Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich
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| Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich | |
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| Developer(s) | Irrational Games |
| Publisher(s) | Vivendi Universal Games (US) Digital Jesters (UK) |
| Release date(s) | March 8, 2005 (US) |
| Genre(s) | RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen (T), PEGI: 12+ |
| Platform(s) | PC |
| Media | CD-ROM |
Freedom Force vs The Third Reich is a computer game developed and published by Irrational Games. In this sequel to Freedom Force, the player guides a team of superheroes as they travel back in time and help overthrow Nazi Germany and its allies during World War II. It was released in early March, 2005.
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[edit] Plot
Nuclear Winter steals Time Master's inert body and uses it to steal nuclear missiles from the Cuban missile crisis in an effort to start a nuclear war between the United States and the USSR. Freedom Force foils his plot, but on the return trip, the timeline changes and Freedom Force finds that the Axis powers achieved victory in World War II. Using the disturbance in the timeline to guide them, Mentor projects the heroes back in the timestream to battle the villainous Blitzkrieg, who created the timeline disturbance, where they meet and team up with heroes of that age. In the course of Blitzkrieg's defeat, Alchemiss gains powers from Time Master's body, frees Man-Bot from the Celestial Clock, but goes insane over the sudden expansion of her powers and becomes Entropy, who threatens time and space. Entropy is eventually defeated. Briefly asserting her original personality, Alchemiss prevents herself from ever existing so she cannot become Entropy, but suddenly finds herself face to face with a strange being...Energy X.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Heroes
[edit] Old
Virtually the entire cast of characters returns from Freedom Force, now steady members of the superhero team, their skills and backgrounds intact. The exception is Man-bot, who is imprisoned in the Celestial Clock.
[edit] New
- Tombstone - Nathan Graves was framed for the murder of his own wife by his neighbor. Shocked and devastated, he never spoke in his own defense during his trial and was sentenced to die in the electric chair. At the moment of Graves' execution, Energy X hit the power line and traveled into his body. Not quite living and not quite dead, he gained electrical and spirit-based powers. As Tombstone, he still wears the execution hood placed over his head in the electric chair and has adopted a sinister gunslinger-like appearance, complete with six-guns and belt buckle adorned with skulls. Tombstone has a hollow, echoing voice and is grim and humorless. He has cold-based melee attacks and a ranged attack where his dual pistols shoot electricity from his execution. However, his most distinctive ability is possession: temporarily taking complete control of a victim while his own body fades into an intangible state. He is reminiscent of The Punisher and Ghost Rider in his determination to wreak vengeance on criminals.
- The Bard - Harry Holmes loved the works of William Shakespeare so much, it consumed his life. When his obsession caused his true love to leave him, Harry threw his lute in frustration, accidentally striking a canister of Energy X. He was granted powers echoing his passion for Shakespeare: singing hypnotic odes and throwing fiery "Yorick" skulls.
- Green Genie - Jani Al-Hajani was cruelly held prisoner by her own father, a powerful sheik, and forced into an arranged marriage with a man she'd never met. Her elderly servant and friend Mustaffa attempted to help her escape, but her father's goons began torturing the old man for information on Jani's whereabouts. The young woman shielded Mustaffa with her own body when she was struck by Energy X. The bolt transformed her into a green-skinned, flying-carpet riding genie of legend, who is sometimes more concerned with having fun than fighting evil. Though she is nothing like him personality wise, she is similar to the Green Goblin in that she is a green 'goblin' like creature riding around on a magic carpet 'glider'.
- Quetzalcoatl - Johny Azotl's grandfather took him to the Patriot City Museum every year to look back at the past. As the tale of the staff of Quetzalcoatl, an ancient Aztec god, was told, Johny became impatient and left his grandfather alone because he was not interested in the past. He headed for the roof to let some steam out, but a burglar passed by him without being noticed. Suddenly, a gunshot was fired inside the museum, and Johny overheard it and went to check it out. Johny then finds his grandfather fatally wounded. The burglar pushed aside Johny with the staff of Quetzalcoatl in his possession and without a second thought, Johny pursued the burglar to apprehend him, and caught up with the burglar. As Johny and the burglar struggled for the staff, a beam of Energy X hit the staff and the burglar, surprised by the beam, released the staff. As the staff glowed, so did Johny, and Johny felt the power of Energy X and an ancient power. Then, Johny glowed with a golden aura and transformed into the Quetzalcoatl. Quetzalcoatl then summoned a giant snake and apprehended the burglar. Quetzalcoatl may be present, but Johny still exists within him in spirit form. As Quetzalcoatl approached Johny's grandfather, he felt sad, which he is not familiar. For the first time ever, the god cried, and a tear drop fell upon the elder, somehow reviving him. From then on, Quetzalcoatl vows to fight crime as if his presence in Patriot City is fate's decision. He seems to be reminiscent of Marvel's Thor, or DC's Captain Marvel in that he is a kid who gains god-like abilities. He's not much of an attacker, but he can heal and temporarily revive fallen allies. This formative scene clearly echoes the creation of Spider-Man, whose uncle (Ben), dies in a similar manner.
- Black Jack - Jack St. John Spade was a British inventor working in Her Majesty's Institute for Wartime Research during World War II. He wanted to fight on the front lines as a soldier, but Professor O'Toole, his mentor, insisted that England couldn't afford to lose his abilities in combat. Working late one night, Spade discovered that O'Toole was being tricked by Blitzkrieg into creating a weapon capable of destroying the entire RAF. When Spade tried to intervene, Blitzkrieg paralyzed his legs to keep him out of the way. Desperate to keep the final secrets of the weapon from the enemy, Spade coated a playing card with his newest creation, a combination of acid and poison, and flung it into O'Toole's throat. Shunning the desk job that had kept him from combat, Spade equipped himself with guns and gadgets of his own invention and fought the Nazi menace as Black Jack. Like the other World War II-era heroes, his abilities are not Energy X-based. In addition to his pistol and punching attacks, he throws acid-dipped cards and blinding grenades and uses "decoys" to fool enemies. Black Jack speaks with a marked British accent and colorful phrases ("Let's get these Jerry blighters!"). At the end of the second game, he return to the 1940s, which he sees as a more peaceful time. He is vaguely similar to pulp heroes like the Avenger.
- Tricolour- Sabrine Tricolette was a French fencing champion. After she won a gold medal in the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin, Blitzkrieg brainwashed her. Sabrine became a Nazi henchman, arresting resistance fighters in Vichy France. While Sabrine was supervising the execution of a group of rebels she had apprehended, one of them began to sing the French national anthem. When she tried to silence him, she saw the tricolored French flag on his scarf. This reminder of her beloved country shattered the hold that Blitzkrieg held over her. She became Tricolour, dedicated to freeing her homeland from the Nazis who had invaded it. She and Bullet seem to be very attracted to each other. Like Black Jack, Tricolour has no Energy X-related powers. Her abilities are based on her fencing skills, including fairly powerful melee attacks and a blinding light from her rapier.
- Sky King- Ace Gunner was an actor known for playing Sky King, a Nazi-bashing movie hero. Meek and shy, he saw that his costar Charmaine was interested in the "real heroes" (soldiers) rather than his pretend hero. Eager to prove his courage and win Charmaine's love, Ace began trying to modify his movie-prop jetpack to enable him to actually fly. He had no luck, but got his chance at heroics when a Nazi spy stumbled onto the set and held Charmaine at gunpoint. Although he couldn't fly, Ace managed to save the actress by hurling himself at the Nazi with the help of his jetpack. Hailed as a hero, Ace decided to leave Hollywood and become the Sky King for real. A huge fan of Sky King while growing up, Bullet helps his hero alter his jetpack to fly. (Interestingly, Bullet knows how to do this from an old issue of a comic book featuring Sky King. See predestination paradox and ontological paradox.) His abilities all come from his armored costume, which unfortunately also makes him very slow on foot. His attacks include chain guns and a "blast-off" area damage ability. His manner of speaking is similar to that of Jimmy Stewart, Hollywood actor and Air Force pilot. His creation was probably influenced by the Rocketeer.
[edit] Supervillains
- Nuclear Winter - Formerly a Soviet agent named Sukhov, Nuclear Winter was transformed by Energy X into a being made of ice and dedicated to the destruction of his capitalist enemies. Nuclear Winter possesses strong melee attacks and ice-based projectiles, but is physically slow due to his icy temperament. Nuclear Winter travels in time to launch missiles from the Cuban missile crisis in an effort to start a nuclear war between the United States and the USSR. After his plan was foiled, he further mutated into an ice giant before being stopped by Freedom Force.
- Red Oktober - A mysterious Soviet witch with magical and illusionary powers to match Mentor. She first fought against Freedom Force under the command of Nuclear Winter in an attempt to bring nuclear 'destrucktion' to the United States. When she finds out that Nuclear Winter's plans are to actually transform the world (including Mother Russia) into a nuclear wasteland where only he would survive, Oktober switches sides and fights with Freedom Force to defeat Nuclear Winter. She disappears shortly after the battle vowing victory for the Soviets.
- Time Master - This mysterious creature holds sway over the power of time itself. In the first game, he kidnapped Man-Bot to use as a living power source in his scheme to control the Celestial Clock. After his defeat, he was given to US authorities in a dormant state. In this game, he is awakened once more and is used to fight Entropy. After Entropy's defeat, he is defeated once more by Freedom Force; however, having the ultimate power over all time, he seems certain to resurface.
- Blitzkrieg - This Nazi mentalist has powerful mind-control abilities. Disguised as "Charles Wilson", deupty director of the CIA, he tricked Freedom Force into turning over Time Master to his custody after they defeated Nuclear Winter. Blitzkrieg used Time Master's powers to bring Energy X to the Nazis in the 1940s and thereby win World War II for the Axis. His exact origin is never explained. Blitzkrieg has a vague superficial resemblance to Adolf Hitler, but with a monocle, pencil-style mustache and grotesquely elongated head adorned with throbbing veins. Visually similar to Marvel Comics The Leader, although super-Nazi Red Skull is an obvious analogue as well.
- Red Sun - Blitzkrieg exposed a Japanese officer to Energy X, creating this strange Deja Vu-like villain. Seemingly a single individual in his first encounter with Black Jack, Red Sun is actually an army of identical warriors who seem to share a consciousness. Their abilities include a sword attack, hurling fiery shurikens, and the ability to summon explosive fire elementals. When one instance of Red Sun is killed, the rest gain his strength. Red Sun expresses a strict code of honor in battle, announcing themselves before attacking and thanking Freedom Force for the honor of dying in battle with them. Unlike Deja Vu, there does not seem to be one "original" or primary person controlling all the others.
- Fortissimmo - An Italian opera singer of questionable ability given Energy X powers by Blitzkrieg, Fortissimo can fly and emit powerful sonic attacks. He employs men costumed as Roman centurions as his henchmen. When first encountered, he is trying to destroy significant cultural artifacts such as the original Gutenberg Bible, the Summa Theologiae, and Shakespeare's first folio. Freedom Force also encounters Fortissimo when traveling further back in time in an attempt to disable Blitzkrieg's force-field generator, and in the "present", when Fortissimo is brought forward by Entropy to destroy culturally relevant buildings in Patriot City. In this final encounter, he is eaten (and presumably, killed) by a dinosaur statue animated by Entropy. Perhaps influenced by the Fiddler and other musical Golden Age supervillains.
- Entropy - Entropy is the fusion of Alchemiss and chaotic forces. In order to help the time-lost heroes, Mentor encourages Alchemiss to draw upon more of her powers than ever before, and even tap into the vast reserves of the near-comatose Time Master. The combination gives her near-infinite abilities and corrupts her mind. She decides to free Man-Bot, whom she has always been drawn to, from the Celestial Clock where he was imprisoned at the end of the first game. He warns her that his presence is all that keeps the Chaos Wraiths at bay, but she refuses to listen and transports him back to Earth. Shortly thereafter, she is touched by one of the chaos wraiths and becomes Entropy. Entropy begins to tamper with the fabric of reality and tells Man-Bot that if he doesn't join her, she won't be able to hold things together; she claims that every known reality will be destroyed. Time Master and Freedom Force team up temporarily to defeat her, but of course Time Master attempts to betray the heroes as soon as Entropy seems to be helpless. Freedom Force seemingly best Time Master; however, as the master of all time, he is constantly at his strongest. As he prepares to destroy Man-Bot completely, Alchemiss briefly regains control over Entropy and attacks Time Master with Chaos Wraiths. Knowing that she cannot suppress Entropy for long, Alchemiss realizes the only course of action is to erase herself from ever existing. Accepting and expecting oblivion, she is surprised to find a mysterious figure before her, glowing with power. The stranger tells her in an alien voice that of all the gifted ones, she is the only one to ever surprise him. When Alchemiss asks who he is, he replies that he is Energy X. The game ends on this cryptic note. There are several noteworthy similarities between the Alchemiss/Entropy plot and Marvel Comics' Phoenix/Dark Phoenix/Jean Grey storyline.
