My Freedom Force 2 Review

[Rhomal]

I bought the first game and LOVED it. Played it though several times with custom PCs. I was very much looking forward to the sequal.

 

I saw good review after good review, so I was quite excited needless to say.

 

In a nutshell the plot is Time Master is used to go back in time by some less then nice people to WW2 to change history. Thus FF must re-assemble and correct the change to history.

 

The plot SEEMED very interesting and I thought it had potential. So I bought it, loaded it up and started playing.

 

I got to about mission 12 and frankly I lost all interest in it. I have never had a game where by the half way point I just gave up our of bordom and non-interest. I tried my best to plow forward to see if I could rekindle the flame I had when I started. But alas I could not. In fact I uninstalled it, and I sold it back to the store I got it from for credit.

 

I wish I could give a compleate start to finish review but sadly I can not. So I will give my impressions up until I stopped playing.

 

 

Story:

 

Started strong, but by mission 8 or so my care for the characters and the plot started to falter. By around mission 12 I frankly couldnt care less what was going on. I think it was due to several factors. First, the start of the story is badly rushed with less charactor development then I would have liked. Second the execution is IMO less then the first game, it didnt have the smooth flow of the first. Also it seemed the majority missions were some variation of FedEx or time limited style goals. That losses me after the x amount of time. What ever happened to just knocking some heads togeather and calling it a day? Not every mission has to be more then kick the arse of the bad guy. IMO the time limited and fedex goals should be sprinkled in to break up the 'stop the bad guy' missions not the other way around. Similar to the first game.

 

Perhaps the story got much more smooth and the execution got better as things went along but for me I had no motivation to find out.

 

Score (1-10): 4

 

 

Gameplay/Mechanics:

 

Very similar to the first game which means a excellent interface/GUI and control. While it should have a mini-map which without does make things a bit more complex then need be. Overall the controls are very intiutive and well thought out. The game mechanics are more or less identical to the first game. Which mean they work for the theme/setting of the game.

 

Score: 8.5

 

 

Graphics:

 

I kept hearing about all these improvments to the eye candy for the sequal. So I was VERY disappointed when I played it. The character and ingame models/objects looked quite low poly, in other words, blocky. There was no lip synching. Nor did I observe any noticable/significant use of advanced DX9 effects. In fact, I am on the borderline if I perfer the first games graphic engine over this version to be honest.

 

They did add some interesting elements like the much hyped 'see inside the building when you smash a wall'. But after the 6th time it becomes a faddish effect and you really dont even notice it.

 

Overall very disappointing.

 

Score: 3.5

 

 

Sound/Voice Overs:

 

A very good selection of music quality and sound effects. (Though I will deduct a bit from the score for no other reason they recycled a fair amount of sound/music from the first game).

 

If you liked the sound/music from the first game you will like the qulity here. No better but certainly no worse either. A very acceptable job sound wise.

 

The voice acting can be taken two ways. Either fitting for the theme/setting or over the top, overacting/mellodrama. The VO has more cheese then a dairy farm. So either your going to like it or its going to get on your nerves in short order. I find it hard to beleive many ppl will be on the fence. At first I was taken aback.. but then it more or less grew on me and I am going to fall on the side of its fitting.

 

Score: 7

 

My 2 coppers

[6 Foot Invisible Rabbit]

Hmmm... Good review. I was debating to get this game or not. I think I might wait for it til it hits the bargin bin.

 

CHEERS!

[Morgoth]

I have it too and I love it! It's just a bit short though.

[Dhruin]

This game is the most "fun" I've had for quite some time - it's just a joy to play. I think you've missed the boat on the graphics, Rhomal. They may not be up there with the most technically advanced on the market but they are very good. However, it's the artistic vision that takes it to another level - everything replicates a 4-colour comic book perfectly. Not everything is about pumping the most polygons.

[Rhomal]

I am sorry but all I saw was low poly graphics. I was not expecting Doom3 level of detail but something noticably better then the first game.

 

I realize its trying to emulate 60's comics, but I didnt see it in the artistic style myself. I cant equate on a rational level the poor graphics quality and the style of the 60s' comics. (This coming from a former comic collector and comic shop owner).

 

Certainly they got some of the feel right, like the POW! and such when you whack a bad guy.. but I didnt feel good with the end result as a whole.

 

That aside, I will also add I did like the animations. They were very well done and smooth. Sadly they didnt put as much effort into the story or graphics as they did with the sound and animations IMO.