8.2 /10 1 Votes
6/10 Steam Engine NetImmerse Developer Irrational Games | 4.6/5 GOG 9.3/10 IGN Initial release date 9 January 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Distributor(s) Irrational Games
Focus Home Interactive Genres Real-time tactics, Tactical role-playing game Platforms Microsoft Windows, Macintosh operating systems Publishers Electronic Arts, 2K Games, Crave Entertainment, MacPlay, Sold Out Sales & Marketing Ltd. Modes Single-player video game, Multiplayer video game Similar Irrational games, Role-playing video games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Freedom Force is a real-time tactical role-playing game developed by Irrational Games and published by Electronic Arts and Crave Entertainment in 2002. The player guides a team of superheroes as they defend Patriot City from a variety of villains, monsters, and other menaces. The game's budget was $2 million. A sequel, Freedom Force vs The 3rd Reich was self-published in early March 2005. The games were made available on Steam on May 29, 2009.
Contents
Plot
Fleeing Lord Dominion and his invading forces, Mentor headed towards Earth in a small spaceship containing many canisters of the mysterious Energy X. Lord Dominion's ships pursue Mentor and destroy his craft just outside the Earth's atmosphere; the blast scatters containers of the substance over the metropolis of Patriot City. Energy X strikes many of the city's inhabitants, giving them superpowers that echo their personality traits (for instance, Minuteman's staunch patriotism and El Diablo's fiery temper) or draw on the situation they were in when energized (e.g., The Ant or Nuclear Winter). Most of the game is set in Patriot City, but a number of other locations and time periods are used, including magical realms, prehistoric times, and realms entirely removed from time and space.
The game involves a diverse roster of characters embodying traditional comic book archetypes and paralleling popular DC and Marvel properties.
Comic book tie-in
From January to June 2005, the story of the first Freedom Force game was retold in a six-issue comic book miniseries published by Image Comics. This series was scripted by Eric Dieter and featured Jack Kirby-influenced artwork by Tom Scioli. Dieter also wrote the series "bible" and served as community manager for the official website's forum, "Freedom Fans".
Sequel
Freedom Force was followed by a sequel, Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich.
