Freedom are the protagonist faction of the State of Emergency video game duology, of which there are five playable members: Roy MacNeil (a.k.a. "Mack"), Anna Price (a.k.a. "Libra"), Hector Soldado (a.k.a. "Spanky"), Ricky Thang (a.k.a. "Phreak"), and Edward Raymonds (a.k.a. "The Bull").
They were voiced by Tom Silverman (Mack), Jean Grae (Libra), D. Stroy (Spanky), Morgan Phillips (Phreak), and Fatman Scoop (Bull).
In State of Emergency 2, Mack and Phreak were voiced by Mike Vaughn, while Libra was voiced by Lani Minella.
History
Origin
In 2023, the government was weakened by an economic crisis, so the American Trade Organization (commonly known as the "Corporation") responded by building a paramilitaristic force and overthrowing the government. In doing this, the Corporation took over the United States and established a corporatised totalitarian police state. In 2035, an underground resistance named "Freedom" began a campaign of resistance and soon sparked a national riot. The Corporation declares a state of emergency, and the game begins, taking place in Capital City. Players join Freedom in an attempt to overthrow the Corporation, while taking the role as one of five characters, who each have their own unique backgrounds.
State of Emergency
The player first goes to Capital City Mall, either as Mack or Libra, and destroys all of the stores and businesses there that are owned by the Corporation. While doing this dirty work, Mack/Libra fights back against the Corporation's thugs that get in his/her way, but must also make an effort to minimise civilian casualties.
A news report is then made on the destruction of the shops in the shopping centre at the hands of Freedom, and Spanky is unlocked. The player then goes to Chinatown, and unloads even more destruction against the Corporation's businesses and infrastructure, all while causing even further Corporation brutalities.
Once the Corporation is further crippled by the player's actions, another news report is made on Freedom's violent actions against the Corporation's corrupt people. Phreak is then unlocked as a playable character, and the player heads down to the East Side district to unleash more hell.
Whilst there, the player eventually gets a rocket launcher and blows up the Corporation's headquarters and laboratory. Another live news report is made from a chopper, the Bull is unlocked as the final playable character, and the player is taken to Corporation Central.
Gradually but surely, the player fights through the Corporation's thugs and blows up their central operations buildings with a rocket launcher. When the live news report is made on it however, Phreak hacks into its communications and makes an announcement to the world, explaining that the revolution will drive the Corporation into the ground, and asks more people to join the cause.
It is also revealed at the end of the level that the top brass at Washington, D.C. have specifically requested the help of Freedom to eliminate the rest of the Corporation.
State of Emergency 2
In 2039, exactly four years after the first game, Libra is seen in a slum of Capitol City, quietly infiltrating one of the Corporation's buildings for prison blueprints, with Phreak tracking and guiding her using his computer and an earpiece from an unknown location. However, she is detected, ambushed, knocked out, and kidnapped by Corporation operatives. Shortly afterwards, Mack is revealed to be on death row for numerous crimes, as Freedom has been framed as a terrorist group.
Mack's public execution is to be filmed live and in front of an audience, but when he is restrained in a confined glass chamber, Phreak hacks into the comms and talks to Mack through the tannoy in the chamber; Mack's chair secretly has an uzi and gasmask under it. When the deadly green gas comes into the chamber to kill Mack, Phreak remotely disables Mack's restraints and allows him to equip the uzi and gasmask.
Since the deadly gas is green, nobody sees Mack escape the chair. Mack shoots his way through the prison and frees all the Freedom prisoners, including Bull. Before the escape, a dying prisoner tells Mack that he should tell Libra about stopping Empyreon. Later that night, Phreak contacts Spanky to warn him about Corporation enforcers that are on their way to his home to kill him. Spanky mounts his machine gun and mows them down with ease.
Phreak tells Spanky about the enforcers' new drug trade in the hood, so Spanky tells the leader of the Killaz (a street gang who deal in the area) of the new rival business. Spanky and some Killaz beat and interrogate an enemy street thug over the matter, to which he tells Spanky that they're making a new drug called Empyreon, in the basement of the abandoned police station.
As dawn arises, Spanky and the leader of the Killaz fight their way through the abandoned police station, before blowing up its basement. Empyreon's production seemingly finished, the Killa parts ways with Spanky. Phreak then tells Spanky to go to the docks to meet Mack and Bull; when Spanky arrives there, Mack crashes the helicopter they'd stolen from the prison. Mack and Bull survive, but are tailed by Corporation thugs.
Spanky saves them, and after a brief reunion, they all find a large container of Empyreon. They then see that one of the thugs is still alive, so they interrogate him about what Empyreon is. He reveals that the Corporation sells Empyreon to other governments for population control; they force people who pose a threat to the Corporation to take Empyreon, which is a fatal narcotic. He then insults Spanky, who then beats him nearly to death.
When their prisoner allies appear with a tank, Spanky bails. Mack and Bull commandeer the tank and use it to blow up shipments of Empyreon. They are both then forced to ditch the tank and press on further into town on-foot. Phreak tells them that Spanky will regroup with them at the border crossing, and so Mack and Bull hijack another tank to plow through the Corporation.
Members
| Image | Alias | Quote | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Mack | Take 'em down! | MacNeil was a cop for fifteen years before he was fired from the force for refusing to open fire on a group of rioters looting a grocery store owned by the Corporation. A highly respected and high-ranking officer, MacNeil's dismissal resulted in a city-wide strike of protest by his fellow officers. The Corporation retaliated by replacing the entire force with their own security firm. MacNeil and his fellow officers continued to protest, eventually uncovering evidence that the Corporation was funding organised crime outfits to harass non-Corporation businesses. When the ex-officers attempted to air their findings, key members were assassinated, prompting MacNeil to go into hiding. He has since been instrumental in organising the underground revolutionary group, Freedom. |
|
Libra | Wanna PLAY? | Anna was an up-and-coming criminal attorney who once believed in the Corporation's model of rebuilding America, until she was blackmailed by the security forces to falsify evidence against political prisoners. When Anna refused to railroad her clients, and threatened to expose the Corporation, she paid a horrible price. A bomb was planted in her car by some of the Corporation's thugs. Although she survived the blast, the explosion killed her husband and daughter. Believed to be officially dead, Anna has now hooked up with Freedom, seeking revenge on the fascist state. |
|
Spanky | ¡Andale! | Spanky remembers the way his neighbourhood used to be. Although it wasn't always the nicest place to live, it now seems like paradise compared to the veritable war zone that it has become. Overrun by state-sponsored death squads and gangs, the Corporation has launched a war of attrition against the forgotten people of Spanky's neighbourhood. Once a hardened gang member, this charismatic figure has now turned his efforts to organising his community into an armed resistance against the Corporation. |
|
Phreak | Let's do it! | Ricky was orphaned in high school when his parents were arrested as political dissidents, and were never seen again. Ricky went into hiding with other runaways before he was recruited by agents of Freedom. As Ricky's father used to run a PC repair shop, he has been using computers since he was a child, and has become a prolific hacker and "phone phreak". He is personally responsible for several attacks against the Corporation's infrastructure, which first attracted Freedom to put the hacker to good use. |
|
Bull | You want it?! Come on! | The Bull graduated from Mesa High and joined the armed forces before the Corporation took over. He was discovered by a sports agent while playing for the army's football team, and was recruited to play professionally. The Bull enjoyed a legendary career, until the Corporation had purchased the professional football league. When he refused to participate in Corporation-sponsored match fixing, he was framed for illegal drug-use, and served five years in prison. With his future bleak and reputation destroyed, the Bull was ready to go take out as many of the men responsible as he could. The Bull now uses his experience to train new recruits to Freedom and lead organised attacks against the Corporation. |
Gallery
Trivia
- Spanky is on both games' front covers.
- Spanky is thinner in SoE 2 compared to SoE.
- Mack's voice is deep in SoE, but is higher in SoE 2.
- Libra's backstory is similar to that of Nikki Connors from Rogue Ops.