Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich
Ages: Teen

Freedom Force has the Marvel Heroes fighting all the bad guys from World War II. That was 60 years ago, more than three times the age of most of the players. Though the events are dated the characters are so extreme that the era comes back to life. The Nazis, the Russians and the Japanese villains are presented in full comic book style and on our side there are over 20 Freedom Fighters. But after the big bang introduction it is disappointing to play the game from a top down view where these magnificent characters are just a bunch of indistinguishable blob of pixels. It is only when you unlock a character that you get the great graphics and background of the character.

The game is mission oriented and you start out with a tutorial mission with two heroes -- Alchemiss and Man-Bot. The object is to train you how to work with multiple characters with multiple talents. The missions are interesting enough – preventing books from being burned, destroying enemy installations and saving citizens. As missions are completed, more heroes become available to join your team. The villains are as colorful as the heroes -- Red Oktober, Nuclear Winter. There are plenty of female characters both good and evil. A Hero Editor is available so you can make your own spectacular hero before going on-line.

If you are impatient, you can get the strategy guide by Brady and have all the drawings and histories at your fingertips. But oh -- I wanted to see these characters flying around in glorious color.

Reviewed by: Editor - 09/05