Review GameSpy gushes over Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich

[Spazmo]

Tags: Freedom Force versus the Third Reich; Irrational Games

<a href=http://www.gamespy.com>GameSpy</a>'s <a href=http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/freedom-force-vs-the-third-reich/595379p1.html>review</a> of Irrational's Freedom Force vs the Third Reich, the Nazi stompin' superhero RPG, is up. They rate it <b>4.5 out of 5</b>.<blockquote>While good writing, art design, and presentation are no substitute for solid gameplay fundamentals, if you take a good game and wrap it in an appealing package, the entire game ends up becoming much more than the sum of its parts. Irrational Games clearly understands this concept, because Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich, the sequel to 2002's Freedom Force, is a classic example of it. What do you get when you take really solid squad-based real-time tactical gameplay and wrap it in a well-written, well-designed send-up of Silver Age comic books? You get an incredibly fun title that's a joy to play.</blockquote>Yeah, good presentation really is key to making a game fun, easily moreso than having the flashiest graphics. Another thing that helps is that FFvtTR is about as bug-free as it gets. When a self-funded independent developer can test its own game this well, it puts the quality control at bigger companies to shame.
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.bluesnews.com">Blue's News</A>

 

[Aaron Contreras]

I've run into quite a few bugs. One or two crashes to desktop - no big deal. More annoying is this weird state the game gets in where certain doors don't become active, forcing you to restart the mission.

 

[StraitLacedDeviant]

you need to equip the ring.

 

[Claw]

You control up to four different superheroes in a fully 3D world viewed from an isometric perspective.

That made me laugh. I thought it was established that "3D isometric" was a misconception only employed by backwards Fallout fanatics. :wink:

 

[dipdipdip]

I've run into quite a few bugs. One or two crashes to desktop - no big deal. More annoying is this weird state the game gets in where certain doors don't become active, forcing you to restart the mission.

You might want to make sure you've got all your drivers and such up to date. I've not had a single problem with the game so far.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

No problems whatsoever here as well. Wonderfully stable game.

 

[Sol Invictus]

No problems here either. Received the game a day ago, but I'm too busy playing Jets n' Guns and Star Wolves to really get into it.

 

[taks]

usually CTDs are a result of a conflict in your system... well, unless you're playing the original U9. then it's just a conflict between the software and ANY hardware it runs on... but i digress.

i played the demo and was impressed with the "presentation" as it were, but thoroughly unimpressed with the controls. maybe the 15 minutes the demo lasted wasn't enough to get used to it? also, are there PC choices for dialog and other standard roleplaying options in the full game? it was nice, my son loved the cartoonish graphics (he was on my lap at the time, probably didn't help with the controls ) and i'm looking for something better than the crap on my drive at the moment (mostly old school stuff).

taks

 

[Spazmo]

No, don't kid yourself about this game. It has zero roleplaying. Yes, there's a fairly deep character system and your heroes do gain levels, but there's no dialog choices and no plot branches (unless the game over screen counts as an alternative ending). Any replay value will mostly come from taking different heroes on a given mission to try out different tactics.

 

[Barghest]

Is the game as short as the original?

 

[Spazmo]

It's a bit on the brief side, I'd say.

 

[Naked_Lunch]

It still kicks ass, though. I'd rather have it short and full of fucking awesomeness rather than it run out of steam trying to pump another 5 or so hours into it.

 

[space captain]

I felt it ran out of steam early on.. Maybe its just me but I dont find the combat very strategic, or tactical - except when you fight the boss guys

for me it just got old really really fast... of course, when I was a kid I collected manga instead of marvel - I was never a fan of the american stuff

I would think that people who didnt collect comics at all or have any interest in superhero stuff wont find this game very appealing. The gameplay and the raw mechanics are just... blah .. for some reason

 

[Stark]

I felt it ran out of steam early on.. Maybe its just me but I dont find the combat very strategic, or tactical - except when you fight the boss guys

for me it just got old really really fast... of course, when I was a kid I collected manga instead of marvel - I was never a fan of the american stuff

I would think that people who didnt collect comics at all or have any interest in superhero stuff wont find this game very appealing. The gameplay and the raw mechanics are just... blah .. for some reason

that's what i thought too. i never got into the first one (despite all the favourable reviews everywhere) and second one is more of the same, so... meh for me.

the campy 60's feel (or was it 50's?) was cool for awhile, but it loses appeal to me quickly.

 

[taks]

sounds more like an action game than an action-rpg. of course, diablo 1 only provided character advancement (no real dialog options, either) and it's called action-rpg.

oh well. that might be enough for me to pass. i want more role-playing and kotor just isn't doing it for me.

taks

 

[dipdipdip]

Yeah, you might as well. This game will only disappoint if that's the case.

 

[Sol Invictus]

It's not an RPG in any way. Where is the phat loot?

 

[space captain]

Another thing thats weird is that you can save your prestige points and make a custom character that takes like 40,000 points - and he will whip all kinds of ass and pretty much blow through everything in the game

 

[Lady Armageddona]

But you will probably won't get him untill the last level (even that, if the Prestige Points are gained in the same fashion as the previous game, and they probably are)
Are all of the heroes from the original playable again? In the previos game I loved to kick ass with Minute Man, Liberty Lad (or whatever his name was) and Alche-Mis. And Bullet, too.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Yeah all of the heroes from the original game are in FFVTTR.

 

[dipdipdip]

Although people over at the Irrational message boards are endlessly complaining over Irrational's not being able to acquire the same va for Alchemiss (even though I think the new one puts in one of the stronger performances in the game).

 

[Sol Invictus]

The new one's much better, I agree.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

Got my agreement there as well.

 

[space captain]

not the last level, you get that many points before you are halfway through the game

its exactly what I did, so I should know... its fairly easy to design an unstoppable hero with that many points

so just keep saving your prestige

 

[Kuato]

I like what Irrational has done with the comic book genre in a video game

I mean just look at this colossal brain fart of a game Marvel VS EA yes you can vommit now, I am just going to call it the Brain fart heard from around the world for now.
yes Madden VS Spiderman
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/marv ... 20397.html