Sentinels of Freedom

About

Sentinels of Freedom is a single player role playing game. It was developed by Underbite Games and was released on April 16, 2020. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Prepare for a story-driven campaign within the Sentinel Comics universe as you join forces with an ever-growing team of heroes to face a wide variety of villains. What seems like a typical bank heist reveals itself to be just the tip of a much more sinister plan!

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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74%

Audience ScoreBased on 246 reviews

story43 positive mentions

grinding8 negative mentions

The game features a robust character creation system, allowing for a variety of customization options for heroes.
The tactical turn-based combat is engaging, requiring players to think strategically about positioning and abilities.
The game captures the comic book feel of the Sentinels universe, with humorous writing and colorful graphics.

The game has been criticized for feeling unpolished, with issues such as clunky UI, poor sound design, and limited character customization.
Many players find the combat to be repetitive, often facing overwhelming numbers of enemies without enough variety in missions.
The game lacks depth in character progression, with limited leveling options and abilities that do not significantly enhance gameplay.

story
214 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
76%
4%
The game's story is a nostalgic homage to classic superhero comics, featuring a mix of cheesy tropes and engaging character arcs, though it often falls into repetitive mission structures that detract from its overall depth. While some players appreciate the comic-style storytelling and character customization, many criticize the linearity and lack of variety in missions, leading to a feeling of grind rather than a compelling narrative experience. Overall, the story is seen as serviceable but not particularly memorable, with potential for improvement in future chapters.
- “The story is immersive and fleshed out wonderfully.”
- “The writing and story feel right and the world is just like I imagined it would be.”
- “Storyline and script is so brilliantly cheesy and dry that it feels just like you're playing a golden/silver age comic.”
- “The story itself is also very forgettable, criminally so.”
- “Overall, I wish I could have liked this game, but the combination of frustrating and boring gameplay with the lack of any depth to the story just made the game feel like a chore.”
- “While I enjoyed the scenarios and level design, I'd have liked to see a bit more from the story, which (without spoiling too much) is a bit hackneyed and comes with all the familiar stereotypes and villain tropes in this standard fare story arc.”
gameplay
98 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
78%
7%
The gameplay of the game is a mixed bag, with some players praising its depth, unique mechanics, and strategic turn-based combat reminiscent of XCOM, while others criticize it for being overly complicated, clunky, and lacking in intuitive design. Many appreciate the character customization options and the variety of powers, but some find the mechanics confusing and the overall experience tedious or frustrating. Overall, while the game offers engaging elements for strategy fans, it may require patience to fully appreciate its complexities.
- “Great gameplay, great story, and character and ability customizations.”
- “Both gameplay and especially character creation have some real depth to it.”
- “The gameplay is fun and balanced.”
- “Overall, I wish I could have liked this game, but the combination of frustrating and boring gameplay with the lack of any depth to the story just made the game feel like a chore.”
- “The game is just boring with mechanics that just don’t work well for this genre.”
- “In addition to terrible controls and a brutally clunky and unintuitive interface, we next come to the actual combat mechanics themselves which are also terrible, and rely on a confusing rock-paper-scissors-lizard-spock grid system of interactions.”
graphics
48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
73%
8%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many players noting a cartoonish, comic book aesthetic that fits the theme but lacks polish and depth. While some appreciate the character creation options and the clean, coherent design, others criticize the low-quality textures, dull animations, and overall dated appearance, leading to a general consensus that the graphics are average at best. Despite the charm of the art style, many feel it falls short of its potential, leaving a cheap impression on the overall experience.
- “The graphics are spot on for the cartoon superhero genre.”
- “Sure, the graphics aren't something from a AAA gaming studio, but they're clean, coherent, and consistent, with a good amount of detail.”
- “I really liked the art style, and there is a lot of customization available for your character, including different avatar clothing options.”
- “The blocky graphics and minimal special effects do nothing to spice things up, either.”
- “Dull animations and graphics combined with expressionless characters gives this game a very cheap feel.”
- “The graphics make the characters’ skin look plastic.”
music
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
31%
32%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it repetitive and lacking variety, often leading to frustration during extended play. While some appreciate the catchy and thematically fitting soundtrack created by Jean-Marc Giffin, others criticize its blandness and the overwhelming volume that drowns out other sound effects. Overall, the audio experience is seen as a missed opportunity to enhance the game's epic setting.
- “The music is fitting and it's just a lot of fun!”
- “To get the bonus of the Sentinels of the Multiverse world to play in and its heroes to play with was fantastic, plus the music from the card game!”
- “Jean-Marc Giffin once again provides excellent music for a Sentinel Comics game.”
- “Audio and music were extremely disappointing; here was a good opportunity to show off the epic nature of the setting, but the effects felt bland. Worst still, the game cycles what feels like 2-3 tracks throughout the entire game with little rhyme or reason for it.”
- “After 15 hours of playing, I only have one real complaint: the music is maddeningly repetitive.”
- “The game's soundtrack is boring and repetitive; as far as I can tell, they just got the Sentinels' digital tracks and banged them into their game.”
grinding
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, as it often involves battling through large numbers of enemies in lengthy levels, leading to a repetitive and monotonous experience. The combat system is criticized for being unintuitive, making the grind feel even more laborious, especially when trying to unlock further customization options. Overall, the gameplay can become a frustrating "whack-a-mole" scenario that detracts from the enjoyment.
- “The game is more about taking down lots of enemies and grinding through what sometimes feels like endless enemies versus fewer stronger enemies.”
- “However, it becomes a tedious whack-a-mole scenario.”
- “Ultimately, the gameplay itself was starting to get a bit tedious by the time I finished chapter 1.”
humor
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is characterized by a comic book aesthetic that elicits genuine laughter, particularly through quirky character interactions and witty writing. Players appreciate the blend of cheesy humor reminiscent of classic superhero narratives, with memorable moments like a boss character humorously embracing his train persona. While some mid-mission dialogue may lack commentary, the overall comedic tone is well-received and adds to the game's charm.
- “If you like classic superheroes, you might love the very comic book feeling of the game. If you like both like I do, you're probably laughing as the first 'boss' of the tutorial, 'Freight Train', seems to really get too far into his train aesthetic and yells 'choo choo' as he bowls through heroes and calls his rear his caboose.”
- “Some of the responses and reactions you get in the comic-style cutscenes have genuinely made me laugh out loud.”
- “The writing is excellent - funny, and never too complicated.”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
Overall, the game's replayability is somewhat limited, primarily relying on difficulty adjustments, which can be both a strength and a weakness. However, the promise of future updates, including a skirmish mode and a custom difficulty option, suggests that replayability may improve significantly, offering players more variety and strategic depth in the long run.
- “I think a reason to not take those complaints to heart is there is a completely custom difficulty option, which is one of my biggest arguments for replayability as well.”
- “Stick with it though, and there is lots to love, and it seems like replayability is a plus!”
- “There's not a whole lot of replayability other than changing the difficulty.”
- “This is good (no random absurd setups) and bad (less replayability, variety) at the same time, but seeing as they are planning on adding a skirmish mode later, I'd say it's all good.”
- “I really believe this is going to add to the replayability of the game, especially with the promised battle simulator coming soon.”
optimization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The game's optimization is criticized for its lack of coherence, with character backgrounds and mechanics affecting performance in confusing ways. The save file system is cumbersome, particularly for players managing multiple heroes, and overall, the development feels unrefined, detracting from the strategic experience that players expect from the genre.
- “Character backgrounds and themes can also affect performance, such as increased action points or longer movement.”
- “In short, you can tell that this was a Kickstarter game made by people who enjoy strategy games and the Sentinels universe.”
- “The save file system in chapter 1 is not optimized for playing through with multiple heroes, and you have to juggle multiple files praying you've got the right one.”
- “Though in comparison, if I focused on AoE attacks with the same character where I did not strategize using the mechanics, I would remove more bad guys using the less optimized attack type.”
- “Strategy games reward players making meaningful choices, not optimized.”
character development
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
Character development in the game is largely criticized for being minimal, with reviewers noting a lack of depth and engagement in the characters. The character designs are described as amateurish and fail to capture the essence of the original board game, further detracting from the overall experience. Instead, the focus is placed on tactical gameplay rather than character growth or narrative.
- “No cover systems, a unique implementation of overwatch skills, an interesting 'stance' system, a focus on damage types, and next to no character development... only raw tactics.”
- “The character designer overall felt lackluster.”
- “The character development is basically nonexistent.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has been criticized for its instability, described as a "buggy mess" with a clunky feel, indicating it feels unfinished. However, the developers have implemented several hotfixes in response to early feedback, suggesting ongoing efforts to improve stability.
- “A buggy mess with a four-color comic aesthetic.”
- “The game itself is a bit clunky and buggy, and feels super unfinished.”
- “They've already applied a couple of hotfixes, so unfortunately a lot of the negative reviews left in the first couple of days about specific buggy issues have likely already been addressed.”