Freedom Force (Mac)

Starting off as star-spangled spreader of justice Minute Man, you'll begin your quest to thwart the powers of evil. Along the way you'll meet the alien Mentor, the fiery Latino El Diablo, the melancholy Man-Bot, a speedster named Bullet, and many more. Characters have statistics like any RPG and they gain experience as a team. Those on a mission gain the full value, and those back at Freedom Base gain only a fraction. When they "level up" you can buy new powers for them. Saving lives and solving missions gives you Prestige Points, which is a measure of how the citizens feel about your team. PP's let you buy new characters in the game.

The camera system is fluid and intuitive. You can spin around the heroes, zoom in and out, and even set the camera to follow them cinematically. The interface is also simple to use. Click on the character portrait, choose an attack, and click on the bad guy. Things get hectic in battle but you can pause the action with the space bar. You can also choose a slow-motion option, making it much easier to keep up with the action. The graphics are bright and vibrant and the audio is fantastic.

Freedom Force is a great tactical-strategy game on top of being a terrific tribute to the heroes of the comics' vaunted Silver Age. This is a game that's so good, you might want to buy two and keep one safe in a Mylar plastic bag. 'Nuff said. --Bob Andrews

Pros:

• Pays loving tribute to the subject matter
• The game behind the tribute is likewise worthy

• The missions are too linear to be replayable

Evil incarnate in the form of Lord Dominion lurks just beyond another dimension, intent on absolute supremacy of the entire universe. In a diabolical plot to have Earth destroy itself, Lord Dominion schemes to unleash the awesome might of his Energy X on an unsuspecting populace.

But never fear, PC players can form, train, and lead Freedom Force, a team of 14 original comic book heroes capable of standing toe-to-toe against Lord Dominion and his dastardly villains. Set in the Silver Age of comics, the game features both an intense 3-D tactical battle engine and a rich RPG system.

Freedom Force consists of a series of tactical missions. Each time a new mission is initiated, players decide which hero will be sent to do battle and who will be in his or her squad. Once a squad arrives at the scene of the mission, the game switches to the tactical combat mode that allows the player to direct his or her individual characters to deal with the situation. In between these missions, the player enters management mode where heroes can be trained and new characters can be recruited by spending and distributing character points.

A fully featured RPG skill system rewards strategic heroes by allowing players to juggle stats, pump up powers, recruit new heroes, and develop existing heroes based on experience accumulated in tactical missions. All characters have powers, which can evolve and be honed during the game. The features and style make this a perfect diversion for a would-be Professor X.