Freedom Force

I've played they game many times since 2002. The story is stock but the scope of the game is unmatched in my humble opinion. Yes it would be wonderful if someone bought the rights and developed a 2020 version, I think it would sell very well considering the MMO's are drying up in this genre. Anyway I digress, the key feature for me is the vast array of start up options, and after a single run through you can import custom characters from marvel or dc. The game allows for so many superhero mashups that it should cover everyone's tastes. Yes it is outdated in graphics but who cares.... Ace game!

The game pays homage to the silver age of superhero comics. The art style and story writing are made to reflect on this. Despite being a game made in 2002, the graphics didn't really wane out and is still appealing to this day (which is funny because this is a 3d game mind you) When playing the game, it feels just like reading a comic series with several issues and each connected to one another but the only difference is you have granular control on who the teams are and how they will engage in battle. How granular? You can hop and destroy buildings, throw cars, boulders and stuff, recruit heroes and choose which heroes goes into missions. Clearly it is a game ahead of its time and it even won the strategy game of the year and other awards. So if you want a super hero game that has the atmosphere of the silver age of comics, this is a must buy for you. Don't get discourage just because this game is from 2002 because I tell you, you are missing alot of fun on this. By the way, this game is made by Irrational games, which developed Bioshock.

I probably put my expectations a little bit too high and also misplaced it a bit. I thought the game would be more in the direction of a high paced action-RPG, but it turned out to be more of a tactical-RPG. There is nothing wrong with that if the game actually went full blown efficient on it, but instead the game feels oddly incomplete in that genre. First and foremost, the AI is almost non-existent on your own team which seems quite odd as the game feels like a superhero version of games like Baldur's Gate where you also have to pause and make plans. However, in Freedom Force your team doesn't react to any attacks, tends to ignore orders, and leaves you in awkward positions if you split the team as their is no map to quickly move back and forth between heroes. Even so, the story is funny with some nice over-the-top voice acting, though the plot itself feels at times a bit inconsistent. I understand it is meant to feel like you are reading volume of superhero comic books, but I just wished the story had more coherence with an interesting climax. So a pretty average experience. :)

too bad for some bugs, but I think this is a awesome tactical game, and a fantastic obeisance before the classic comic books! FOR FREEDOM!!!

Back in the 1980s and 90s, superhero games on the PC were okay at best. Many, if not all, paled in comparison to their faster, more exciting counterparts on home gaming consoles. Whatever superhero action PC games could do, the console ones just seemed to do better. But in 2002, things changed with the arrival of ‘Freedom Force’. There’s one genre that PC can do way better than home consoles: real-time strategy. With ‘FF’ being a real-time tactical RPG, PC gamers finally have a superhero game to call their own. Thankfully, it’s also a very good one that’s mod-friendly. What makes ‘FF’ stand out from other superhero games, even at the time of this review, is that its artistic design is inspired by the Silver Age of Comic Books. The art is reminiscent of those by Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and John Romita Sr.; the colourful narration and dialogues are like those written by Stan Lee. Even the voice acting is done in the style of that found in the 1960s ‘Spider-Man’ cartoon. While I am not a big fan of, and am not really good at, RTS/tactical games, I still found ‘FF’ accessible and easy to learn. The story has a nice, charming 1960s flavour, with more emotion in it than expected. While it’s clear that the game’s characters were inspired by popular ones in the Marvel and DC repertoires, they still have their own personalities. What makes ‘FF’ even more special is that you get to control a team of superheroes, not just a single member. With this game being so mod-friendly, you can even create and import your own heroes. It’s still easy to find meshes and skins of custom-made Marvel and DC characters, and play as them in ‘FF’. This is as close to a properly-made ‘X-Men’ game as you can get right now. ‘FF’ is an easy game to recommend to fans of real-time strategy games, and to comic book fans who are interested in superhero games outside of the third-person action genre. At its current low price (even when it’s not on sale), ‘FF’ is a game that’s hard to pass up.