Freedom Force vs 3rd Reich - Preview
Brian 'Dhruin Turner, 2005-03-04

I never understood comics. Even as a child when other kids my age were eagerly discovering X-Men and arguing the strengths and weaknesses of their superhero favourites, I was lost in the worlds of Asimov and Clark, Goodkind and Feist. And so it was until Irrational released Freedom Force in 2002 - which was such as delight to play I couldn't help but reassess my old prejudice. With the brilliantly chilling System Shock 2 behind them and the legacy of Looking Glass Studios carried with several team members, Freedom Force was a sort of 90 degree turn down a completely different gaming theme - a bright, colourful, over-the-top but just plain fun to play superhero strategy game with a wealth of charm and wit.

With the release of Freedom Force vs The 3rd Reich rapidly approaching, UK publisher Digital Jesters sent us a preview DVD and I've had the chance to play several missions and experiment a little with some of the all-new multiplayer modes.

If you haven't played the original Freedom Force, it's a squad-based real-time strategy game with RPG elements and a vivid comic-book theme. At the start of each mission, players can usually select up to four superheroes from their stable to undertake the mission objectives, saving the world from the latest supervillain. The fully 3D maps are often quite large and full of detail like moving cars and pedestrians and the fully destructible environments and basic physics are great fun - throwing a car at a building to bring it crashing down just never gets old (although there are consequences - you are playing the good guys, after all). Experience points gained can be spent after each mission to improve or buy abilities and Prestige points earned allow you to recruit new superheroes to your roster.

At a glance, FFv3R is nearly indistinguishable from the original: Irrational has kept the same gameplay, along with a similar look and feel - not surprising because there wasn't much wrong with Freedom Force in the first place. Most of the original heroes return, such as Minute Man and El Diablo, along with newcomers like the deathly Tombstone and the rebellious teenager Green Genie as they undertake a new campaign filled with time travel and Nazis.

The original interface was pretty solid but Irrational has made a number of welcome tweaks such as indicating when a selected attack is out of range, highlighting attacks that the chosen enemy is particularly vulnerable to and clearer information on resistances and weaknesses. In addition, the right-click context-menu is sorted in order of increasing energy cost. There are a few minor things that could be improved - the camera isn't always ideal, I'd still like a mini-map and an order queue would be welcome but none of these issues seriously detract from the gameplay.

Of course, combat makes up the bulk of the gameplay and FFv3R delivers the goods with fast-paced action that can be paused when the going gets tough and surprising strategic depth that can pack a wallop with harder bosses or at higher difficulty levels. The subject matter lends itself superbly to diversity and Irrational has taken full advantage with varied heroes and all sorts of outlandish powers and abilities that make this a unique strategic game - where else can you incapacitate an enemy by turning them into a flower pot?

Tying these elements together is the way FFv3R is steeped in comic-book atmosphere with perfect production values from the bright, colourful graphics to the cheesy voice-overs and text that will have you groaning while you smile. Park benches are described as "Placed planks to form a position of repose", while a shrub is a "Pleasant plant, forever full of foliage" - writer (and head-honcho) Ken Levine must have exhausted every combination of alliteration that exists. Everything from the fonts to the "Kapow" and "Zap" bubbles that rise from a ruckus has been perfectly picked to extend the theme.

Graphically FFv3R looks sharp and runs very well. The bright, solid colours and simple textures hide some of the advances in the engine but the lines are cleaner and the real-time coloured lighting and effects are all improved. The physics and destructible objects are both improved, with buildings now revealing the floors inside as they collapse and so on. FFv3R is no slouch in the sound department, either, with delightful music tracks and great sound effects and audible cues.

While the single-player gameplay has been retained but polished, there is a new Rumble Room for skirmishes (with every option imaginable) and the multiplayer component has been completely thrown out and built up from scratch. There are eight new multiplayer modes - Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Arena, Team Arena, Massacre, Team Massacre, Tag and Story-based Multiplayer. Irrational has decided to retain the small squad focus, so each mode is designed for 2 - 4 players, each controlling up to 4 heroes. Special multiplayer versions of each hero are available to help maintain balance and of course, you can use your own created heroes.

Deathmatch and Arena are similar fight-to-the-death modes but Massacre and Tag are much more interesting. With Massacre, each time you knock out an opponent's hero you gain 1 point - but you lose a point each time one of your own heroes is knocked out and heroes respawn until the match is over when the timer runs down. Since there is no pausing during multiplayer, it's hectic and chaotic - but quite fun. In Tag, each player takes in a team of four heroes but only one hero fights at a time - you can "tag" in a new hero by sacrificing the current hero's Heroic Opportunity (a limited insta-heal ability).

Irrational is counting on the Story-based Multiplayer finding favour but initially it's a little underwhelming. This is essentially a simple editor that allows players to pick a map, mode (including some game modes unique to Story-based) and write some story text and a victory message to create a customised multiplayer game. Having said that, if the mod community embraces this system (and based on the success of Freedom Force, they will), Story-based Multiplayer could be very successful with custom maps and heroes creating some fantastic multiplayer campaigns.

If you liked Freedom Force, you'll love FFv3R. For everyone else, once you've tried it you might wonder why they don't make every game as much fun as this. It's bright, brash, funny and yet, surprisingly deep.

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