Let's start this week with the "Nice Things People Are Saying About Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich" Section

I am about ready to trade in my Jennifer Garner crush for Allen Rausch of GameSpy, who wrote a simply fabulous preview of Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich after getting his hands on the demo. The lovely Mr. Rausch calls the game "incredibly enjoyable" but that's just the beginning. Here's what else he has to say:

"The detail level of the cityscapes and battlefields in Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich is extraordinary"

"Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich's storyline is insane, and I mean that in the best way possible."

The game "should it be manna from Krypton for strategy gamers looking for a fun, light-hearted title, but if it achieves the kind of success it deserves -- well, the sky's the limit!"

Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich is on GMR's list of the top 50 most exciting games of 2005. They note that "Science has speculated that fighting Nazis is the world's most gratifying form of videogaming." Duh! There weren't too many PC games on the list so we feel extra honored.

Check out this interview with Ken on Eurogamer.net. The questions are slightly different from the usual fare, which allows Ken to share a bit of insight into the development process and gives some other info you may not have read before.

Digital Jesters (the European distributor of Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich) is putting on a Create A Comic contest The winner gets an expensive graphics card and a copy of the game. Check it out, it sounds like fun and the rules generously allow for people who can't draw!

Andrew Park of GameSpot gets a hands-on look at the game and gives fans his first impressions and says "The game seems to be coming along extremely well."

And finally, here is a preview by Vince Massa on ActionTrip.com. I respect a man who admits that he loves nothing more than wearing a cape. In fact, I am a bit of a closet cape fan myself. I am still mourning the loss of the Wonder Woman cape I had as a child. I think my relationship with it may have worried my parents. But anyway, check out the preview and have a wonderful week!

In SWAT 4 news, Tom McNamara of IGN took a good hard look at the demo and was kind enough to share his views. He noted that SWAT 4 "looks darn good, with detailed character models, subtle bloom effects, and high-res textures" and my personal favorite "judging from Irrational's previous titles, I expect to see a strong single-player mode and attention to story in addition to the promising multiplayer we just got a taste of." This forum features some very nice and educated opinions of SWAT 4 Beta testers like "Avean" who says "after 15 minutes with this game in multiplayer my feelings were, 'Is this the greatest game i have ever played?'" and "This is 11 out of 10 possible since you guys have redefined what a FPS game should be like. I am out of words!"

-- Meredith Levine