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Derek dela Fuente
24/02/2004
TVG chats to Irrational Games to get the lowdown on the return of Minuteman...
Freedom Force released near the end of 2002, through EA, was a successful and interesting title based around superheroes, which appears to be a theme that is rolling into 2004. The sequel, Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich, will be Irrational Gamesâ first foray into the publishing arena via a series of partners worldwide, which could further enhance their reputation and will continue the process of what looks like an excellent brand in Freedom Force. Derek dela Fuente spoke with Bill Gardner from the company to find out more about what to expect. With superb technology behind the game, including the excellent Gamebryo engine, confidence is high!
The vision for Freedom Force was a flashback to the Silver Age of comic books in which players can form, train, and lead their very own Freedom Force - a collection of original comic heroes. Instead of reading about the experience you can become part of it! The popularity of a recent superhero movie has sparked a nostalgia boom and what could be better than to have your own collection of heroes! Irrational Games, with all these ideas in mind, created Freedom Force and continue on in the sequel by bringing back the heroes from the original game in one form or another, each having expanded and improved powers as well as some new ones.
The setting for the game, as you will note from the title, is World War II with Minuteman, Alchemiss and the rest of the gang, so you probably wonât see this version on the History Channel! Without divulging too many details, the game finds our heroes sent back in time to battle the Third Reich, teaming up with some Golden Age heroes, such as the loveable limey Black Jack and the French temptress TriColour. As far as villains are concerned, you can expect a few old âfriends; as well as an entire new cast of baddies.
Freedom Force can best be described as a tactical role-playing game, a slick and fast paced one where you are in control of a collection of superheroes - all with their own powers, looks and kit! It appears that the team has taken onboard what the fans have said about the first game and intend to make the sequel nigh on perfect - as Bill explained.
âThe response from our fans could not have been more flattering! The press and the fan base both responded beyond our hopes. Our fans especially have given us tremendous support. For that we thank them. Feedback is a vital part of the development process. When youâre lucky enough to have released a successful title, one of the things youâre both blessed and curse with is a fan base. You have to decide early on, do you want to solely target your fan base, expand it by making it more accessible, or take the road in between. FFV3R walks the middle road - we want to enhance the gameplay of the original and fix what ailed it, while maintaining all the good stuff. We intend to improve just about every aspect of the game. One of our core goals has always been to improve multiplayer. Weâre addressing all the core issues of the original and vastly improving everything else.â
One of the cool features of the original game was the hero and special powers editor. There is nothing more engrossing than trying to create you own hero based on your recollection of reading old comics. Thankfully this very much remains the same as there is no point in messing with what appears nigh on perfect - although honing up the interface to make things more initiative!
Freedom Force, as with many tactical games, can get pretty hectic while in battle. To help alleviate some confusion and bring a new layer of depth to gameplay, players are able to pause or slow down the action with the hit of a key. Once paused, players are able to survey the entire map, decide the best possible tactics and assign commands to each character.
Moving back to the original title once more, another of its fab features was the interactive terrain and the overthetop, cartoon styled actions that could be achieved. If you think of superheroes images of huge skyscrapers being knock down and cars hurtling through the air manifest themselves, which is exactly what happens in Freedom Force. More of the same will be on offer but this time with even more inventiveness and possibly a finer sequence of destructive events to heighten excitement!
Iâd like to clarify this point. âWeâre really pushing the level of interactivity. This was a great feature in the original and something that we really wanted to see expanded. Weâve put a lot of thought into incorporating this into gameplay. Weâre also trying to make as many interesting and diverse objects interactive as possible.â
âOne thing weâre confident with in this sequel is the detail. Freedom Force was undeniably stylised. Weâre taking the art to a whole new level in Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich. Gamers will see WWII portrayed in a way that has never been seen in PC games.â
âThe gameâs structure will parallel the original Freedom Force. That is to say, it will be mission based. We are fully incorporating a robust skirmish mode and are kicking multiplayer significantly in the pants (i.e. improving it).â
Asked about his favourite character and that of the PC architecture being restrictive to creating ideas for a game that many would think would be an ideal console offering brought some interesting comments from Bill.
âI think Man-Bot wound up being the real favourite among both team members and the fans alike. Weâre pretty excited about some of the new characters, especially guys like Tombstone. However, I think the Jar Jar lesson is a powerful one: you never know how your fan base is going to react.â
âThe fact that PCs arenât âclosed boxâ is obviously a huge advantage over consoles. The technology really isnât such an issue anymore. Itâs really only an issue in that not everyone shares the same technology. Worrying about getting your game running optimally on every possible system configuration is a big concern in PC development. While I wouldnât wish for any sort of uniformity, it would make things easier. But then again, that would defeat the whole purpose of playing on a PC.â
The teamâs love of comics, to recreate the essence of all our childhood super heroes brought to life, will ensure that we can expect some really big surprises and a rock solid and exciting game!
Weâll have a closer look at âFreedom Force Vs Third Reichâ soon.
