Freedom Force
GAME » on January 9, 2002
Freedom Force is an RPG which focuses on story-heavy, mission based super hero combat. The games plot focuses on the origin stories of a group of accidental super heroes led by Minute Man.


Overview

Freedom Force chronicles the exploits of a group of super heroes in a strategy / RPG hybrid game. The unique aspect that distinguishes Freedom Force is the over the top humor and art style that pays homage to the Silver Age of Comic Books. The game was developed by Irrational Games (Company) and released in 2002.


Development

Ken Levine (Person) & Irrational initially pitched the game as"Justice Squad", a tactical turn-based RPG (like X-Com) that was even closer to the Silver Age of comics. But early on in development, they noticed the waning popularity of the tactical RPG genre and switched to a hybrid real-time combat. Ken noted the Baldur's Gate series as a major inspiration for the hybrid "pause and play" combat in the final game that encouraged liberal use of the pause-in-combat feature.


Gameplay

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Freedom Force plays as a strategy / RPG game were you get to control up to 4 members of Freedom Force on several missions. Each of the heroes has various moves and superpowers that can be used in the game. As you gain more experience points from completing missions, you can unlock new powers for the characters. Unlike an action RPG game like Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Freedom Force plays more like a tactical RPG, where you get to pause the action, plan your next move, and act accordingly.


Hero Creation

The hero creation feature allowed players to create their own heroes by mixing and matching many stock powers. Players could also give these heroes their own origin stories, allowing people to role play as their own creation. Years after the release, this proved be one of the most popular features of the game.


Plot

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Minute Man & Mentor

Lord Dominion is an alien bent on world domination, and the only thing standing between him and achieving his goal is earth. He devises a diabolical scheme of endowing the criminals of earth with a super human power inducing substance known as energy X, and watching earth crumble from within. Before he can execute his plan, one of the alien citizens from his planet (known as Mentor) steals the canisters of energy X and heads to earth in the hope of giving the power to some good citizens who can stand against Lord Dominion's oppression. On his way to earth, Mentor's ship is shot down by Lord Dominion's forces and the canisters of energy X are dispersed all throughout Patriot City.

Various people -some good and some evil- are exposed to the radiations of energy X and endowed with super human powers. The good ones join forces with Mentor and decide to form a group to fight the forces of evil, and defend Patriot City from all dangers. Each one of the heroes is granted a power that matches his or her personality. For example, Frank Stiles' patriotism translates to Minute Man, the righteous hero who fights for justice, and El-Diablo is a hot headed Latino whose fiery powers match his fiery personality. Together, this group of heroes is known as the Freedom Force.


Powers

Hero powers are either offensive or defensive, with each group then dividing itself into sub-categories.


Offensive Powers

Offensive Powers can be divided into:

  • Area Powers
  • Beam Powers
  • Direct Powers
  • Melee Powers
  • Projective Powers
  • Special Powers

AREA POWERS


Name Description
Annihilation A massive explosion that destroys the attacker and damages all targets
Aloft Propel objects straight upwards with great strenght
Area Energize Generic area attack
Bellow A primordial bellow with a ranged effect that causes Panic
Bind Trap Generic binding power
Call of Confusion An echoing cry that causes Confusion in those that hear it
Cortical Supression Causes Mental Blank on all enemies within the area of effect
Disrupt Object Generic disrupt object attack
Electrical Explosion Generic electrical explosion
Electrical Field A powerful attack that damages all targets within a radius
Energy Leech Draws energy points out of a target
Explosion Generic explosion
Fire Explosion Generic fire explosion
Fire Explosion Large Generic large fire explosion
Ice Explosion Generic ice explosion
Ignite Explosion Generic explosive ignition attack
Lethes Song Hypnotizes within a radius
Molecular Explosion Explosion that accompanies molecular excitation
Order In the Court Causes Fear in anyone caught in range
Portal Explosion Explosion that accompanies dimensional ruptures
Quake Area attack that deals heavy damage to any objects on the ground
Rally the Troops Temporarily gives nearby heroes mental resistance and cures Panic
Release An attack that damages everything in a wide radius
Roaring Doom Induces Panic within a radius
Schoolyard Taunt Enrages enemies and provokes them into attacking
Screech Causes Panic within a radius
Shockwave Generic shockwave
Snowstorm Confuses opponents
Space-Time Rift A very powerful attack; it has a long foreshadowing time, however
Turret Explosion Generic turret explosion
Ultrasonic Squeal Stuns everyone, either friend or foe, within a radius
Unstable Energy Generic unstable energy attack
Vine Trap Entangles the enemy and places them in Stasis
Whirlpool Strikes all in reach; similar effect to Water Jet

BEAM POWERS


Name Description
Chronal Electricity Beam that deals electrical damage
Chronal Energy Beam that deals energy damage
Chronal Radiation Beam that deals radiation damage
Cold Fusion Ray A focused beam of oscillating energy
Density Max A ranged attack that increases the density of the target
Disruption Causes inanimate objects to explode
Electron Beam A ranged attack with moderate damage
Energy X-Ray A powerful, medium range energy beam
Flame Cannon A fiery ranged attack
Flame Gun A fiery short-ranged attack
Focus A standard ranged attack
Freeze Ray Causes targets to Freeze
Icicle Blast An icy ranged attack
Irradiate Causes the target to become radioactive, taking progressive damage
Meltdown Ranged beam attack that passes straight through to the target
Microwave Beam A long range attack
Modulating Beam A penetrating beam attack
Rad Pistol A powerful ranged radiation attack
Reminder Ray A low-damage, short-range attack
Sacred Bolt Ranged electrical attack
Seeking Beam Beam attack that ignores obstacles, dealing cold damage
Sonic Shriek Penetrating beam attack with a good chance of stunning opponents
Storm Bolt A ranged projectile with moderate damage
Tongues of Flame Effective ranged beam attack
Transfer Transfers the user's own energy points to a target (useful to help allies)
Water Jet Low-damage, high Stun and Knockback attack

DIRECT POWERS


Name Description
Alteration Randomly inflicts primary states and removes secondary states
Balance Pools hit points of user and target, then divides them equally
Binding Vines Paralyzing attack that binds the target with vines
Cerebral Balance Cure an ally of any special mental state
Chrono Crush A ranged attack that causes its target to become slow or paralyzed
Commuted Sentence Removes secondary states like Blindness or Irradiated
Darkness Power Powerful ranged explosive attack
Direct 01 Generic direct attack
Energize Accelerate other character's energy regeneration, but with chance of stun
Energize Other Increases the target's energy regeneration, but causes unstable energy
Entangling Vines Entangle foes with vines
Genetic Damage Alter the resistances of a target
Ignition Set fire to objects, causing them to explode in a fireball
Instinct Dominance Causes Rage in a single target, either enemy or ally
Mercy Transfer health points to other characters
Molecular Excitation Turns any inanimate object it affects into a bomb
Power Null Removes a randomly selected power from an enemy target
Purgatory Temporarily banish an enemy from this plane of existence
Repulsion Batters an enemy against an object or removes them from melee range
Swarm of Leaves Swarm of leaves appears to Blind the enemy
Throw Voice Forces an enemy to use taunt, making his allies go berserk
Vengeance Curse A curse from the goddess to vex the unworthy

MELEE POWERS


Name Description
Biff A hefty punch
Blinding Scratch Causes blindness
Cloven Kick A standard melee attack
Club A standard melee attack
Commie Clobber A standard melee attack
Condemnation Spinning attack that strikes all within a short radius
Double Uppercut Two quick strikes
Electric Arc Powerful attack that hits everything within a short arc
Fist Flurry Three strikes in quick succession
Fist Fusillade Delivers six average punches in quick succession
Flaming Fist Strong, fiery melee attack
Flaming Spear Deals heat damage
Flip-Kick Powerful attack that delivers good damage and knockback
Frost Punch A standard melee attack
Gore Attack using jagged horns
Hammer Carnage A series of reasonably fast, very damaging attacks
Hammer Crush A slow, yet very damaging attack
Haymaker Melee attack that affects an area, knocking opponents up and away
Headbutt Move quickly to a target and slam it with damage
Icicle Slash Attack using razor-sharp icicles
Interference Attack with a semi-materialized hand, causing severe damage
Jab Attack that pierces through an opponent's defenses
Kick A standard melee attack
Mandible Assault A triple attack that strikes everything in a short forward-facing arc
Mandible Bite A powerful melee attack
Mecha Smash Use this to smash any architectural ignoramus
Mecha Stomp Stomp on the inferior structures
Nature's Kiss An attack that can cause hypnosis
One-Shot Punch High velocity jab
Patriot Whirl 360º spin that strikes everyhing in its arc
Piercing Peck A basic melee attack
Pincer Punch A quick double attack
Poison Spear Very potent attack that causes acid burn
Pressure Punch Delivers moderate damage and knockback
Psyche-Slash Delivers multiple strokes, but has a slow lead up time
Punch A standard melee attack
Punishment Short, sharp whack with the hammer of punishment
Rend A standard melee attack
Riptide An attack that strikes three times in quick succession
Scratch A standard melee attack
Shove A high knockback that causes no damage
Slam Delivers a blast of crushing damage to an area
Slap Low-damage attack
Slash Attack with a wide arc, but lower damage
Smash A slow but powerful melee attack
Smite the Wicked Short, sharp slap for the unworthy
Snap Kick A very fast, low damage kick
Spear A short-range melee attack
Strike for Freedom An attack with the staff of patriotism
Swift Punch A fast punch
The Ol' One-Two Quick attack that strikes twice for low-damage
Thorax Punch A simple, fast jab
Thrust An attack that delivers some good damage
Trouncing Delivers three strong attacks in quick succession
Vanquish A quick double attack
Wallop A standard punching attack
Wham Solid melee attack
Wrecking Ball Powerful attack, good for smashing objects... and people

PROJECTILE POWERS


Name Description
Acid Arrow Causes progressive acid damage
Acid Bomb Acid grenade that causes acid burn to a small radius
Acid Spray Attack that causes acid burn
Ant Swarm Homing attack that causes Blind in the target
Arcane Bolt A small bolt of mystic energy
Arrow Low-damage, but accurate long-range attack
Ball Lightning Hard to target, but attacks large groups of enemies randomly
Bermuda Triangle Entangling projectile attack
Bubble Gum A bomb that puts Stasis on the target
Bubble Swarm Fires several weak projectiles that home in on the target
Darkness Bomb An area effect bomb attack that causes Blind
Energy Bullet Powerful ranged projectile
Energy Grenade Solid ranged explosive attack
Flame Burst An attack that does heat damage
Grenade A low-power explosive grenade with an area effect
Hellfire A mighty explosion that releases other smaller explosions
Ice Bullet A short-range burst of medium-damage ice bullets
Inferno Powerful explosive projectile
Living Arrow Homes in on its target
Mafioso Tommy Gun Ranged burst from the tommy gun
Minute Missile A medium-damage projectile attack that strikes all those in range
Pistol Shot Low-damage ranged attack
Plasma Rocket Explosive rockets; bad at short-range, but good over long distances
Projectile 1 Generic projectile attack
Projectile 2 Generic projectile attack
Proximity Grenade A bouncing bomb that will remain dormant until an enemy gets close
Rad Bolts A projectile that spawns new copies of itself in flight
Shadow Shuriken Low-damage ranged attack
Sonic Wing Projectile that releases a powerful concussive blast when it strikes
Stun Grenade Bouncing bomb that causes no damage, but inflicts Stun
Sukhov's Shot Standard pistol attack
Sunday Punch Throws out a shockwave of damage to stun an opponent
Swarm of Arrows Splits into multiple arrows that seek out and strike random enemies
Whirlwind Carries opponents in the air before stunning and dropping them

SPECIAL POWERS


Name Description
300-Percenter Causes the next melee attack to do triple damage
Blind Justice Allows you to go Berserk at will, and adds a bonus to strenght; anyone within range will be attacked, though
Cloak of Shadows Slip into the shadows, becoming invisible
Clone Self Creates a duplicate of the user
Deja Duplication Creates a duplicate deja-vu, with half hit points
Displace Image User becomes temporarily invulnerable, but cannot attack
Electrify Provides a burst of electricity to the user
Empathy An active defense which causes enemies to share the damage they inflict
Speeding Bullet Knocks back enemies at the end of a sprinting run
Sprint Allows you to move to a chosen spot nearly instantly
Teleport Self Move to any point within visual range
Uncloak Become visible again


Defensive Powers

Defensive Powers can be divided into:

  • Active Defense Powers
  • Passive Defense Powers

ACTIVE DEFENSE


Name Description
Arms of the Goddess Protection against a variety of projectile and beam attacks
Bubble Shell A good defense that will absorb all attacks, but that has limited HP
Energy Shield Provides protection from all attack types
Fire it Up A powerful defense that burns enemy attacks before they can strike
Harmony Prevents damage being taken from elemental forces
Hyper Spin Active defense, but the character cannot move or attack while in use
Ice Shell A sturdy defense against all attacks
Iron Jaw Active defense that gives extra protection against mundane damage
Kinetic Barrier Protects against all physical attacks
Magnetic Harbor A defense useful against projectiles, energy and electricity
National Guard An energy shield that redirects projectile attacks at a nearby enemy
Proton Shield Shield the user from pesky projectiles

PASSIVE DEFENSE


Name Description
Absorb Heat Gain Energy Points from incoming heat damage
Blessed Aegis Completely protect against mystical attacks
Charge Redirection Automatically redirects electricity attacks onto the nearest enemy
Contain Energy Turn damage from energy attacks into extra energy points
Current Bounce Automatically redirects electricity attacks onto the nearest enemy
Density Control Absorbs all attacks
Eternal Vigilance Gives a 50% chance to deflect projectiles
Fancy Footwork Defense against Crushing and Piercing attacks
Fluttering Feathers You confound the enemy, making you harder to hit
Heat Siphon Gain energy points from incoming fire damage
Justice Shields the user from many melee attacks
Kraken's Scales Defense against crushing, piercing and energy attacks
Mental Barrier Protects against all mental attacks
Metabolize Absorb acid and radiation damage from ranged attacks
Scram Absorb Turn radiation into Energy Points, but releases rads periodically
Shrug Off Defense that protects against energy, fire and cold damage


Attributes

There's a wide range of attributes for the player to choose from, but not all of them are good-- afterall, all heros should have a weakness :)

These "bad attributes" are not just for fun, though, as they can be selected to buy back some "credits" in order to be able to buy more good ones. Choose carefully!

Displayed in alphabetical order.


Name Description
Armored Resistant to piercing. Speed reduced by 1
Beautiful Enemies attempting melee attacks on character must make a successful resistance check against hypnosis
Bedeviled Vulnerable to mystical damage
Berserker 10% chance of becoming enraged after taking damage
Blind Lowers accuracy on ranged attacks. Adds a penalty to the swiftness of melee attacks and dodge chances
Blitzkrieg Adds 3 to the swiftness of all melee attacks, and extra damage
Charged Resistant to electricity. All melee attacks do 5 points of electrical damage
Claws Adds 10 points of piercing damage to all melee attacks
Clumsy Can't pick up or wield objects
Cold-Blooded It makes you more vulnerable to cold damage
Cosmic Chump It makes you vulnerable to energy attacks
Crack Shot Increases accuracy
Cybernetic Brain Resistant to: hypnosis, enrage, panic, mental blank. Increases accuracy
Danger Sense Adds 1 speed bonus to dodge attempts
Density Control Immune to knock-back. Jumping abilities similar to Jumper attribute
Disciplined Resistant to all mental attacks: hypnosis, mental blank, rage, panic
Energetic Your energy recharges twice as fast, but you only have half the normal maximum energy
Extra Heroic Your character receives an extra hero point
Fast Healing Your character will continously recover HP whenever they are damaged, up to a maximum of 100 HP
Flier You can... fly
Fluctuation You are dangerously unpredictable; random damage of 0% to 300% of base damage amount
Focus Attack area range is halved, damage is doubled
Glass Bones You're more vulnerable to crushing damage. Plus, you make rattling noises when you walk!
Grim Resolve More resistant to stun damage
Grounded You're more vulnerable to electrical damage
Heat Sensitive You're more vulnerable to heat attacks
Heavy Hitter The damage of all wielded attacks is doubled
Heavy Lifter Adds strenght value to lifting and throwing
Heroic Gives one more hero point
Hirsute Greater resistance to cold damage
Hot Tempered Randomly uses higher intensity powers
Invertebrate You're more resistant to radiation
Jumper Scales you effective jumping ability
Level Headed You're resistant to mystical and mental damage
Levitate You fly with half the normal movement speed and doubles the EP cost
Light Speed The damage of all beam attacks is increased and it adds 3 to swiftness
Myopic Decreases accuracy
Neutralize You're more resistant to acid damage
Nimble Character gets 3 to agility, but has -10% HP
Ponderous Character can't dodge and gets a -2 penalty to the swiftness of melee attacks
Radioactive Highly resistant to radiation
Rapid Metabolism Vulnerable to acid and radiation
Shake it Off The duration of all prolonged damage states is halved
Slow Moving Character has a -3 penalty speed to dodge attempts, but gets 10% more HP
Solid Skeleton Resistant to crushing damage
Strange Visitor You're more resistant to energy damage
Temperature Control Resistant to heat and cold
Thin Skinned More vulnerable to piercing damage
Timid 5% chance of becoming panicked after taking damage
Tough Guy All resistances are increased by 50%
Unbeliever More resistant to all forms of mystical attack
Unheroic Your character receives one less hero point
Unstable Energy Randomly triggers energy release area attack when character takes damage
Unstable Molecules Your material type is randomly selected at the beginning of every mission, for the duration of that mission
Volcanic Resistant to heat damage
Wall Climbing You can... climb walls.
Weak Minded Your resistance to mental damage is halved


Fan Community

Freedom Force has an active fan community at [http:/www.freedomfans.com http://www.freedomfans.com/] that produces many mods and custom heroes on a regular basis.


Steam Release

Both the Freedom Force games were re-released on Steam on May 29, 2009 as part of "Freedom Pack".


PC System Requirements

Minimum Recommended
* OS: Windows XP/ME/2000/98 (95 and NT are not supported)
  • Processor: 300 MHz Intel Pentium II or AMD K6-2
  • RAM Memory: 96 MB RAM
  • Graphics Card: 16 MB supported Direct3D capable video card with DirectX 8.1 compatible driver
  • Hard Drive Space: 31 MB, not including saved games
  • Sound Card: DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card||* OS: Windows XP/Vista
  • Processor: 600 MHz or faster Intel Pentium III or AMD Athlon processor
  • RAM Memory: 128 MB or more
  • Graphics Card: 32 MB or greater supported Direct3D capable video card with DirectX 8.1 compatible driver
  • Hard Drive Space: 570 MB or more free hard disk space plus space for saved games
  • Sound Card: Environmental Audio capable sound card

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