by Irrational Games

Member Reviews: Review This Game Yourself!

Pros
•  graphics work perfectly with the comic book theme
•  builds on the strengths of the original
•  gamer created content easily extends replay value
•  most of the environments are destructible 
•  helpful in-game tutorials 
•  great story 
•  Rumble Room feature extends replay value even further
•  plenty of tools to create your own super hero
•  story-based multiplayer

Cons
•  can be a little tough to follow all the action
•  characters need default orders in battle
•  not as innovative as either Freedom Force or City of Heroes

The Bottom Line - Continues super hero goodness with a vengeance! 

Link: Official Site

Review

Until the original Freedom Force, you could not find a decent comic book game if your life depended on it. With Freedom Force, gamers got their first real taste of what it was like to play a comic book hero. To further the momentum in comic book themed games, City of Heroes has arrived in the MMORPG industry as a major player. Unlike those two genre bending games, Freedom Force Versus the Third Reich does not really break any new ground. What this tactical RPG does do, however, is provide a solid gaming experience with a considerable amount of replay value. 

Before you even get to actually play, this game makes you fill like you are in a comic book. I do not quite get that feeling with City of Heroes, but I do with this game. From the graphics to the music to even the corny hero lines, this game feels like an interactive comic book. You even get to wipe out an entire building with your super powers and watch it crumble to the ground. 

Instead of trying to reinvent the series, FFV3R takes Freedom Force and gives it a nice overhaul with better graphics, a great story, and a few moderate additions. The best of those additions, story-based multiplayer, further strengthens the comic book theme of the game by letting gamers use their imaginations. With story-based multiplayer, you basically get to create your own comic book. Not only can you choose the heroes and villains for each team but you can also choose the scenario, the game mode, the map, a description of the scenario, and even cover art for your little multiplayer comic adventure.  

Another great feature of FFV3R is the Rumble Room. This feature allows you to act like a pro wrestling promoter since you can pit heroes against each other in various combinations and settings. This is a great way to see what each hero, whether existing or created, can really do without having to go through the missions. You can use this mode as a trainer before going into multiplayer combat. Hopefully, this mode gets improved further in future installments because there appears to be a great deal that can be done with the concept like having a battle or tournament to be the "top hero" etc.

As far as downside goes, there is not too much to gripe about. The only thing that is still somewhat of drawback in this game is having to micro manage each character. There was supposed to be an improvement in the defense of characters not being managed in combat, but these characters only strike back with puny blows. That said, it would be nice if you could issue default orders to the characters that are not fighting on the front lines. For example, tell weaker heroes to flee and your healers to heal the heroes doing the heavy combat. That would allow you to focus more on combat rather than having to worry about up to four characters at once.

That minor quibble aside, Freedom Force Versus The Third Reich is definitely one of the best gaming values out there. Besides the considerable replay value due to the multiplayer mode, custom content (skins, meshes, and mods), the ability to create your own heroes, and the Rumble Room, this game has been priced slightly lower than most new games at $40 USD or 20% less than most new games. That is just too much bang for your buck to pass up. 

Game Ogre's Rating (out of 10): 

9.25

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