Hitman maker contracts new shooter

Io Interactive is working on Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, a new third-person action game; future of Freedom Fighters 2 in doubt.

In March 2004, a financial report filed by Eidos Interactive indicated that a sequel to Freedom Fighters was in the works. While this thrilled fans of the critically acclaimed tactical shooter at the time, nothing has been heard about the project since, leading many to think it has been put on indefinite hold.

This week, news emerged that casts further doubt over the probabilty of a Freedom Fighters sequel happening any time soon--if at all. The cover story of the just-released August issue of Game Informer reveals that Io Interactive, developer of Freedom Fighters and Hitman: Blood Money, is currently developing an all-new intellectual property.

Titled Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, the new game is being developed for the Xbox 360 and PC. Described as "a third-person action game...with a full co-op play option, intuitive squad tactics, and a hearty online multiplayer component," the game will follow a mercenary and a "psychopath" who come into a large quantity of cash. Presumably, gameplay will involve taking said cash and making a clean getaway. No release date was given.

If Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is now the new focus of Io's efforts, where does that leave the Freedom Fighters sequel? For now, that remains unclear. Attempts to elicit comment from representatives of Eidos Interactive, owner of Io, were unsuccessful as of press time.

83 Comments

  • unbentonslaught

    Posted Sep 7, 2008 11:26 am PT

    no new freedom fighters? NOOOOOOOOO!!! why!!? we want a sequel!!!! I have been waiting for this sequel ever since I played thi original

  • moodflow

    Posted Feb 18, 2008 11:36 pm PT

    quite old news but, like zebrahead said, i was looking forward for kane and lynch hoping it would be somewhat like Freedom fighters. I bought it, played for no more than 15 minutes, uninstalled and cryied... please god make FF2 a reality

  • zebrahead007

    Posted Jan 15, 2008 8:10 am PT

    OMG they need to get there acts together, Kane and bloody Lynch, wat a waste of time!!! FF was the best game ever! PLEASE PLEASE make a sequel! I and everybody else have been waiting far too long.

  • matt_1954

    Posted Oct 18, 2007 7:13 pm PT

    i cant even figure out what this is about? is a just 2 people trying to run from cops or trying to find something or what?

  • crunchb3rry

    Posted May 1, 2007 12:56 pm PT

    Freedom Fighters was their best work. Better than how Hitman started off. They should have tried to evolve the franchise like they did with Hitman. It would have been a killer franchise. This "new intellectual property" sounds like generic crap, starting with the lameass title.

  • AFWorm

    Posted Mar 24, 2007 1:15 am PT

    I'm sure it's because Freedom Fighters isn't that popular of a game.

  • CyberKillerZ

    Posted Feb 20, 2007 5:10 am PT

    lol ****

  • edmakel

    Posted Feb 14, 2007 1:19 pm PT

    I really liked FF....I'v been waiting for a second for years now......they kind of left us hanging at the end. i put it down for a year and just started playing it again a few days ago...ironic huh? Anyway...I hope they reconsider...

  • Tanis011

    Posted Nov 13, 2006 10:36 am PT

    Thats too bad, Freedom Fighters was a good game.

  • Baller1257

    Posted Oct 24, 2006 3:12 am PT

    No Freedom Fighters 2 needs to be the priority.....no.

  • bd01052004se

    Posted Oct 11, 2006 4:35 am PT

    GIVE AS A SODDING FREEDOM FIGHTERS 2!!!!!!!!!!

  • kyle_1865

    Posted Aug 15, 2006 6:06 pm PT

    are you on crack evan?

  • evanparker2134

    Posted Aug 15, 2006 9:14 am PT

    I honestly was not that impressed with Freedom Fighters in the first place.

  • robert032

    Posted Aug 14, 2006 11:31 pm PT

    Freedom Fighters was a awsome game! and it needs a sequal...but this looks cool too

  • jeivindr

    Posted Aug 10, 2006 10:42 am PT

    the first ff sucked so why bother.

  • coolspartan1642

    Posted Jul 27, 2006 6:13 pm PT

    Freedom Fighters is a great game. Hitman is a great game to. Either sequal is going to be great. A second freedom fighters would be cool though, since hitman already has 3 games.

  • vegedus

    Posted Jul 22, 2006 7:25 am PT

    It is an capital i. Not an L. Io Interactive, not Lo interactive. My charecters name in wow starts with an capital i, and everyone there thinks it's an small L too. What's wrong with you people?

    About freedom fighters 2, I couldn't care less, since I've never played the original. And besides, this new games seems to build on the same concept (gameplay wise) so why clamor for a sequel when you can have the same great gameplay in a new and orignal setting?

  • Redemtor

    Posted Jul 19, 2006 12:45 pm PT

    Creativelabrat wrote:
    "But we all know that isn't what sends a message to the folks at EA. If we want a sequel to Freedom Fighters, then go out and buy a NEW copy of the original (not used, sense those numbers aren't tracked and the money doesn't go back to EA). Buy several, give them to your friends".

    Actually, that would be a bad idea if we want to see another Freedom Fighter game!

    IO Interactive is not part of EA anymore, but dances only with Eidos these days. - And EA holds on to IPs that are successful.

    So when Freedom Fighter stops being a hit, EA might let go of the IP rights?

  • Hermitkermit

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 3:26 pm PT

    Dont worry people they will make Freedom Fighters 2 its just that Lo is right now working on their hitman series and that project Kane and Lynch.

    For now it seems that Freedom fighters 2 is still in the works but Lo is not that hard at working on it ( maybe cause they have to focus on the new hitman coming out.)

    In time it will come I know I can't wait too........................................

    (2008 FF2 is released)

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 1:27 pm PT

    i never played the first freedom fighters

  • hitman187x

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 12:44 pm PT

    Dead Men sounds like a promising scenario. More violence and money, that's a definite seller!

  • Kabbage

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 11:02 am PT

    Freedom Fighters being one of my all-time favorite games, this is pretty obscenely bad news. I'd rue the universe harder were it not for the fact that this new game they're working on sounds pretty rad, thanks in large part to the promise of online co-op. Though I totally would've loved to see FF2, another great game from Io will more than suffice, in my book.

  • BigV25

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 11:00 am PT

    A FF2 would be good if they update the graphics and put in some online play.

  • _Sam_

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 10:59 am PT

    *adds to tracking list* I liked the original

  • creativelabrat

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 9:26 am PT

    Freedom Fighters was a d*mn fine game. It was well done, the level design was top notch, and the gameplay was tight and didn't need gimmics such as vehicles to keep things fresh. The story was well told, and I must have played that game a few dozen times from beginning to end, each time finding a different way to complete each level and it's objectives.

    Since it's release I've been waiting for a follow up, as have MANY of my friends who were Fortunate enough to play it. Some of us have taken to writing letters to EA asking for a sequel. We want this game, and we want it bad.

    But we all know that isn't what sends a message to the folks at EA. If we want a sequel to Freedom Fighters, then go out and buy a NEW copy of the original (not used, sense those numbers aren't tracked and the money doesn't go back to EA). Buy several, give them to your friends. Tell your friends to buy copies. Money talks at EA, and if we want them to know what WE - the gamers - want to play, we have to show them with our wallets. While we can post on message boards and write letters, that only goes so far. I've bought several copies of this game (one because my first copy got damaged, others just to give away or keep as back ups), but I'm only one man - and my wallet is not bottomless.

    So, if we really want a sequel to Freedom Fighters, lets send a message to EA that we KNOW they will listen to.

  • A7Xfan

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 9:24 am PT

    Give us Freedom Fighters 2 please! The first was so excellent....Actaully heh this sounds like an indirect sequel somewhat, wish I had 360, but my friends will so this will be cool.

  • Intrakitt

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 9:03 am PT

    Who could dislike Freedom Fighters? It was so much fun...I almost didn't mind at all that there was no blood...but I mean c'mon, put blood in the sequel (if there ever is one)

  • jcloverboy

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 8:54 am PT

    freedom fighters was decent - i would love a sequel though

  • Pablo620

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 8:32 am PT

    I only got to demo freedom fighters and i enjoyed it. I would like to see a sequel, i guess if i would have bought it then maybe it wouldve happened. Oh well...

  • Son_Jazrin

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 8:03 am PT

    Full co-op eh? I wonder if they actually mean it this time for PC. Only the console system(s) had it last time.

  • juvinwo1

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 7:50 am PT

    hopefully it will be better than Hitman, to me, its not that great.

  • ghoster

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 7:45 am PT

    What a waste of an original premise. The first game was great and still had tons of room to grow. Instead of WW II Shooter Part 38 maybe someone else will copy this game and profit from it. Apparently, IO is only interested in games that have psychopaths in them.

  • Paul_TheGreat

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 7:24 am PT

    I could care less about Freedom Fighters.

  • azizrulez

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 6:12 am PT

    man i was really hoping that freedom fighters 2 would come out
    the original was an awesome game

  • paradyme777

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 6:06 am PT

    This game seems really neat, like the concept behind it and the fact that the whole game is co-op makes it even more appealing. I haven't read the full article that was in Game Informer but it's still shaping up nicely.

  • SwedeMerc

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 5:37 am PT

    I wanna wack more commies over the head with a wrench!!!

  • acasais

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 4:19 am PT

    i want to kill some commies!!!right now

  • SunnySimantov

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 4:14 am PT

    I loved fighting against those commies, co-oping with bots that followed my charisma, multi-map levels.... I wished there was more of Freedom Fighters really, but oh well I can't ask for anything. I'm happy with what I've got.

  • Fallout_red

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 3:54 am PT

    This looks sweet!!!

  • AJmon13

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 3:45 am PT

    Freedom Fighters was an awesome game...however once your base was attacked you lost everything...and you never really got to enjoy the things you had gained. Making the ending seem rather....I dunno too early?

  • Hellisunreal

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 2:55 am PT

    ohh well.....

  • ftjx

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 1:50 am PT

    Freedom fighters was a poor game. I would never buy a sequel.

  • Karjah

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 12:19 am PT

    Freedom fighters was a great game. I would deffinatly buy a sequel.

  • Pipboy360

    Posted Jul 17, 2006 11:57 pm PT

    This new game sounds like it has a great story, and good co-op, but it doesn't mean they have to completely abandon Freedom Fighters damn it. A next-gen Freedom Fighters is just what I've been craving, please IO, say it aint so

  • ChaosMasta

    Posted Jul 17, 2006 11:34 pm PT

    i loved freedom fighters 1

  • sepehrxbx1

    Posted Jul 17, 2006 11:32 pm PT

    no more hitman?

  • PLENALTYCHAMBER

    Posted Jul 17, 2006 11:02 pm PT

    this game was forshawdowed in hitman blood money in a newspaper artical

    the level "death of a showman" if you read the Gi artical it will make more sence

  • wenbin09

    Posted Jul 17, 2006 10:51 pm PT

    so what's gonna happen to Freedom fighter?

  • Vengentz

    Posted Jul 17, 2006 10:46 pm PT

    I don't care if they make FF2 for the GBA. I just want my FF2 !!! um..wait..

  • ghostadv

    Posted Jul 17, 2006 9:54 pm PT

    Please bring back Freedom Fighters

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