Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Demo Available Today! and "Calling All Heroes" Contest Winners Announced!

Check out the Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich Demo on Fileplanet and when you're done with that, head on over to GameSpy for their take on the game so far. Author Allen Rausch has lots of nice things to say and if you need him, he will be at his desk "trying to figure out whether four giant ants can take down a 30-foot-tall toy robot." I am betting they can, Allen but let me know.

And our favorite line from the preview: "If the purpose of a demo is to convince you to get the full version, color us convinced."

Also be sure to check out IGN's take on the demo by Steve Butts. Steve says "We've had a chance to play through the demo already and it's only made us hungrier for the full game." So thanks to both Steve and Allen for their kind words. Today was a big deal for Irrational. People put a lot of emotion and hard work into this game and a demo release can be scary.

According to IG's Bill Gardner, there is usually very little info on demos. So while we don't want to give too much away and ruin it for you, I will give you a little info:

The demo level comes from the middle of the game and is set in Berlin smack in the thick of World War II. All sorts of malarkey is taking place at the hands of those pesky Nazis and you are there to stop them from burning some very precious books. Book burning is always a good sign in a society! On the mission you will encounter a whole slew of enemies ranging from Nazi riflemen to Roman Legionnaires and a whole lot more. You may even find yourself battling a certain very overweight opera singer. Watch out for collateral damage since Fortissimo's voice has been known to result in some serious knockback.

Bill also promises "multiplayer goodness" and "enough lederhosen to last a life time!" I am not willing to back that last one up since for all I know you require a large amount of lederhosen. Maybe you are wearing them right now.

Thanks to the folks over at Penny Arcade for their truly lovely words about Irrational and Freedom Force. We have great respect for what they do over there so it is a real honor to be spoken of so highly.

In other Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich news, the trailer is up and running on several sites, including Fileshack.

I just played a new build of Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich and I know I have very little credibility with Ken being my husband and all but damn the game is fun. I tend to be on the girly side but I do love to smash a building or two with a traffic light. Seriously, who wouldn't? Plus I really like Green Genie, one of the new characters. I even got a Green Genie valentine. How many girls can say that?

In other news, check out RPG Vault's three page SWAT 4 interview with Joe Faulstick. It has a lot of interesting detail and comes complete with six exclusive screen shots. Joe knows a lot about SWAT and a lot about the company in general. He also picked me and Ken up at the airport after that hideous snowstorm. He's super nice so read his interview.

And finally, the moment you've all been waiting for: The unveiling of the "Calling All Heroes Contest". I know that Irrational and Freedom Force had fantastic fans, but after seeing the response we got from the contest, I'm truly impressed. We received many incredible and inspired characters.

After careful consideration, Freedom Force is pleased to welcome the latest member of the team... The Bard!

The Bard was submitted by Richard Iacono who walks away with his very own copy of Freedom Force vs. The 3rd Reich and a personalized sketch from character designer, Robb Waters. As if being able to say that your creation made it into a game wasn't enough.

You can get a glimpse of The Bard in the demo's title screen. We'll have lots of juicy details on his powers this coming week.

The runners-up in the contest in no particular order are:

• Richard Tingle "The London Fog"
• Paul Callahan "The Sherman Tank"
• James Malcomson "Panic"
• Thomas La Chac "Screaming Eagle"
• Jeffrey Niebres - Oni

The runners-up will also receive a copy of the game. We'll also be sending Richard and the runners-up signed Issues #1 and 2 of the Freedom Force comic.

Congrats to all!

--- Meredith Levine