Køb Freedom Force: Freedom Pack

The game itself is great. I had a nice time with it...when it worked.

Unfotunately this game freezes so often on newer machines that it is impossible to have fun with it,

If you are able by some miraculous turn of events to run Steam on Win98 then this game is definitely worth a try.

This game was charming and fun back in the "old days" but the Steam version didn't recieve any love or publsher updates to fix problems caused by more modern computer systems. If you've still got an older WinXP or Win98 machine, you're probably fine, but gameplay problems can creep in that render the game frustrating to play on newer systems.

This game needs a remake!

Firstly, I'd just lke to say that I bought Freedom Force (FF) at full retail years ago, and I've only just bought it on Steam due to ease of use. Don't let my 'time playing' mislead you as to my level of experience with this game.

Secondly, I am a massive turn-based tactical (TBT) nut. I love TBT games. A game in which intelligence rather than reflex speed rewards the player is my idea of heaven. I'm an older gamer, and despite plenty of time in Doom (and sequels), Duke Nukem 3D, Borderlands, ARMA, BF2 etc., I find my reflexes just can't keep up with the young'uns any more.

And so this brings us to Freedom Force, a realtime-with-pause superhero game that pays shameless homage to the pulpy artwork and storylines of Jack Kirby, the single most important figure in Golden Age comics (sorry, Stan Lee).

While not a TBT game per se, Freedom Force has the same structure of rewarding mind over muscle. The game starts slowly enough, with a single brawler-type character called The Patriot- an analogue of Captain America- and soon expands to incorporate other hero and heroine archetypes. Gaining experience gives you resources that allow you to add new characters from a bank of heroes that you encounter along the way.

One of the primary points of difference is the ability to also use these resources to recruit a custom character. I've played a couple of superhero-themed MMO's and the area in which they all fall flat is character creation. Where they offer 'archetypes' that require your superhero to conform to a template, Freedom Force gives you complete leeway to create any kind of superhero you want. The only limitation is that the more powerful you make your custom character, the longer it will take to obtain the resources you need to field that character.

Now, I'm not exaggerating when I say 'complete leeway'. Want a flying character who drains enemy special powers in a brilliant purple beam then fires them back in a green fireball that does AoE and DoT damage? Done. Want a 'Hulk' style character who throws cars around and absorbs enemy attacks to get stronger? Easy peasy. Want a male toon that seduces enemies into leaving cover using blown kisses, a la a cross-dressing Bugs Bunny, so that your compatriots can smash them flat? Well, it's not very fifties, but I'm sure it's possible.

In playing Freedom Force, you will encounter all kinds of classic 1950's enemies, from evil, Communist ice-villains and giant radioactive ants to self-duplicating cloners. This is where the incredibly deep customisation system comes into play. Every defence has a counter. Every counter has a counter-counter. It's a lot like the Cold War in that respect.

But all that aside, Freedom Force looks and plays brilliantly for a twelve-year-old game. With a fiendish, but not ridiculous difficulty level, amazingly deep customisation, cerebral gameplay and a perfect Kirby aesthetic, Freedom Force is likely the most underrated game ever released.

PROS:
-Deepest customisation ever seen in the superhero genre
-Great storyline
-Loving homage to Golden-Age comics

CONS:
-Graphics are soooo last-generation.
-Takes ages to get stupidly overpowered custom characters into the game.

NEEDS:
-A reboot, with better graphics, possibly set in the Silver Age of comics (1970's-1980's) incorporating new threats and themes. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

WILL APPEAL TO:
-Golden Age comics fans
-Superhero fans who really want to create their 'perfect hero'
-People tired of superhero MMO's but still looking for caped action
-People looking for an tactical game with more flexibility than traditional TBT

The game itself is fun, when it works. Don't spend much on this game because it is so full of bugs that I can only play it about 20% of the time I try to. Right now, I have the same old problem many others do - the icon stays as a fist and doesn't allow me to move or anything unless I right click. Then, after doing so, my character just runs off the map. I have tried every fix I've found on the internet but to no avail.

Crashes when loading the first mission in W10x64 Technical Preview, and probably in W8.1x64, W8x64 and W7x64. Steam really needs to add custom selectable filters for OS, so that older games that only work in W95, W98, W2K, ME and XP do not show up in the store.

Very comic-book from the 60s feels.

I love this game. The game is really old so people don't know about it but it has a huge library of custom content. you can basically put any hero you want into the game if you probe the internet for content. This game is a must have game as its pretty unquie. The ability to make your own hero goes far beyond any hero editor on the market today. the story line is very enteraining as well.

7/10
This is a classic comic book game.
It's a classic game about comic books.
It's a game about classic comic books.
If you remember the classic days when comics were cheesy and entertaining. If you ever saw the old 4-colour editions of Marvel or weird tales, then you know what to expect here. The game controls are a little clunky, but you soon forget that as you get lost in the narrative complete with Golden Age staples like the patriotism and clear dividing lines between good and evil, right and wrong. The ability to create you own hero is great, it also provides a deal of complexity and possiblilities that outstrip any modern game. The only thing I've seen that tops it is "Marvel Super Heroes- the Role Playing Game" but that was paper and dice, so it doesn't count.

I must have played over 400 hours of this game heck maybe even more, I rebought it here on steam as my old disk became unable to load after 15 years of dragging it in and out of the CD rom.. It is a wonderful delight for any old comic book fan. the characters are campy like the old batman/superman tv shows. The stories are fun, the characters are a hoot, like the fun loving sea eurchant, to the speedy sounthern boy bullet, Or the master of mind control mentor. It has massive replayablity with leveling different characters, (i think there are 15+ and You could play through the game 10 times and still have more characters to try, and character combo's to use as using characters and getting XP canisters to level up, really makes them shine. So who you bring on each mission, and which ones you give canisters to, can really change the whole feel of the game.

I will say, the interface and game play takes a lot to get used to, if you aren't familiar with the older GUI's from the 90's, but once you figure out how the hits work, and AOE powers and such, it really is fantastic. Just play the game in win98 Compatiibitly and run as an Admin and you will have no issues. I have very rarely hit a bug, and typically when they happen, just restart the mission and you should not see it again. Just remember to make a save after or before each mission just incase, as the auto-saves are not very often.

One of my favorite games ever made, while FFII, was good, it just is not as good as the first. It is to bad that Irrational never made a third.. maybe one day, but till then try it.. It is "Antastic!"

This is a bit old and the controls will sometimes be frustrating if you expect a very polished game. On the other hand, Freedom Force will appeal to the comic book fan in you, with a cheesy superhero story and many heroes met along the way.

All characters have a different set of powers: some stick to walls, some can fly and some can pick up heavy objects. Plus, the buildings can be destroyed.

It's an old flawed game, yet controlling a team of superheroes is as fun as I remember it to be in this game that hasn't been totally replicated (except for its sequel of course).

The developer made System Shock 2 and would go on to make BioShock.

If you like squad based RTS gameplay you should love this game. If you also enjoy classic super-hero storytelling and to fool around with the might of superheroes then why aren't you playing this game instead of reading this recommendation?

FF is a game that the creators obviously put a lot of love into and it shows here and in the sequel. If you have any interest in the genre and/or subject matter then you'd be remiss not playing this game sometime before you stop playing games altogether.

Whimsical is probably the best game which can be used to describe this game. Set in an alternative history where random individuals were given super powers, they decide to become super heroes and villains, and the sort of stories we normally see in comic books are what results. You control a squad of these do-gooders over the course of the campaign, and level them up how you see fit through all sorts of random adventures. Combat is real-time, albeit with pause. I only played through the single player (I presume the pause is not present in multiplayer), but the controls basically feel like a very early form of what is now considered the norm in MMOs.

All in all, it's a fair bit of fun. It's old, and so comes with the general baggage one would expect, but it's an excellent example of gaming from the time and can still be fun to boot up.

Lots of issues with Windows 7. Not sold in a playable state. Too bad because it's a fun game.

Heads up! While this game looks like fun, there is a bug in the game that makes the game unplayable on Vista and Windows 7. If you have one of those operating systems, DO NOT buy this game. The sequel does not have this problem (and you won't be missing much if you skip this version and go onto the next one).

Verdict: PASS

Pass this version up and get the sequel instead. So much better.

A game inspired by Jack Kirby that's so fun you'll forget that he was screwed out of millions by Marvel! Excelsior true believers!

Growing up, I always wanted this game. It looked super interesting and tons of fun for what it was. I finally picked it up today and... it is unplayable. When I give commands, Minute Man does not follow them. He runs around where ever he pleases. That was very frustrating. I somehow got through the first level by left clicking and I selected an option with the right click (i.e. I should just have to right click then left click but I had to right click then left click the option I wanted then left click again once Minute Man started moving.) But I can't start the second mission. I'm so confused. I do not know if there is a problem I need to fix in my settings or if this is truly unplayable as it is. I wish steam support wasn't down so I could figure this all out. It's very upsetting. I'm extremely disappointed.

A superior comic book game that steals only the best from Stan Lee. Funny, original and even a bit tragic at times.

A mixture of old school real-time with pause RPG like Baldur's Gate and and tactics game. This is one challenging game and the beginning can feel very frustrating, but things start looking up once you start rolling with a full team. The game's setting and art direction is deeply rooted in Silver Age super hero comic books.

+ So much fun! Hilarious, addictive and fairly challenging on higher difficulty. Fully destructible cities. Also pretty long. Good replayability with loads of characters to level up, skill sets and a comprehensive create-a-character.

- It's a bit buggy, save often. The sandbox element is at once it's greatest strength and most annoying weakness - throwing cars and punting guys with telephone poles never gets old but most of your heroes don't take kindly to the same treatment. You really need to watch all of them all the time.

Just try not to rage at the flying policemen... ("I am above the law!")

Classic. Just classic. I normally don't enjoy strategy games of this sort, but the awesome comic feel and the gradually expanding (yet yes, very cheesy) story makes the cool combat that much better. Home to a ton of mods and custom characters, if you can get into Freedom Force, you REALLY get into Freedom Force.