Part of my reward for enduring a second layoff was buying, at half price, a PS2 console in 2001. A couple of years later, I received the game Freedom Fighters as a gift. I still have the PS2, and I still have this game, which has a high replay factor, though it can be too easy once you know what you're doing.

I. Concept

  Freedom Fighters begins with an alternate history lesson. The U.S.S.R. developed and used an atomic bomb in World War II, securing the Communist nation's place as the premier world power. Over time, other nations succumb to the Soviet influence and invasions, including the United Kingdom and Mexico. Your game begins in 2002 with the Soviet invasion of New York. Your name is Christopher, and you're a plumber with a wrench. During the game, you build your skills, perform good deeds to build charisma, collect weapons from dead enemies, and lead a team of freedom fighters to topple the Soviet military leadership and capture important strategic positions.

II. Supplies

  You carry eight kinds of supplies.
   1. Long firearm with ammunition (assault rifle is most common)
   2. Sidearm with ammunition (pistol or revolver)
   3. Grenades
   4. Molotov cocktails
   5. C4 explosives
   6. Medical kits
   7. Binoculars
   8. Your trusty wrench

III. Levels

  1. Manhattan Invasion
  Read the instruction manual to learn how to shoot, aim, maneuver, change supplies, access a map and so forth. The first level is also a tutorial. You start inside an apartment with your wrench. Run to the hall; club a Soviet soldier to death. Mr. Jones will begin talking to you, so do what he says and follow him as he runs to a safe location. You'll pick up a pistol, a few medical kits, heal a man named Bagzton, shoot some bad guys, learn how to use molotov cocktails, and eventually open a manhole cover to reach an underground rebel base. Sewers are also quick-save points in the game. On all levels afterward, you will raise a flag to indicate your success.

  2. Soviet Domination
  You start small, and you start alone. After Mr. Jones introduces you to your new home, the sewers of New York, your first mission is to rescue one of the resistance leaders, a rather smokin' hot chick named Isabella.

  On the map, select the police station first. Most levels are not linear. You will likely need to visit each location more than once. Such is the case here. Creep around the corners toward a police officer who will yell that he's pinned down by sniper fire. Don't stand out in the open, or your new profession as freedom fighter ends quickly. The officer will tell you to take some C4, and to blow up the gas station. That's on the post office portion of the level.

  Return to the sewer and go to the post office location. A nearby kid tagging the wall will tell you what to do. Creep around the corner and kill two Soviets with your pistol. You'll collect the most common weapon in the game, an assault rifle. Walk to the gas station, place the C4 and run like hell.

  Now you can return to the police station with the snipers gone. The officer will instruct you to use the subway tunnel to avoid detection from the large numbers of soldiers guarding the front door of the police station. There are soldiers in the tunnel too, and to your surprise an officer on the other side who apparently had no interest in killing those subway soldiers himself. He'll instruct you to enter the police station through the parking garage. Be prepared for soldiers everywhere you turn. There is a sewer save point in the garage. From the garage you'll enter the station and end up pinned in a small weapons gallery at the bottom of the stairs. Don't worry about the soldiers in the main lobby. Just climb the stairs gradually and kill everything that moves. Use stacks of boxes to your advantage. Isabella is tied up in a room on the top floor, and quite cranky if you don't follow her to the flagpole immediately. Nevermind the guy with the shotgun trying to kill you. It's all about Isabella, apparently.

  With the police station secure, you can return to the post office. Follow Isabella to the safe house where she will give you your first team, two freedom fighters. As your team grows, the freedom fighters will do the bulk of the shooting. But with only two, you're still doing a lot of the killing. You'll enter a yard with scattered soldiers who make the mistake of hiding behind drums of fuel. You can climb to the post office roof if you like, but it's just a dead end with little line of sight. Walk around the corner at ground level to the right to heal a civilian, or skip it if you like and walk left to the post office. Be wary of taking cover close to vehicles and fuel drums, because they explode when hit with a few rounds. You'll enter the post office on a loading dock, climbing the stairs and rescuing your brother. Take care going up the stairs with Soviet soldiers firing at you from odd angles above. The goal is the portion of the roof with the flagpole.

  3. In A New York Minute

  You're entering fall, there is a chill in the air, and the Soviets are steady-rolling despite your capture of the police station and post office. In the sewer base, the team plots three locations: a hotel, a fire station, and a harbor.

  Option 1: choose the fire station, heal a civilian, pick up some supplies, including binoculars, and return to the sewer to select the hotel.

  Option 2: choose the hotel, since you'll only complete a portion of the level before proceeding elsewhere anyway.

  At the hotel, fill your freedom fighter openings, and wait for the others to mow down some soldiers. Be careful of exploding vehicles. Collect the ammunition, grenades and avoid the street. Follow the alley on the right and climb into the second floor of a building. From there you can go downstairs and dart across the street behind the cover of a wrecked vehicle. Station your soldiers on the ground floor because numerous enemies will be trying to access the building thatway. You sneak to the upper floor, kill the snipers and take their weapons. Kill soldiers in the towers and behind the barriers. On ground level, you'll find plenty of assault rifle and pistol ammo, the remains of all the killing from your team. Lead them across the street and station them at the machine gun post facing uphill. Collect C4 and supplies in the diner. Leave through the back door and use the alley to reach a prison pen. Your wrench opens the gate. Lead the prisoners back to the diner area; there is a sewer off the second floor where the snipers used to be.

  I prefer to blow up helipads first. Helicopters are nasty business. That's why you select the harbor next. Collect a team and meander through the large chunks of debris. I like to avoid the mess of soldiers in the open, and sneak through a random hallway close to the debris piles. From there, enter a building on the left and access the roof through an open window. You can kill the helipad soldiers from the roof, or drop to the wall, and the ground, and kill them there. Once clear, use your C4 to demolish the helipad. You're done here for now. Return to the sewer and go to the fire station.

  With the helicopter eliminated, now you can blow up the bridges to eliminate the resupply of Soviet soldiers on the other portions of the level. If you didn't collect the binoculars before, now you can. Assemble a team and climb to the roof. Pick off the nearest soldiers before they climb to the roof with you. Exit by jumping onto a nearby truck. There is a room beyond a few small barricades if you need supplies. Otherwise, pass the sawhorses and climb to the nearest container, which is also a machine gun installation. Eliminate soldiers in your path. Walk in the direction you were shooting and hang a left. This long road will eventually curve left. At the curve, you can climb up some fallen wall debris to a sniper's nest. Put bullets in heads. Don't forget the soldiers almost directly below the window. You'll reach a demolished bridge. Go left for a sewer save point and more good guys if necessary. You can climb to ground level this way too, but I prefer to go back the other way and reach the ground through a small building. On the ground, you're moving parallel to train tracks, proceeding to the pillars of a bridge that remains standing. Blow it up. Being mindful of the passing trains, cross to the other side and climb for a sewer save point and more recruits if you need them. You're approaching the toughest firefight. From the alley, you'll have to cross the street to a covered, pillared walkway. Take your time. Watch out for rooftop gunmen as you approach the garage of the fire station. The interior is obvious; kill soldiers and move to the roof to raise the flag.

  Now both helicopters and Soviet supply lines are disrupted. Return to the hotel. You'll start at the sewer by the sniper room. All the positions have resupplied, so kill the snipers again, heal the wounded Soviets nearby if you want company, kill the machine gunner positions, and proceed uphill. This takes time. At the corner, you'll meet a ton of Soviets. I like to proceed on the left side of the street at first. Round the corner and take the first left to find recruits hidden in a building. From the wall opening, try to kill the sniper in the hotel room on your upper left. If you do, you can cross the street in slightly more comfort to reach a sewer save point. There are some conveniently-stacked boxes to reach the sniper's nest. From the sewer save point, return to the street, go right and hug the wall to reach one of those soldier installations. There is a sniper across the way, as well as another soldier perch with a machine gun position. You can go to the second perch afterward if you like, with a better line of sight to the soldiers on the second floor flag position, and soldiers running out the hotel's front door. Inside the firefight can be intense. Take cover where you can and proceed upstairs to reach the flag.

  Return to the harbor. Collect recruits and go to the perch between buildings, which looks out over multiple directions of Soviet positions. The machine gun will allow you to remove the soldiers in one direction, and from the top of the stairs your recruits can shoot at soldiers in another direction. Once done, move in the general direction of the destroyed helipad. Your goal is another loading dock with a ventilation shaft that allows you to climb through a third-story window. Kill two soldiers and heal an old man. Exit using the fire escape, which contains a sniper nest. You can pick off a few grunts down the road while your team cleans up any soldiers remaining in the positions below. Cross the street if you need recruits. Otherwise proceed methodically down the road toward the warehouse. There is a sewer save point in the alley next to the warehouse. The warehouse is tricky because you're on the ground, and the Soviets are on the catwalks. You and your team are patient and up to the task. Climb the stairs and you'll creep into a guarded room that overlooks a large open area. Your flag is across the street. Station your team at the point where Soviets will cluelessly climb into the left window. On the right window, use the sniper rifle to remove enemies across the street. When clear, you'll run across the way and raise that flag.

  4. Breaking Free!

  At the rebel sewer base, Isabella and Bagz wonder how Mr. Jones gets his intelligence, a foreshadowing of things to come. They inform you to start operating at night. On this level, you'll seize a warehouse, a movie theater and a power plant.

  Again, I prefer to blow up a helicopter pad first. Select the movie theater. Take two recruits, kill the soldiers ahead, and creep upstairs and around to the left. You'll creep along a fence line, and try to stay out of the spotlight. at the end is a sewer save point and a collection of female recruits. From there you'll shoot your way through a building and reach the street. Kill the soldier in the opposite doorway. If you can, kill the sniper on the upper left. Race across the street. There are more recruits, a sniper rifle and supplies in one of the upper rooms. Kill the roof sniper if you did not already, then kill the soldier on the other side of the roof, overlooking the helipad. From his position, pick off as many Soviets as you can, including the ones in the alley to the right. Retrieve your assault rifle and your team, climb down to the helipad, and blow it up. There is an entrance to a parking garage, with more recruits, and a sewer save point, that is not obvious.

  From there, I like to switch to the warehouse district to blow up the bridges. But you can continue to the theater if you don't mind the resupply of soldiers. From the parking garage, look left to kill a few bad guys. There is a sniper rifle in the dark to help you catch a few grunts at the other end of the street. Head that way. Proceed slowly, and stay out of the path of machine gun fire and jeeps in the street. Turn left and hug the right wall. There is a soldier guarding a broken wall if you look ahead and to the right. Inside are more recruits. From there you can access a  courtyard with a ton of enemy soldiers and some good guys failing to hold their ground. Proceed to the perch, take control of the machine gun, and buzz everything that moves. This will take time, especially if soldiers are resupplying. When you can, you'll head for the theater's back door across the way. Soldiers are hiding in the rows of seats. Let your band of rebels handle it. After that, you'll notice the new, olive drab decor of the theater lobby, and you won't see any more soldiers until you reach the roof, and thus, the flag. Most of the soldiers on the roof carry sub-machine guns, so handle with care.

  Go to the warehouse district. Make sure you have enough C4 to detonate three targets. There are numerous ways to proceed, and really no wrong way in my opinion.

  Option 1. Assemble a team. From the start point, there is a precarious path to your right, following the water. It leads to the second bridge. Detonate your C4 from the side you approached and return the way you came.
  Cross the first bridge. Just to the left is a set of stairs to the train tracks. While your team fights the soldiers by the stairs, you can blow up the first bridge. On your map, creep down the street toward the prisoner pen. Let your rebels handle the soldiers guarding the gate. You climb the tower, kill the soldier there, and help your team from above. Starting here, all prison gates are electrified. Don't try to open the gate without disrupting the flow of juice. Go to ground, find the power generator in between the cargo containers, and blow it up. Open the sewer to save. Then you can retrieve the prisoners for a quick escape.
  If you already detonated both bridges, return to the first one. Climb the stairs to the train tracks. Kill soldiers, and watch out for trains. Follow the tracks to the left and try to take out the sniper in the window on your right. You'll reach some wooden planks to enter the third floor. Soldiers will be entering through the ground floor, so position your team at the second-floor staircase while you use the sniper's rifle to help from the window. Exit the ground floor and look left for a sewer save point. To the right is an open area at the warehouse, guarded by lots of Soviets. Proceed carefully. Once done, you can send in a soldier to lure some of the warehouse grunts outside, or just blast your way into the warehouse. The flag is on the roof.

  Option 2. Cross bridge #1 and blow it up. Free the prisoners, cross the train tracks and reach the sewer save point. You can climb the fence for a path to bridge #2, which involves killing more soldiers. Then you'll enter the open warehouse area.

  At the power plant, you need to grab recruits quickly, because they are under fire. Across the crater, climb to the roof of the building using the truck. There is another recruit up there. Kill enemies and position your team at the top of the spiral stairs, but out of sight from the machine gun fire at the top of the street. If you dare climb the fire escape, there is a rocket launcher with one round and a machine gun post up there. Try to kill the soldiers on the machine gun posts. On your map, you need to cross the street for a sewer save point, and there will be more soldiers in your way. From there, climb to the elevated street. Down the street is the collapsed tunnel. There are two alcoves to your right, one with recruits and one with an ambulance and a sub machine gun-wielding Soviet. At the other end of the tunnel is a sewer save point and more recruits. 
  Your goal is to blow up the power lines on the other side of the fence. On your right is a damaged building with a sniper. You can leave your team facing the main gate, use the sniper rifle to try to kill soldiers near the gate (it's dark and hard to see), then let your team kill anyone who wanders into the street. Have your team rejoin you and access the power lines through the sniper window. You'll have to kill more soldiers in low light. Place the C4 at the base of the tower and run out of the yard. Save again and proceed down street to a fence opening.
  This is a tough stretch. You will find yourself in a pit, with many Soviets ahead of you. There is a burnt bus blocking part of the path. On the other side are more soldiers, including one with a rocket launcher. This may require multiple attempts. Eventually you will reach a point in the fence facing the power plant entrance. You can use that rocket launcher to kill the soldiers stationed at the machine guns. Cross the street to the entrance and turn right. There is another sewer save point. You'll enter a hallway. There is a rocket launcher with one round hidden behind crates. Send your team to the entrance of the large room to kill the immediate soldiers. Once done, you can step inside and aim for the elevated second-floor turret on the other side of the room. Retrieve your normal weapon and take your team across the room, between the turbines, to the stairs. Soldiers will fire at you from above as you climb the stairs to the rooftop flag.

  5. Desperate Revenge

  At the sewer base, you learn the Soviets executed your brother. Mr. Jones suggests assassinating General Tatarin at Governor's Island. Bagz wants to go with you, but this is a mission of stealth (it really isn't). Before you go, exchange the revolver you suddenly have in your arsenal for the pistol. The reds don't carry revolvers, making it hard for you to resupply one.
  At the island, three soldiers walk just above the staircase. If you time it right, you can get all three together for a Molotov party. Otherwise use the pistol. Creep left, hugging the ventilation tower, and enter the front door. Climb the stairs, creep toward the sniper, and put a pistol round in his head. Add his sniper ammunition to your supply. The fan makes it hard, but you can snipe a few soldiers who are walking around the crates below. When they're exiting that area, make your move. Creep to the perch and you'll find a collection of shotguns. The soldiers notice, of course, and you can kill them as they climb the stairs. Switch back to the sniper rifle and you can kill one of the soldiers in the towers overlooking the water. Proceed to your left, walking around the crates, and minding the three soldiers milling around before the wall. Climb the wall and carefully approach the soldiers just to the right. A Molotov will get all three. There is a sewer save point. In a left-side alcove, there are two more soldiers waiting for a crude fiery device. Switch your sniper rifle for their assault rifles and kill the soldiers ahead, and around the corner. Return for your sniper rifle. When you pass the last of the soldiers you killed, you will see some stairs. Stay behind the wall a little, and kill the sniper on the nearest perch, the soldier on the ground, and the remaining snipers in the towers over the water. Grab the sniper ammo in the perch and proceed to the far tower. A soldier guarding the courtyard may notice, but he won't hurt you. Climb the ladder and pick up more sniper ammo. Wait for Tatarin to enter the balcony overlooking the courtyard. When you turn Tatarin's brain into soup, climb down the ladder and run back the way you came. The Soviets are quick to declare the island under attack and a helicopter will be hunting for you. Save at the sewers and return to the boat.


  6. Enemy Within

  If you let the movie play, you'll discover Mr. Jones is a rat. Assassinating Tatarin allowed him to return to his old profession and assume command of Soviet forces. The invaders destroyed your base, and now you have to escape the sewers. There are no save points along the way.

  I make this harder than it should be, because I like to take the sniper rifle from the previous mission as far as I can go. You're in the center of what used to be your base. Go around the back and collect a few supplies, like rounds for your weapons. Then switch to the assault rifle sitting there. Kill the four soldiers on the other side of the water. Switch to sniper rifle, carry it across, then switch to shotgun. There is really only one way to go through most of the tunnels. Collect the assault rifles and as much ammo as possible before reaching a large room separated by water. Creep from cover to cover on the side you entered, killing anyone in the way. At the ladder, there is a soldier on the perch. You can get him from ground level before you climb. There are more soldiers in the side room, and a lot of supplies. On the perch, there is a rocket launcher to take out some of the soldiers on the other side of the water. Otherwise use the assault rifle. Return below, and go all the way back for your sniper rifle before crossing the water. Cross, then switch to an assault rifle again. Kill any remaining soldiers in the far corner. There is another rocket launcher with a few rounds in that far corner. 
  At the tunnel entrance, you can go left for a nest overlooking a room you'll enter anyway. But go right and proceed through room after room of Soviets. The rocket launcher can take out some of them. Switch to assault rifles and prepare to slowly move forward. You'll go down a few staircases to a long tunnel that overlooks a room with a large pipe. Kill who you can from the entrance, then return for your sniper rifle. After that, descend below and use the pistol to kill the remaining soldiers. Switch your sniper rifle for the assault rifle. There are Molotovs inside the pipe. The tunnel entrance is hard to see, but there are soldiers at every landing. A Molotov can light the way. You'll reach another long tunnel.
  This is where it gets tricky. The room at the end of the tunnel has several accurate shooters. The adjacent room has a machine gunner, covered head to toe with heavy armor. You're dead meat if he has you in his sights. Creep to the entrance and lob a couple of grenades into the room to kill him and the grunts. You should have a machine gun in your arsenal now, which is the best weapon of all. But if you took the sniper rifle to the pipe room, you can return for it. That's because the next room after the machine gunner has another machine gunner and a lot of other soldiers waiting in the dark. You can use the sniper rifle to pick off whoever you can see. and maybe do some damage to the machine gunner, who is hiding in the dark near the middle-right of the room. Otherwise, use your machine gun, and maybe lob a few grenades where the machine gunner is hiding. This room is where you will most likely die if you are not careful. Your goal is to reach the far side of the room, where a path will take you to the kid, and your escape. Hopefully you escaped with a machine gun in hand.

  7. Winter Revolt

  It's snowing now. Your new base is still underground, but not in the immediate area of sewage. The kid has swiped a Soviet computer to provide intelligence. Your choices are a high school and a television station.

  Go for the high school. It has a helipad. From the start, climb some ductwork into a building, then find recruits on the ground floor. You'll enter an area with soldiers carrying sub machine guns, hiding in between crates, and a machine gun station in the far corner. Hug the wall to avoid the machine gun fire. You'll reach the helipad by infiltrating another building next to it. Destroy that landing pad.
  Go back the way you came and reach the street. Before the intersection, there is a building with a soldier in a broken second floor wall. He'll climb down anyway, but you can climb up to the roof of that building. From there, or the intersection itself, kill the Soviets on the machine gun posts on the second floor of a building to your upper right. Going left at the intersection takes you to more recruits and a sewer save point. Straight ahead from the intersection is a group of Soviets including a rocket launcher. Be careful when approaching. You'll take the road to the left. Now you proceed to the prisoner pen. There is a sewer save point and some recruits in a building to the right of the sewer. You'll creep through a dark snow tunnel into a large courtyard. Position your team on a snowbank and kill the soldiers heading your way. The prisoners are guarded too. Your team can handle those guys. Afterward, use your C4 to destroy the power generator, open the gate, let your soldiers defend the POW entrance area, and lead the prisoners back to the last sewer. Rejoin your team.

Option #1:

  From the prisoner area, proceed along a wall to the front yard of the high school. An armored machine gunner is among those protecting the front door. Your team should be large enough, but it is a tough draw. After entering the school, go upstairs. There are soldiers in the walkway above the foyer. Then go to the walkway above the basketball court. Use your high position to kill the soldiers below. Enter the halls and climb to the second floor. There are more civilians to heal, and also another machine gunner in the large room with lockers. A sub machine gun-wielding ninja lady is waiting in the classroom that will lead you to the precarious path to the flag.

Option #2:

  On the map, you'll notice you can enter the large park in front of the high school from two directions. Go back the way you came and check the map for the path to the other sewer save point. There are recruits in the adjacent building. By choosing this path, you can creep around the edge of the park to a side entrance to the high school. This path takes you through a locker room, and eventually to the foyer where the machine gunner is located. From there, proceed as above to the second floor. By choosing this method, you'll skip the soldiers guarding the front of the school, but they'll be aiming for you later as you walk along the building's ledge to the flag. Hopefully you're still carrying your machine gun.

  At the TV station, you start at the bottom of the tracks. Collect recruits and climb the stairs, killing Soviets at the train station. Because of the snow, there are no trains. Use the fallen sign to jump to a building across the tracks. Here, there is a sniper rifle. Your team should defend the ductwork leading to the roof while you pick off soldiers in the snow below, one by one. You can also use a molotov or grenade to catch the soldiers on the machine gun perch below. When empty, grab your machine gun and take your team back down to the perch overlooking the street, with the front of the theater in the distance. More soldiers will appear, and you will gun them down. Proceed forward. On the first alley to the right is the last sewer save point and more recruits. Across from that alley, just before you enter a damaged building, more soldiers will appear. Kill them and enter. You cross some wooden planks and a snowy alley to enter the next building. Have your soldiers defend a far back corner of the room.
  By now you should hear a loud noise, which is a tank that suddenly appeared on the scene. Not even your machine gun can penetrate it. The room where you left your soldiers has a rocket launcher with about six rounds. Wherever you go, the tank turret will turn in that direction if it spots you. As a clever freedom fighter, you will maneuver between the top floor of the building, where appearing at the window will allow the tank to fire that direction, and the alley, where you have better control jumping into the street, firing a rocket round, and running back into the building for cover before the tank can hit you. If you get it right, you can destroy the tank in one shot, but three hits will do the trick. With the tank gone, retrieve your machine gun, your team, heal a civilian, and proceed to the theater. More soldiers will appear on a snow bank to the right.
  There is a perch with a rocket launcher before the TV station entrance. Leave your team there, creep to the entrance, and greet the person at the front desk-- a machine gunner. Two rockets aimed properly should kill him. Recall your team because more soldiers will appear on the high walkways surrounding the lobby. You can use the rocket launcher to hit some soldiers as they descend stairs. Or return for your trusty machine gun, or grab the machine gun left by the receptionist. Your path upstairs is longer than usual because of broken stairwells. You start with the stairs to your left, but on the third floor, wrap around to the other side, where more soldiers and a machine gunner will run to meet you. There are more supplies in a room off the main room where the walkways meet. Back in the walkways, climb the non-broken stairs, and mind the occasional Soviet waiting from above. Eventually you will reach some offices with cubicles. One of these offices is pitch black apart from flashing red warning lights. Of course a machine gunner is waiting. This is the toughest stretch in the building. You may want to use some grenades ahead of sending your rebels inside the dark room. You'll climb more stairs, kill more Soviets, and eventually get to the studio, guarded by a back-flipping sub machine gun-wielding female ninja. The flag is just outside. There is a clip where Chris addresses the nation through the former Soviet propaganda channel. Too bad he doesn't get to meet the blonde anchor lady.

  8. On Thin Ice

  At the base, you prepare to storm Governor's Island again, where Isabella is being kept prisoner. It seems like a good idea, but as the movie plays, your boat capsizes in the icy water and you lose the explosives along with a lot of other things. Bagz is glad he isn't hurt, and you probably want to punch him in the mouth. Behind the wreckage, collect a few items, like a revolver, the binoculars, a couple of medic kits, a couple of grenades, and an assault rifle or sub machine gun. You always have your wrench. You can collect a few more items, sometimes a machine gun, behind the wrecked helicopters. The machine gun stations in the towers are generally going for your team. Leave them behind the largest helicopter crash site. Then you can creep along the rest of the wreckage, jumping from ice floe to ice floe, to reach another large helicopter and a rocket launcher in the snow. Use the rocket launcher to destroy the machine gun tower. Recall your team, whoever is left, or heal a couple of guys, and proceed toward the entrance with whatever weapon you can collect. More soldiers will appear. Don't jump in the water. You'll go into shock and die. When clear, check the map to proceed up the ladder to the nearest sewer.

  The rebels are setting up below. They have a map with five locations. But you won't have anyone on your team until you destroy the ventilation shaft at the boat landing. You don't have any C4 either. You can find that at the munitions depot.

  At the start of the munitions location, collect some Molotovs and proceed north on your map. Stay cautious, because a machine gunner is patrolling back and forth on the other side of the barrier. If you're brave, you fire at him, lure back around the container, and attempt to beat him to death with your wrench. Grenades won't work on him because the area is not enclosed like the sewer. He also ducks out of the way quickly. The better option is to wait until machine gunner's back is turned, then using the snow drift, climb over the next container and proceed toward the C4 storage area. That entrance is guarded by several soldiers, including a female ninja. Kill them, get the C4 and other supplies, and go directly to the nearby sewer.

  Return to the boat landing. You'll start where you ended. Facing the water, sneak into the nearby building on your right. There are three Soviets on the second floor. Once done there, head out into the area with the shipping containers, near the front of the ventilation shaft. Heal a soldier and he'll join you. One Soviet guards the front entrance, and mind the sniper in the fan area above. Unlike last time, there are several reds in the ventilation shaft, including a ninja. You and your buddy will have to kill them to reach the stairs. The sniper knows you're coming too. He's facing you even if you creep up the stairs. Kill him, place the C4 at the shaft, then wait at the stairwell. Once detonated, rebels climb through the destroyed shaft to fill your ranks. Soldiers, including a machine gunner, immediately appear at the open area in front of the tower. You can use the sniper rifle to kill some of them. It takes multiple sniper shots, probably more than you have, to kill the machine gunner. Of course you will take his machine gun once he is dead. Most likely, your team will kill everyone from ground level. Proceed to the sewer save point, which is near a jeep. You'll notice Governor's Island has undergone some slight redecoration, but the layout is mostly the same from the assassination mission.
  From the save point, you have a few options: continue with the mission if you don't mind a bit of helicopter fire; return to the munitions since you're close to the end of that location anyway (more helicopter fire), or proceed to the artillery location to destroy the mortars and helipad.
  We'll continue with the boat landing. From the save point, run to the machine gun post around the corner and up the stairs. You can heal a civilian who thinks you're a doctor. Many reds, with another machine gunner, will appear below. You take the machine gun, and the team shoots next to you. When that is clear, go forward and hop the wall. More soldiers are waiting, including some annoyances with grenades. At the end of that path, before you turn the corner, there is a soldier in a high position who is hard to kill. The harbor entrance is tough. Soldiers are lobbing grenades. A machine gunner is standing by the trench. If you're not fast enough, the helicopter arrives for the party with machine gun and rocket launching fun. Just send your team down the stairs in an all-out assault. Throw some grenades yourself. Try to take out the machine gunner before you race for the flag. You may lose all your rebels in the process, but as you long as you're okay, it won't matter.

  You'll need three C4 charges for the artillery section. Return to munitions if you need some. You and your team ascend at the only save point on the artillery level. In one direction you have some well-guarded mortars. In the other is the rest of the level leading to the helipad and a sewage treatment plant where the flag is located. There is no sense is waiting to destroy the mortars. Attack them directly. The second mortar contains a machine gunner. Wipe out everyone and detroy the mortars. Return to the save point. Proceed in the other direction. There is a building you can climb in order to kill the soldiers from above. On the ground level, you'll find a sniper rifle in one of the barricaded areas beyond the trench. While your team waits, creep ahead a little and use the sniper rifle to kill one sniper in the wooden shack near the end of the road, another on the corner of the helicopter pad, and with the remaining shots, anyone approaching. Switch to your machine gun or whatever weapon you're carrying, recall the team and move forward slowly. At the wooden shack, you can heal a civilian and use the sniper rifle to kill anyone else in your sight.
  Go across the street to the next building, the one with the helipad. Inside your team will wipe out more Soviets. You can heal a civilian in the bathroom. Carefully proceed upstairs, kill more bad guys, and blow up the helipad. Return downstairs, go out the back door and enter the next building, which looks somewhat like a stable. There is a sniper and a lot of other bad guys in the rooms across from where you enter. Keep a soldier at the stairwell, take out the sniper yourself, and let the team kill the rest from the second floor entrance perch. This is a longer fight than expected. There are supplies on the ground below. Exit out the other side and sneak into the open area, heading toward the building with the flag. A supply helicopter will drop more soldiers periodically.
  Inside the flag building, there are a ton of obstacles, and a machine gunner with a clear advantage. You might have better luck if you can lure him out, or hide around one of the corners before he comes downstairs. You'll need to go upstairs regardless to reach the flag. But it's better if you can get the gunner down to ground level.

  With the attack helicopter gone you can return to munitions to complete that level. You'll kill the soldiers near the sewer all over again and pick up more C4 or supplies in the same room as before. Proceeding toward the flag location, there is an open building with a ninja lady and a rocket launcher. There is also a high soldier's perch, accessible by both stairs and the nearby barriers. A machine gunner waits at the far end of the open area near the flag location. There is also a path up to the roofs of the buildings containing the munitions and other supplies, if you're just looking to waste time and kill soldiers you don't need to kill. Either way you'll eventually need to cross into a garage with a jeep, heavily-guarded of course, which leads to a short hall and the guarded flagpole, in a fenced outdoor yard. Try to blow up the jeep before you enter the garage. You can also kill the soldiers guarding the flagpole before you enter the garage.

  The docks location, in which you see no docks, contains the troop transport helipad. There are no save points beyond the start. A machine gunner and several other enemies wait at the end of the street. You'll climb up the ductwork to a broken wall, leading to more Soviets inside a building. You can heal civilians too. Out in the street, it is a slow march because the reds are manning machine gun positions. Finally, at the fenced area, you can switch your revolver for a more common pistol. Man each machine gun post as you proceed, because soldiers will suddenly appear from other directions. Your team can take care of the Soviets guarding the helipad, and you'll destroy it. Once you do, soldiers appear on the rooftops to shoot you. You make your way to the fence gate, where another long firefight takes place. This leads to a maze of cargo containers, where soldiers are hiding in nearly every aisle. There is a metal tower with a sniper rifle, and a small room with a Soviet to kill. If you're confident in your jumping ability, you can take the sniper rifle, jump from the tower to container to container to container, and get a high perch to kill a machine gunner and other Soviets. Otherwise, just proceed by ground. There are two buildings to enter. You can skip the one behind the turrets unless you need medical kits. Watch out for the soldier in the rafters. Otherwise just go to the flag building itself. Wait at the entrance for soldiers to descend the stairs. A machine gunner is guarding the rooftop flag location.

  Now you can assault Fort Jay, where you must free Isabella and raise four flags. If you did enough good deeds, your charisma should be at the maximum of 12. All 12 slots will be filled when you ascend from the sewer. Soviets will immediately approach as you leave the sewer location. Storming the fort is the toughest part of the level. You're going uphill, partly in a trench, facing turrets, two snipers in high towers, machine gunners in fortified boxes, and a lot of other soldiers. Head to your right for a make-shift two-story building. There is a machine gun position on the second floor which can help you with some of the soldiers guarding the fort, and the snipers in the towers within the fort. It is possible to kill the machine gunners in the pillboxes, but quite tough from that angle. Return to the trench and head for the fort. Stop at every barrier along the way to check for enemies and don't get directly in the line of sight of those metal boxes. As you appoach the entrance, more soldiers will rush out the front door. Once you get inside, however you kill those machine gunners, you begin going in circles within the fort itself.

Alternate option:

  From the start of the trench, you can stay at ground level, hug the left wall, killing soldiers along the way, and turn left for a path into a sunken supply room. There are a few soldiers inside, health kits, grenades, guns and a couple of sniper rifles. It's dark and snowy, but you'll have six shots to take out the snipers in the tall wooden towers or any nearby soldiers. Then you can return the way you came and proceed as above.

  Inside the fort, turn left to head into octagonal room number one. Kill soldiers. Head for the dark stairs to reach a similar-looking room. Kill soldiers. Find the door to an outside area for more death. You'll take a passage part inside, then outside around the perimeter of the main structure, watching for Soviets around every bend. Keep checking the map, because you'll want to reach Isabella first. Her cell is somewhat obscured up a snowy ramp from one of the outside locations. And it's open. No wrench required. She just waited for you. Isabella follows you wherever you go, and has a weapon to fire at soldiers in the area. From her cell, you can cross to a stairwell in two directions, one blocked by bars, and one leading to the first flag location. Kill the guards, raise it, and head into the interior of the fort itself. This is a maze of dark stairs and narrow passages, so proceed slowly. You'll eventually reach what appears to be bedrooms and bathrooms, a courtyard, more bedrooms and bathrooms, and a descent into more of the fort. When you reach the room with a wall of medical kits, be careful. There is a machine gunner lurking in the room below, and if alerted, he will come up the stairs. You can skip that room altogether otherwise. From there it is not too hard to reach the other three flags and win. Your team will do most of the killing and it's entirely possible for your character to have zero kills at the end of Fort Jay.

  If you played the game on the top two levels, you get a bonus level called Liberty Island.

  The Statue of Liberty is in ruins. You start with only your wrench and there is no map. Collect the rebels already fighting ahead of you. Inside one of the public restrooms is a stash of shotguns, medical kits, grenades and pistols. Mind the falling bombs exploding around you as you proceed up the debris of the statue to a perch containing a rocket launcher. Have your team kill the nearby soldiers while you focus on a helicopter toward the end point itself. If you time it right, you can shoot down the helicopter. Take your team over the snowbank to another open area, where you will find two waves of soldiers, including machine gunners. There are soldiers on top of the statue as well. Your goal is to climb the snow drift up the back of the statue to reach the head.