"Freedom or Bust!"

Superhero games of all types have often disappointed the die-hard fans (or merely fans for that matter). Many attempts at greatness come to mind and the latest offering from Irrational Games tries to become the definitive Superhero game on your PC. So is Freedom Force a feeble attempt at the often disappointing genre or a true masterpiece?

The premise of the game is simple enough: Evil alien (Lord Dominion in this case) wants to attack earth but instead of invading, he decides that seeing it destroyed at the hands of its inhabitants would be more evil. Lord Dominion attempts to realize his plan by infusing the evildoers of Earth with Energy-X (an alien mutagen) thereby giving them extraordinary powers. Mentor, one of Lord Dominion’s righteous subjects, overhears the plans and decides to steal the transport of Energy-X in hope to recruit some good people to defend the Earth. However, Mentor is shot down shortly after he trek and Energy-X is rained down all over the Earth, creating both Superheroes and Super villains.

Presentation: 9/10

What strikes the player immediately is the 60’s Silver Age comic style that is predominant throughout the game. Each hero or villain you encounter is backed with his or her own story and origin. The origins of the heroes/villains are so entrenched in the cliché that’s Silver Age comics; it’s to the point of hilarity. All the while the action is narrated during the story sequences by a thick-voiced narrator (you almost expect to hear, “Same Bat-Time! Same Bat-Channel!”) However, it’s also precisely this trait that makes the game work so well – it doesn’t take itself seriously or tries to be something it’s not.

The interface is slick and menus are easily accessed. The style of Silver Age comics is even apparent in the voices of each of the characters (and there are a LOT that you can choose from). Everything is where you need it, when you need it. This is especially important during combat, as it can get pretty hectic. All necessary information is readily displayed (health, energy to perform your specials, character portraits, etc) and you have complete control over your character’s actions via a right-click menu, which even lets you tweak the strength of their attacks without leaving the menu (for the attacks that apply of course). Each special move, character, object is displayed with a statistics bar that shows it’s vulnerabilities, attributes, and strengths. All this information is necessary for you to complete your tasks efficiently, and Irrational Games presents it perfectly.

However, the game is limited in a few standards that have been available in other games of the same genre. During combat, you will find that group selection and individual commands are a bit more difficult to execute. The interface doesn’t let you dictate the order of which your heroes carry out tasks. This lends to a redundancy in control and loses some of the streamlined effect. Another lacking feature is the ability to form groups, which limits your strategic creativity.

Story: 8/10

Again, the 60’s style is the undercurrent in this game. The colorful narrative lends to the atmosphere of the story. Each character/villain is introduced to further the story and creating an overall rewarding experience. However, the game sometimes plays on too much of the clichés. You are often faced with new villains that seem to have no real bearing on the main story but are thrown in just so you can have new characters or time to build your characters (similar to the ‘villain of today’s show’ in those old 60’s shows). These ‘extra’ sequences tend to distract the player from the main focus of the story. But Irrational Games has penned one great story line that plays out like any of the great old school comics. But a word of caution, if the look and attitude of the whole 60’s era comics turns you off, you are going to have a hard time immersing yourself in the plot.

Gameplay: 9.5/10

But this is a tactical squad action game after all, so naturally the real focus is on your squad. Thankfully, Irrational Games handled the balance and creativity of the characters very well. Each hero has his or her own special skills and characteristics that lend to a refreshing variety in the overall game play. These heroes are rated on a scale of 1-10 on their a set of traits based on their own origins. These five basic attributes are: Strength, Speed, Agility, Endurance, and Energy. These basic attributes are static and remain constant after the character has been created. There are also a total 58 different attribute that you may include in your characters profile and potential growth. As you complete missions, you will be give points which you can use towards leveling up your characters and purchasing the attributes that you had previously selected.

Missions begin usually at your base and are introduced with an in game rendered cut-scene. After your briefing, you are able to select your squad of heroes for the particular mission. Your complement of heroes is the standard number of 4, however, there are often times where specific heroes are unavailable, while other times you are forced to bring a few specific heroes. Missions are fairly standard in terms of setup if you’ve ever played any tactical squad strategy games. There are your primary objectives that you must complete in order to advance and there are your secondary objectives that you may choose to complete (and these are sometimes found during the unfolding of the story via in-game cut-scenes). However, the more objective you complete efficiently will earn you more Prestige Points. These points are used to purchase other heroes you’ve met for use during the game or to purchase custom heroes that you may have created. But a balance feature is smartly in place where if you allow the baddies to do too much damage, you might lose Prestige Points instead.

Combat is done in real-time but you do have an option to pause the action and issue commands at your own pace. Your heroes are complemented with many skills with which you can use to vanquish the enemy. Each of these powers requires energy to perform, some ranging to none (down side being usually weak) to extraordinary amounts (but extremely powerful). These are all accessed via the right-click menu and can be issued on objects or enemies. You can immediately tell that Irrational Games put a whole lot of emphasis on gameplay. Everything in the city can be destroyed. Poles can be picked up, cars tossed, telephone booths thrown, trees broken, and buildings demolished (Ah, the buildings…how I love mass destruction!). But their destruction affects your mission success rating and the points that you will receive at the end.

The strategic element is highly evident during your missions. Even without the availability to group your heroes for better control, the diverse amount of powers of your different heroes are enough to keep you thinking. Your choices go well beyond brains or brawn, and you are more than often presented with many different ways of dealing with the enemies. Don’t be fooled by the witty-60’s look of the game, it is at its heart a tactical squad strategy game and Irrational Games pulled it off with flying colors.

Graphics: 8/10

The graphic of Freedom Force is not what you would call cutting edge. But it gets the job done very well. The 60’s theme is created with great realism and detail. Inhabitants wear the right clothing, streets and buildings looks like they were taken straight out of the comic pages. Each of your heroes is detailed and articulate in their own way. Powers are pulled off brilliantly and appropriate flash is applied to enhance the effects. Cut-scenes are all handled in game and although done very well, there are still instances of where character meshes are blended and polygons missing. The overall attention to detail in the game can be seen when you zoom right in during gameplay. The environment looks just as crisp ground level as it does from the tops of buildings.

The system requirements are not that high, and the level of detail can be adjusted relatively easily to suit each individual system. However, with each different machine, the smoothness of the game also differs. If you are running a mid-level machine, you can get away with turning most effects on and still get excellent frame-rates. But it isn’t recommended to run headlong into the fray while the camera is zoomed to ground level, unless you are running some pretty decent hardware. The graphics are handled very tastefully and will satisfy most gamers.

Sound: 7.5/10

The sound effects goes hand in hand with the mood of the game. Appropriate effects are played without hitch during gameplay. Almost everything makes the right sound, your lamppost hits the bad guy and a CLANG-SMACK is heard. If you threw a phone booth into an enemy, the sound of twisted metal and breaking glass is heard upon impact. One very tasteful touch is the addition of sound bubbles when a particular action is done. For example, if your hero shoots a stream of fire at an enemy, you would see an action bubble with FWOOSH written on it appear over the point of impact. Although this isn’t exactly sound, it’s still adds to the overall effect.

Voice acting is done very well also. Each character has his/her own voice and suits their origins well. Your Minuteman character is your All-American hero and his voice reflects that of a 60’s G.I. Joe. While your Russian villains speaks with appropriate, believable accents. However, the battle cries of your characters during battle can get annoying after a few missions (no matter how cool, “For Freedom!” gets old after the 10th time you hear it during the same mission!).

While the sound effects are done wonderfully, and the voice acting is admirable, the score to the game often gets repetitive quickly. The same themes are often recycled and played over and over. It’s nice the first few times you hear it but it eventually gets annoying. There are even levels where there are no background music at all (which is a relief at times!).

Overall, the sound does its job in adding to the atmosphere of the story. Helping to create a believable mood to the whole Silver Age.

Replay Value: 6/10

This seems to the biggest flaw in Freedom Force. While the character creation part of the game is one of the coolest features, there isn’t really a feasible arena to use your creations. You are able to import custom skins (and there are tons of high quality ones!) but you are limited to the in game powers and their effects (sorry, no shooting of spider webs here!). And even with all these options and the ability to use your custom heroes in the story mode, you are going to find it difficult to go back often to redo the missions just to see your creations in action.

Multiplayer is handled via a Gamespy solution. This is basically a death match arena where you set the amount of prestige points allowed and you pick your squad accordingly and duke it out with other players. Although this is fun with a LAN party or a group of friends on-line, it also gets old quickly. It would have been nice to see some more multiplayer modes or even a co-op mission mode (similar to that of Neverwinter Nights). Perhaps in the expansion packs that are sure to come? Your average gamer will play this through once and touch a bit on on-line play, and that’s about it. But don’t get me wrong; the single player campaign is well worth it!

Overall: 8/10 (Not an Average)

Irrational Games has successfully created a truly worthy superhero game here. The play is excellent, story well written and full of wit, and graphics and sound really tight. There are a few things that could have been improved on but this is a definitely great buy for all you gamers waiting for that awesome superhero game. But again, be warned that if you can’t stomach the Silver Age of comics and the whole 60’s theme, in which case you might want to rent this first just to try it out. However, if you’ve grown up on these type of comics and simply love the nostalgic feeling, then get yours today!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/25/02, Updated 07/25/02