Long before the MCU became a thing that people talked about, hero movies were limited to mutants, mutant spiders, and men in capes. The videogame world wasn’t too different – the mid 2000s had a definite drought on decent super hero games.
Thankfully, Freedom Force from Irrational Games came along, a customizable RTS title with a destructable landscape and compelling characters. I loved everything about it, so snapped up the sequel on the day of release.
The sequel to 2002 game Freedom Force sees our heroes – lead by The Minuteman – take on the might of a time travelling Third Reich in a series of running battles across imaginative levels littered with plot twists and in-jokes.
As a real time tactical RPG, Freedom Force vs The Third Reich builds upon the success of the well-regarded original with a new gaming engine and new powers for the heroes, who are joined by new wartime comrades in arms.
If you’ve played the original, approaching combat with the forces of The Third Reich –represented by the axis powers of the German Blitzkrieg, the Italian Fortissimo and the Japanese Redsun – will require new tactics and different team selection. The original Freedom Force could easily be completed by selecting the same 4 heroes for most missions, leaving many of the weaker characters sidelined. Given the quality of the characterization across all characters – from design to voice acting – this was the game’s one disappointment.
Freedom Force vs The Third Reich doesn’t suffer similarly, thankfully, and forces the player to make very hard decisions and engage in combat in new and interesting ways as the game progresses.
Adding to the Freedom Force roster of heroes are the wartime trio of cockney Blackjack, French Tricolour and the “Rocketman”-inspired Skyking, while deathly Tombstone enters the fray in the present day.
The improved player interface and control over the real-time combat is what makes Freedom Force vs The Third Reich as special as it is. Attack options range from massive localised destruction down to simple slaps across the cheek, and these are controlled via a simple point and click interface centred onclearly marked individual character profiles in the bottom left corner of the screen. Default options are customisable, allowing you to set the most powerful attack as characters default reaction – however with Health and Energy (which determines which powers can be selected) to keep an eye on, such a tactic would be very risky indeed.
Bonuses scatter the various landscapes –from cityscape to underground lairs, ice-covered Cuban villages to insane mystical worlds –and these can be used to recruit more heroes (via the Prestige bonus) to Freedom Force, replenish low Health or Energy or even add to the hero points already earned.
These points can be used to improve your Freedom Force members’powers during the game, and make choosing the right attack a vital step in securing completion of Freedom Force vs The Third Reich.
Here’s a look at the game’s trailer, which features gameplay footage:
Similar in many ways to the MMORPG City of Heroes/Villains, Freedom Force vs The Third Reich builds on the quality of the first adventure with more of the same friendly pastiching of 1960s Marvel and DC comic books, good voice acting, excellent design and addictive gameplay.
During this game’s heyday, a huge community of insanely loyal fans existed online, producing new meshes and missions, modding tools and meeting up for multiplayer action. These can now be largely found safely archived in the Freedom Force vs The Third Reich section at ModDb.
While a bit of an underground hit (like its prequel) Freedom Force vs The Third Reich is nevertheless a superb game and complete value for money. Both Freedom Force and Freedom Force vs The Third Reich can be bought as a bundle on Steam. They’re also available on GOG.com.
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Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.
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