Every now and then a game comes out of left field and completely surprises you. Enter Freedom Finger – a bullet hell shooter that wants to evoke every emotion contained in your body all at the same time. You’ll laugh while being offended all while managing to piss off most of the world that wasn’t blessed to live in the U.S. of A. If that sounds like a lot to take in, that’s because it is.

The story is simple. The Chinese are up to their old tricks again and you are America’s hope to end this war once and for all by taking the fight to them. Armed with your ship that literally looks like the middle finger, you’ll shoot, punch, and grab your way to freedom. Along the way you’ll piss off the Chinese, Russians, and a slew of other enemies whether they were asking for it or not because, well, America!

On the Surface Freedom Finger is a bullet hell shooter that will have you flying your way through each level taking out the various obstacles you encounter. What separates this game from others in the genre is what lies way beneath the surface. This game feels like it could be taken right out of the South Park Universe. It feels like a game that Cartman and company would spend hours upon hours playing on the show. Thankfully, it’s a real game in the real world and we can enjoy the hell out of it.

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The levels play out like a music video. Crazy, right? Each stage lasts the length of a song and when the song is done – so are you. During the regular levels the music is timed to end as the level does. However, during boss fights if the song ends and the boss isn’t defeated….it’s game over. This adds a layer of depth rarely seen in the genre. As you face each boss, you’ll need to be mindful of the damage you are laying on them instead of focusing on all the other shit they throw at you as distractions.

The levels themselves are wild. Space, the inside of another ship, the inside of a creature, even an old school video game looking level during what might be a hallucination all serves as locations you’ll be fighting through. The level variation is phenomenal which keeps the game from ever feeling repetitious. Since the majority of your time is spent shooting, punching, and grabbing your enemies it is vital that the levels feel fresh and new when the move set stays the same throughout most of the game. The one variety in the gameplay involves grabbing enemies and using their weapons against the rest of the enemies in the level. You can grab nearly anything and throw it, but allowing you to grab enemies and use their weapons is a super fun mechanic you’ll find yourself experimenting with often.

On top of the incredibly fun gameplay and crazy levels, Freedom Finger is absolutely gorgeous. Hand drawn games and movies are slowly becoming a thing of the past and that’s a shame. The artwork is mesmerizing and there is so much to see on the screen at once you’ll want to replay the levels in arcade mode (unlocked for each level as you beat it in the story mode) just to see new things you might have missed.

Another really interesting idea here involves the difficulty settings. Freedom Finger won’t have you selecting easy, medium or hard. Rather, you’ll chose various settings that will cause you to receive a point penalty for doing so. For example, you can raise your health up from 100% to 200% if you’re willing to take a 45% hit on points earned. This will require you to really think hard before changing the settings because the leaderboards are going to be a huge part of this game. You’ll want to have bragging rights with your friends and changing the difficulty will immediately give them the edge. However, in story mode if things get a little hairy for you and you just want to pass through the level or boss you have the ability to make adjustments that will hopefully help you to do just that. This really adds a lot of depth to the game and makes even choosing a “difficulty” setting pretty important.

Freedom Finger is the perfect breath of fresh air that blends old and new ideas together in one super politically incorrect package. Before each level during the load screen the game treats us to hysterically stupid yet actual quotes spoken by historical figures from both sides of the aisle. So, while George W. Bush may have been misunderestimated, make sure you don’t misunderstimate Freedom Finger.

Available on September 27th for Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC and Mac!

Check out our Review Guide to see what we criteria we use to score games

*Freedom Finger the reviewer by the publishing company but this fact did not alter the reviewer’s opinion*