PDA

View Full Version : Turning The Spigot - Year 2: Week 27 - Freedom Force (series)


Spigot
12-20-2009, 07:14 PM
Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... this week's Turning The Spigot!

Freedom Force (series)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2763/4182609483_ba1651bf1c_o.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2759/4182609403_86870576af_o.png

Year: Freedom Force - 2002, FF vs. The Third Reich - 2005
Platform: PC
Rating: ZOINKS! POW! BOFFO!
# of Players: 1-4

If you are a fan of comic books, especially superhero tales from the Golden & Silver Ages of comics, Freedom Force is the series for you. As one of the few 'comic book' games to do superheroes right, Freedom Force deserves a place on the playlist of every fan of the 4-colour medium.

Freedom Force puts you in the tights and capes of a group of fictional superheroes that, while not licensed from DC or Marvel, are very evocative of both companies' main line-ups. The series has a very robust character creator that allows you to let your imagination run free when you design your own superhero. I personally like the fact that you can give your heroes faults and weaknesses that help to offset some of the incredibly powerful skills on offer in the game.

The best way to describe the gameplay of the Freedom Force games is thusly: imagine the Baldur's Gate style of pause/issue commands/unpause/repeat but rather than play through a giant world, you're playing through a series of missions. The combat unfolds in real time with most missions having multiple objectives. Every character has a slew of powers and moves that require a certain amount of energy to pull off and this renews over time.

IhwNAKvRwWA

The Freedom Force games have their tongues firmly planted in their cheeks as every cutscene, every line of dialogue and every ludicrous plot twist and origin story is dripping with a sense of importance that is far beyond the actual tone warranted. In particular, it's a delight to unlock each of the character's origins as the games progress.

Q9e0E45ipTs

You can get the Freedom Pack (http://store.steampowered.com/sub/1662/)on Steam for a whopping $7.50 right now!

Hawkzombie
12-20-2009, 08:26 PM
I love love love love this game. Love it.

MagGnome
12-20-2009, 09:09 PM
I've brought up these games several times recently. It seems many people have forgotten about them, unfortunately.

Great writeup as always, Spigot!

Spigot
12-20-2009, 10:00 PM
The write-up as it is isn't quite what I'd hoped it would be, but it's up and hopefully people will check the games out. I wanted to talk a bit more about how silly the plot is (esp. in FF vs. The Third Reich) but my brain is in vacation/shut-down mode.

Ghostbear
12-20-2009, 10:02 PM
We did an episode on the FUDcast on the first game. I was its only champion! I love this series.

Spigot
12-20-2009, 10:04 PM
We did an episode on the FUDcast on the first game. I was its only champion! I love this series.It's sad that there are so few people who really dig these games. They have a great pedigree in Irrational and it has only been recently that there have been other games that really did the superhero genre right. These (and Superhero League Of Hoboken) are about the only non-licenced, non-MMO superhero games that really do things right.

MagGnome
12-20-2009, 10:25 PM
I really need to go back and play these again. I never finished the first, and I never bought the sequel. That Steam pack is definitely going on my wishlist.

In fact, now I wish that Steam had wishlists. :eek:

Nameless
12-20-2009, 10:30 PM
Yeah, I remember playing the demo a few years back and thinking how good the first Freedom Force was. I'm definitely going to check out the Steam pack when I get back from the holidays!

Abunai
12-20-2009, 10:47 PM
Played through both of these. Man, great times. Fun AND funny.

Deadend
12-20-2009, 11:44 PM
Wow, was it really 3 years between FF and FF2? It felt like it was just a year or so.

Great games, their current successor is the campaign in Dawn of War 2, in terms of how it plays.

Also, a write-up of SWAT 4 is needed.

Ghostbear
12-21-2009, 01:02 AM
These games pull no punches however. They are hard. If you can't handle it, go play ummmm something... not awesome.

Purple Santa
12-24-2009, 04:39 PM
I know FF from the comics but a game? I am ignoring your link to the Steam page. If I haven't forced myself yet to buy Torchlight I can't buy this...yet. I'll add this to the Steam list of games I can buy next month.

Spigot
12-24-2009, 06:34 PM
But I think it's even cheaper right now on the Steam Sale!

MagGnome
12-25-2009, 10:25 AM
But I think it's even cheaper right now on the Steam Sale!

It is! The whole pack is super cheap right now. I'm tempted to pick them up again just so I have a digital copy.