 
low and advance cautiously towards you. 

Most soldiers are armed with assault rifles. Their aim is very accurate 
and they fire in bursts of several shots, allowing them to hit you with 
multiple bullets in the space of a couple seconds. This can seriously 
hurt you on the higher difficulty levels. Fortunately, because they fire 
in bursts, if you get caught in their line of fire you may take some hits, 
but should have time to run for cover between bursts before they 
finish you off. 

Although most Soviet soldiers use assault rifles, they can occasionally 
be seen using other weapons as well. Most commonly, they 
sometimes use pistols or grenades against you. A couple soldiers in 
the game are armed with revolvers, shotguns, and even rocket 
launchers. 

Soldiers can survive several bullets before dying, but compared to the 
other enemies in the game, they're relatively weak. However, soldiers 
never appear alone, and you'll usually fight squads of several of them 
at once. It's a bad idea to charge straight at a group of soldiers, 
especially on the higher difficulty levels. Instead, you should dig in 
behind some cover and pick them off one by one from there. 

Although Soviets are pretty accurate, their assault rifles become less 
accurate at long range, and they won't even try to shoot at you past a 
certain distance. If you're armed with an assault rifle or machine gun, 
you can actually shoot at soldiers just outside their range of fire. You'll 
miss a bit, but every few shots should hit your target. 

Your squad also works well against Soviet soldiers. Your squaddies 
have better aim, fire in longer bursts, and have much more health 
than Soviet troops, so as long as you give them a decent cover 
position to fire from, they can easily mow down Soviets as they 
approach.



Soviet Sniper:
Appearance: Average-sized Soviet wearing green uniform and green 
cap.
Winter Appearance: Average-sized Soviet wearing Eskimo-style white 
parka. 
Health: 45 / 65 / 70 / 100
Weapon: Sniper Rifle 
Special Skills: Sniping 

Soviet snipers set up sniper nests in windows or towers, and snipe at 
you when you come into range. They've got better sight and longer 
range than the regular Soviet forces. If you start getting shot despite 
not seeing any enemies around you, odds are a sniper is firing at you 
from above. You should take cover as soon as this starts to happen. 
Snipers have very low aggression, and usually stay in their sniper 
nests. They will almost never leave their positions and try to pursue 
you if you retreat out of their line of sight.  
 
Snipers can be difficult to locate, as you usually can't trace their shots 
back to them. However, they tend to fire from guard towers or open 
windows, telltale signs you should try to spot using your over-the-
shoulder 3rd person perspective.

Snipers can be annoying, but they're not the frustrating instant death 
variety you see in games like Allied Assault or Iron Storm. Their aim 
isn't perfect, and they miss some of their shots, especially if you 
dodge around or take cover. Additionally, their shots don't kill you 
instantly; even on the highest difficulty setting it takes 4 sniper shots 
to kill you, and you can survive more than that on the lower difficulty 
levels (5 on Freedom Fighter, 9 on Rebel, and 25 on Demonstrator). 

There are several ways to deal with snipers. If you've got a sniper rifle 
of your own, you can simply counter-snipe them. If you know where 
the sniper's nest is, you can even snipe them before they realize 
you're there. You can even counter-snipe snipers with the assault rifle 
if you're close enough. Alternatively, you can sneak up on snipers and 
kill them from behind. Most sniper nests are accessible from behind, 
search around the building the sniper is shooting from to see if there 
are any staircases or holes in the wall you can use to get in.

Snipers are the one enemy that your squad isn't particularly effective 
against. Often, they can shoot at your squad at such a long range that 
your fighters won't be able to fire back. Even if your soldiers can see 
and fire at the sniper, they might not be accurate enough to hit him, 
especially if the sniper is dug in behind cover. It's best to order your 
squad to take cover somewhere outside the sniper's field of vision, 
then take out the sniper yourself before letting your squad advance 
through the area the sniper was guarding. 



Soviet Officer: 
Appearance: Big, burly-looking Soviet wearing light brown uniform 
and red beret.
Winter Appearance: Big, burly-looking Soviet wearing white coat and 
red beret. 
Health: ? / 150 / 165 / 200 
Weapon: Shotgun 
Special Skills: Giving orders to troops

Soviet officers can be seen guarding the flags on the game's first 
mission, and begin appearing on the streets and front lines 
afterwards. They can often be seen leading a squad of Soviet 
soldiers. Soviet officers are easy to recognize; they're larger than the 
regular Soviet troops, and they sport distinct red berets on their 
heads. They're a bit more aggressive than the troops under their 
command, but they still approach cautiously when they spot you at 
long range, and make extensive use of cover to protect themselves. 
They're also tougher and meaner than the regular soldiers, carrying 
shotguns and capable of surviving almost 2.5 times as much damage 
as regular troops. It takes more than a dozen bullets to take them 
down, and they can even survive multiple headshots from the assault 
rifle or pistol.   

Their shotguns make Soviet officers very dangerous in close quarters, 
and at close range they can kill you with just a few shots. However, 
the damage and accuracy of their shotguns decreases over distance, 
so that at medium or long range they won't do much damage to you if 
they can even hit you at all. 

One weakness Soviet officers have is that they don't shoot at you as 
soon as they spot you. Instead, they spend a couple of seconds 
yelling orders to their men (even if there are no other soldiers around), 
which leaves them vulnerable to being shot. 

Overall, Soviet Officers aren't too much of a threat, just keep your 
distance and be prepared to use up more ammo taking them down.



Soviet Commando: 
Appearance: Big, burly-looking Soviet wearing dark-brown uniform 
and orange scarf.
Winter Appearance: Big, burly-looking Soviet wearing dark grey coat 
and orange scarf. 
Health: ? / 125 / 145 / 100 
Weapon: Sub Machine Gun
Special Skills: Rolling dodge, choking grip

Soviet Commandos begin to appear towards the end of the second 
mission, "In a New York Minute", and become progressively more 
common after that. They've got almost twice as much health as a 
regular Soviet soldier (although not as much as a Soviet offcer), and 
carry sub machine guns which give them an extremely high rate of fire 
and make them deadly in close quarters. Just standing in their line of 
sight for a couple of seconds can get you killed on the higher difficulty 
settings. A squad of several Soviet Commandos can be extremely 
deadly, but fortunately you'll seldom face more than one or two of 
them at a time, usually mixed in amongst the regular Soviet soldiers.

Besides their rapid-fire weaponry, the distinguishing feature of 
commandos is that they are extremely aggressive. While most Soviet 
troops will either go for cover or crouch down and cautiously approach 
your position once they've spotted you, commandos generally just 
charge straight for you once they see where you're hiding. This can 
be problematic if they catch you by surprise while you're trying to 
reload to are focused on another enemy. Although you can usually 
mow down a single commando who charges behind your cover area, 
a squad of commandos rushing you can easily overwhelm you while 
you're trying to reload. It's a good idea to have your squad defend you 
while you cover and reload so that you don't leave yourself vulnerable 
to these guys.

Soviet commandos also have two special moves unique to them. One 
is a rolling dodge they use to avoid your shots, which they usually use 
when you try to aim at them (other Soviet troops can occasionally roll, 
but the commandos do it all the time). Commandos can also run up to 
your Freedom Fighters and strangle them from behind. Your Freedom 
Fighters are unable to block this attack, and will die after several 
seconds of being choked. To prevent this, you must shoot and kill the 
commando while he's choking your man. 

The best way to deal with them is to mow them down from a distance 
using the assault rifle, before they get close enough to start shooting 
at you. In close quarters, use full automatic fire and don't be afraid to 
empty an entire clip into them. Your Freedom Fighters also put up a 
good fight against them, as long as they don't get close enough to 
start choking your men. 



Soviet Heavy Machine Gunner: 
Appearance: HUGE Soviet wearing dark grey, steel plate armor and 
steel helmet. 
Health: ? / 600 / 750 / 800 
Weapon: Machine Gun 
Special Skills: Stun resistant

These massive, heavily armored Soviet behemoths begin to appear 
about halfway through the game, after "Desperate Revenge". They 
are easily the toughest enemies you'll face. Extremely durable, these 
guys tkae two direct hits from the rocket launcher to kill, or 2-3 clips 
of constant assault rifle fire. It also takes multiple sniper rifle shots
to the head (4 on Rebel, 5 on Freedom Fighter, and 6 on Revolutionary 
difficulty) to bring them down. Despite their large size and heavy 
armor, they're just as manueverable as any other Soviet soldier, and 
can use cover, dive away from grenades, and run forward to attack 
just like your other enemies. They seem a wee bit slower than other 
Soviet troops, but no so much that it disadvantages them at all in 
combat. Normally, they don't bother with fancy manuevers and just 
stand in one place and shoot at you, but they can do the fancy 
manuevers if they want to. 

These guys carry machine guns, portable versions of the machine 
gun turrets you've been facing. Just like the turrets, heavy machine 
gunners have a very high rate of fire, very damaging bullets, and very 
high accuracy. Also, they do not fire in bursts, but rather fire a 
continous stream of bullets into you until you die. On the higher 
difficulty levels, they can literally kill you in a couple of seconds. The 
same rules that applied to the machine gun turrets apply to the heavy 
machine gunners. Never, ever launch a frontal assault against them, 
and never get into their line of fire.

Soviet heavy machine gunners wear heavy armor that cushions them 
from the force of your bullets. Unlike every other soldier, they won't 
"flinch" when you shoot them in the chest. This means your weapons 
won't stun them, and they can continue to shoot you even as you 
empty your weapon into them. Therefore, if you face one head-on, 
he'll easily kill you before you can kill him. However, Soviet heavy 
machine gunners are still vulnerable to headshots. So if you shoot 
one in the head, he'll flinch. If you can score repeated headshots on 
one with your assault rifle or machine gun, you can keep a heavy 
machine gunner stunned and prevent them from counter-attacking. If 
you're in close quarters and absolutely MUST fight one of these guys 
head-on, go into aim mode and keep targeting their head. It's best to 
do this near a wall or obstacle you can use for cover in case you need 
to reload to dodge his fire. ONLY try this if the machine gunner is 
alone. If he's got backup, kill the other Soviet troops first before trying 
to focus on the machine gunner. 

While it is possible to down a heavy machine gunner by yourself using 
headshots, this is not advisable. The best way to deal with them is 
either to blast them indirectly using grenades and molotovs while 
hiding behind cover, or to send your squad to attack them. A squad of 
6 or more Freedom Fighters should be able to take down a heavy 
machine gunner, especially if you lend your own firepower to the fight. 



Soviet Black Ops:
Appearance: Average-sized female Soviet clad in green bodysuit, 
wearing night-vision googles. 
Health: ? / 200 / 250 / 350 
Weapon: Sub Machine Gun
Special Skills: Cartwheel dodge

These ninja-like Soviet special forces don't show up until the last 
couple of missions. They look like female versions of Splinter Cell's 
Sam Fisher, and are quite tough fighters. They carry sub machine 
guns, and have even more health than the Soviet officers. Like Soviet 
commandos, they're quite aggressive and tend to charge your 
position, but they also make good use of cover as well. They move 
faster than other Soviet units, and have very high accuracy with their 
rapid-fire sub machine gun shots. Like the Soviet Commandos, they 
can kill you very quickly with the SMG at close to medium range, 
especially on the higher difficulty levels. 

Soviet Black Ops also have a special cartwheel backflip which they 
use to avoid enemy fire. They generally use this either when you try to 
aim at them, or in order to dive behind cover. Fortunately, you should 
still be quick enough to nail them with assault rifle fire even when 
they're flipping around.

These gals are actually pretty rare, and you'll only see a handful of 
them throughout the entire game. Because of their high health, you 
should empty your entire clip into them and try to score headshots. As 
with Soviet Commandos, you're best off either picking them off before 
they get too close, or stunning them with rapid consecutive shots to 
prevent them from firing back. Alternatively, you can send your squad 
in to eliminate them. They're tougher than average, but alone they're 
not too much of an obstacle against you or your squad. However, 
while they never appear in pairs, they usually ARE accompanied by a 
squad of several Soviet soldiers as well as officers or commandos. 



General Tatarin:
Appearance: Huge, burly Soviet General wearing brown shirt and 
pants. 
Health: 45 / 65 / 70 / 100 
Weapon: Assault Rifle 
Special Skills: Commander-In-Chief

Tatarin, your arch-nemesis, leader of the Soviet invasion, the great 
warrior-general... actually dies pretty easily. He's huge and looks 
tough, but he's actually no stronger than the average Soviet soldier. 
He's also only armed with an assault rifle. The thing is, you won't fight 
him by himself. Tatarin paces back and forth on an outdoors balcony 
at the center of the Soviet base. The courtyard in front of his balcony 
is protected by a small army, consisting of a couple dozen soldiers, a 
squad of several commandos, as well as Tatarin's personal 
bodyguard, a Soviet heavy machine gunner. You could wipe out this 
horde by luring them into a tight corridor, then killing them with 
Molotov cocktails when they bunch together, but it's an awful lot of 
trouble to go through. 

The best way to kill Tatarin, and the way the game probably expects 
you to do it, is to snipe him from the sniper tower. One headshot will 
do him. However, that always seemed a bit anti-climatic to me, so I 
prefer to fight him up close and personal. 

The sniper's tower is a good place to get rid of the General's guards, 
however. From the tower, you can snipe the heavy machine gunner 
and (depending on how much ammo you've got) cull out most or even 
all of the regular soldiers milling about. Go down and try to enter the 
courtyard where Tatarin's building is, and you'll be ambushed by a 
squad of several commandos who swarm in from out of nowhere. 
Retreat back to some cover and take them out with Molotov cocktails 
(or, if you still have ammo, the sniper rifle). Don't try to face them 
directly, you'll be wiped out in seconds. Once all resistance has been 
eliminated, walk up to Tatarin's balcony and throw down.

Shoot Tatarin. Blast Tatarin. Set Tatarin on fire. Chuck grenades at 
him and laugh as he dives for cover. Have fun killing him however you 
like, he's not going to do much harm to you with his lone assault rifle. 

For kicks, you can even use a grenade to blow Tatarin right out of his 
balcony and onto the ground, where you can run up to him and get 
into a punching match when he gets back up.



Soviet Elite Guards: 
Appearance: A pair of HUGE Soviets, wearing white steel plate armor 
with a big red star on the chest, and steel helmets with a similar red 
star emblem.
Health: 600
Weapons: Machine Gun, Super Shotgun
Special skills: Stun resistant
 
The final bosses! Well, not exactly. These two guys guard the Statute 
of Liberty's torch at the very end of the final Liberty Island bonus level. 
They're almost identical to the regular Soviet heavy machine gunners, 
except their armor is a bit fancier, and in addition to a regular machine 
gun each one also carries a special "super shotgun" that fires and 
reloads extremely rapidly (they can fire off eight consecutive shotgun 
blasts in one second). These two guys are devastating in close 
combat, so you don't want to climb up onto their platform to challenge 
them directly.

Unfortunately, their platform is only accessible by climbing a thin log 
bridge. It is extremely difficult to get your Freedom Fighters to climb 
this bridge, so you can't just order you squad to swarm the Elites for 
you. You'll just have to kill them yourself. 

The Elite on the left can be targeted from the ground using aim mode. 
At this range, he shouldn't be able to shoot at you. Snipe him with 
your assault rifle or heavy machine gun. Some of your shots will miss 
at that range, but some will still hit. It takes a LOT of hits to kill him 
(since you're probably too far away to score headshots), so you may 
need to run back to the previous battlefield to grab more ammo, but 
he should eventually die. If you park your squad in sight of him, they 
might even be able to shoot at him for you.

Once the Elite on the left is down, the Elite on the right is vulnerable. 
Climb up the log leading to the Torch. When you get near the top, use 
the top part of the log as cover. The remaining Elite will try to shoot at 
you, but as long as your head isn't in his line of sight the log should 
absorb the shots. When he's not shooting, run up and unleash a 
stream of lead into his head. If you need to reload, run back down the 
log for cover. The last Elite should die quickly enough, allowing you to 
enter the Torch and finish the game.
 
==================
=SOVIET VEHICLES:=
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Soviet Mounted Machine Gun:
Appearance: Stationary .50 machine gun mounted on a tripod, with a 
metal shield in front.
Health: Indestructible

The Soviets have set up mounted machine gun turrets all over New 
York to fortify their positions. Such turrets are usually protected by 
short bunker walls, and are placed strategically at choke points to 
hinder your progress through a level.

As soon as they spot you or your Freedom Fighters, Soviet soldiers 
near a machine gun turret will usually run to that turret and use it to 
attack you. Turrets have an extremely high rate of fire and very 
damaging bullets. On the higher difficulty settings, a single turret can 
mow you down in seconds, or kill off your entire squad of Freedom 
Fighters. As such, you should never approach a turret head-on. Even 
running sideways to avoid the turret's fire usually isn't enough, as the 
turret gunner can usually compensate and hit you after a few tries. 
 
The biggest problem with turrets is that they are protected by a 
mounted shield that makes it extremely difficult to shoot the gunner 
manning the turret. Only the top portion of the gunner's head is visible 
from in front of the shield. At long range, your assault rifle simply isn't 
accurate enough to hit such a small target. At closer range, you won't 
have time to aim and fire at the gunner's head before he mows you 
down. 

The best way to take out a turret's gunner is to find an alternate path 
that lets you ambush him from the side. Since turrets can only rotate 
to a small degree and have a limited field of fire, they are vulnerable 
from the sides and the back. You can also throw grenades or molotov 
cocktails at the turret from cover, and with a little practice you should 
be able to successfully kill the gunner with bombs without exposing 
yourself to attack.

Alternatively, if you have a sniper rifle, you can use it to snipe turret 
gunners in the head at long range, but this strategy can be 
problematic since you don't have much sniper ammo, and other 
Soviet soldiers can sometimes run in and replace the one you just 
killed at the controls of the turret.

On the plus side, you can commandeer any unoccupied machine gun 
turrets, and turn them against the enemy. Besides being very 
powerful, these turrets have perfect aim and unlimited ammo, allowing 
you to mow down any Soviets in your line of sight. As a plus, the 
metal shield mounted in front of the turret also defends you almost 
completely against any return fire the Soviets might send back at you. 
The only downside of the mounted machine gun is that it cannot 
rotate more than 45 degrees in either direction, limiting you to a 
narrow field of fire. 



Soviet Armored Personnel Carrier: 
Appearance: Armored car
Health: Indestructible

Soviet APCs drive through the embattled streets of New York, 
dropping off squads of Soviet reinforcements at pre-designated drop-
off points. New APCs arrive every couple of minutes to deposit fresh 
troops. APCs are bulletproof and respawn infinitely, so the only way to 
stop them from coming is to destroy the bridges they travel over 
(usually located in a different map from the one the APCs actually 
appear in). 

APCs will also run you over if you're standing on the road in their 
path, and they'll also sometimes try to back up into you or your 
Freedom Fighters if you're standing on the sidewalk. Your Freedom 
Fighters are sometimes smart enough to run for cover when an APC 
is approaching down the road, but sometimes they just stand there 
and get run over. Just make sure one doesn't run you over, since they 
make very little noise and can be missed if you're not looking in the 
right direction. Getting hit by an APC is instantly fatal for you or your 
soldiers.

The constantly respawning stream of Soviet soldiers that come from 
the APCs can be annoying, but since they tend to clump together in 
one single area, it is possible to get around them by killing them off, 
then running past the APC's drop-off point before a new APC arrives 
with more reinforcements. Taking this approach, you can proceed to 
the end of the level without having to deal with the troops the APCs 
constantly drop off, but the downside is you can't backtrack and revisit 
the area near the APC drop-off point, as fresh soldiers will be waiting 
for you there.



Soviet Transportation Helicopter:
Appearance: Cargo helicopter
Health: Indestructible

Transport Helicopters ferry in fresh supplies of Soviet soldiers to 
replace those killed by you and your troops. They hover over pre-set 
locations while depositing their troops onto the ground, and return 
with more soldiers every couple of minutes. Usually helicopters carry 
Soviet soldiers, but they can also carry commandos, officers, and (on 
one map) even heavy machine gunners. The only way to stop them 
from coming is to destroy their helipad, always located in a different 
map from the area in which they appear. However, stopping transport 
helicopters isn't essential to finishing a map. There are ways to deal 
with the reinforcements they ferry in.

Transport helicopters have one weakness; they unload their troops 
one at a time, and there's a gap of a few seconds between each 
soldier getting off the helicopter. If you position your squad in a 
fortified position facing the area where the helicopter deposits its 
troops, you can have them mow down each Soviet soldier as he steps 
off the helicopter, before he can orient himself and return fire. You'll 
need a squad of 5 or more Freedom Fighters to pull this off, otherwise 
the Soviets will be able to get off the helicopter quicker than your 
squad can kill them off.

Also, just as with Soviet APCs, the Soviet soldiers that come in via 
helicopter tend to stand around where they're dropped off, rather than 
wander elsewhere on the map. Thus, if you stay away from the drop-
off point, these soldiers won't bother you and you can progress to the 
end of the level. 
 


Soviet Assault Helicopter: 
Appearance: Hind-D Assault Chopper
Health: Special (1 rocket shot)

These flying weapons platforms are extremely dangerous, and should 
be totally avoided if at all possible. Each assault helicopter is 
equipped with several machine guns, as well as multiple rocket 
batteries. They can either bombard you with simaltaneous fire from 
each of their machine guns, or blast you with a barrage of several 
rockets. Either attack can kill you in just a few seconds. They only 
appear one at a time, but one is more than enough to destroy you and 
your entire squad. 

Assault helicopters generally patrol a very small area, attacking 
anything that strays into their path. It might be possible for your to get 
past them by using buildings and debris as cover to avoid their 
attacks, but your squad is not so smart and will almost always be 
wiped out if you bring them with you into the assault helicopter's area 
of patrol.

Assault helicopters are bulletproof, but they can be destroyed by a 
shot from the rocket launcher. However, there really isn't much point 
in doing this, as another assault helicopter will show up to take the 
previous one's place after a minute or so. The only way to 
permenantly clear an area of assault helicopters is to destroy their 
landing pads, usually located in a different area from the one in which 
the helicopters actually appear. 

Unlike APCs or transport helicopters, assault helicopters are very 
difficult to get past, and you probably HAVE to destroy their helipad 
before you can reach the end of the map they appear in. If you 
complete the maps in the right order, you'll never actually have to face 
one in the regular game.

There is ONE assault helicopter that you'll actually have to fight. It 
appears near the end of the Liberty Island bonus level, guarding the 
Statue of Liberty's torch. You can spot it off in the distance as soon as 
you climb the tablet and reach the final battlefield. It flies back and 
forth near the torch, all the while firing missiles at you and the 
Freedom Fighters engaged in battle below you. You'll need to destroy 
it with a rocket (and, coincidentally enough, a rocket launcher is right 
there in front of you as soon as you reach the top of the tablet), but 
because it flies back and forth, it's a moving target and can be difficult 
to hit. Your best bet is to aim at the center of its flight path, and fire 
several rockets at it all at once. Some will miss, but the helicopter 
should stray into one of the rockets in the line, and explode. 
 


Soviet Tank:
Appearance: It's a friggin' tank!
Health: Special (2 rocket shots)

There's only one Soviet Tank in the entire game. It appears in the 
mission "Winter Revolt", guarding the entrance to the Soviet's TV 
Propaganda Studios. The tank will roll into view just as you get within 
range of the TV studio's entrance. 

The tank is an extremely dangerous opponent. A single blast from it's 
massive cannon will kill you on any difficulty level, and because of the 
weapon's large splash damage it's almost impossible to dodge the 
tank's shots. The tank is also completely bulletproof, as well as 
resistant against flames and grenades. The only weapon that can 
harm it is the rocket launcher. You'll need a total of two direct hits 
from the rocket launcher to take it down.

The best way to destroy the tank is to blow it up before it can roll into 
firing position to blast you. There's a rocket launcher conveniently 
located in one of the bombed out buildings just before you reach the 
tank. As soon as you enter the building, you should hear the tank 
rolling into position just outside. Quickly grab the rocket launcher, run 
outside, and fire two rockets at the tank before it gets into firing 
position. 

Don't try to face the tank head-on out in the open, it will blast you 
before you can destroy it. However, if the tank does manage to roll 
into firing position before you can get to it, that's OK. You can still fire 
rockets at it from the windows of the building you got the rocket 
launcher from. Just be sure to aim and fire quickly, and duck back 
behind cover before the tank can blast you. Some of the splash 
damage might come through the wall and hurt you, but it shouldn't be 
enough to kill you. 

Finally, you can retreat all the way back to the elevated bunker with the
machine gun turret, near the highway. At this distance, the tank can't
hit you, but you can hit it just fine with your rocket launcher. 

Copyright 2005 Alan Chan