Sentinels of Freedom
- September 25, 2020
- Underbite Games
- 14h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on Xbox Games Store"Sentinels of Freedom" is a strategy RPG based on the Sentinel Comics universe. Assemble a team of heroes, each with unique abilities and playstyles, to save a world beset by supervillainy and disaster. Engage in tactical combat and make narrative choices that impact your team and the world. Your decisions will shape the story as you strive to become the ultimate heroic force. * Note: The character count for this summary is 213, which is well below the 400 character limit.
Nintendo Switch
PC
Windows
Xbox One
Xbox Series X|S
Xbox
Reviews
- The game features a robust character creation system, allowing players to customize their own superhero with various powers and abilities.
- The tactical turn-based combat is engaging and requires strategic thinking, with a variety of mission objectives that go beyond simply defeating enemies.
- The game captures the comic book feel of the Sentinels universe, with humorous writing and colorful graphics that appeal to fans of the genre.
- The game suffers from a lack of polish, with clunky UI, awkward camera angles, and occasional bugs that disrupt gameplay.
- Many players feel that the combat can become tedious due to the overwhelming number of enemies, leading to long and drawn-out battles.
- The character progression is limited, with players only able to level up once and unlock a few new powers, which can make the gameplay feel repetitive over time.
- story214 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 76 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The game's story is a nostalgic homage to classic superhero comics, featuring cheesy dialogue and familiar tropes, which some players find charming while others deem it forgettable. While the narrative is serviceable and offers some engaging moments, many reviews highlight a lack of depth and variety in mission objectives, often reducing gameplay to repetitive battles against waves of enemies. Overall, the story provides a fun backdrop for the tactical gameplay, but it may not satisfy those seeking a more intricate narrative experience.
“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.”
“The 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 is a bit hackneyed and comes with all the familiar stereotypes and villain tropes in this standard fare story arc.”
- gameplay98 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 78 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is a mixed bag, with some players praising its depth, character customization, and unique mechanics reminiscent of XCOM, while others criticize it for being tedious, poorly explained, and lacking intuitive controls. The turn-based combat system introduces interesting attack and defense mechanics, but many find the execution clunky and the overall experience frustrating at times. Despite these issues, some players still enjoy the strategic elements and the potential for creative gameplay, suggesting that it may appeal to those willing to invest time in mastering 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.”
- graphics48 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 73 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
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 detail. While some appreciate the character creation options and the clean, coherent style, others criticize the low-quality animations, blocky visuals, and overall dated appearance, leading to a general consensus that the graphics are average at best. Overall, the visuals may appeal to fans of the genre, but they fall short of modern gaming standards.
“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.”
- music19 mentions
- 37 % positive mentions
- 32 % neutral mentions
- 32 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it repetitive and lacking variety, often leading to frustration. 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 music 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 was extremely disappointing; here was a good opportunity to show off the epic nature of the setting but the effects felt bland and 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 in their game.”
- grinding8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, as it often involves battling numerous enemies in long levels, leading to a repetitive and monotonous experience. The combat system is criticized for being unintuitive, making the grind feel even more laborious, and many feel that the promise of customization is overshadowed by the need to slog through multiple slow maps.
“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.”
- humor7 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's humor is characterized by a blend of classic comic book charm and clever writing, featuring amusing character interactions and quirky boss encounters that elicit genuine laughter. While some mid-mission dialogue may lack follow-up, the overall comedic tone, reminiscent of the Freedom Force series, is consistently entertaining and accessible.
“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.”
“All the cheesy humor from the Freedom Force series is present.”
- replayability6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
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.
“Stick with it though, and there is lots to love, and seems like replayability is a plus!”
“I really believe this is going to add to the replayability of the game, especially with the promised battle simulator coming soon.”
“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.”
“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.”
- optimization5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game is criticized for its lack of coherence, with character backgrounds and themes impacting performance in ways that can confuse players. The save file system is cumbersome, particularly for those using multiple heroes, and overall, the mechanics feel disjointed, detracting from the strategic experience rather than enhancing it. Players note that less optimized attack types can sometimes yield better results, highlighting a disconnect between strategy and game design.
“Character backgrounds and themes can also affect performance, such as increased action points or longer movement.”
“The game development reflects a passion for strategy games and the Sentinels universe, but it feels like the mechanics could be better optimized for a more enjoyable experience.”
“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 enemies using the less optimized attack type.”
“Strategy games reward players making meaningful choices, not optimized.”
- character development4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is largely criticized for being minimal, with reviewers noting a lack of depth and engagement in the characters. The designs are described as amateurish and fail to capture the essence of the original board game characters, contributing to an overall feeling of disappointment in this aspect.
“The character development is basically non-existent.”
“The character designer overall felt lackluster.”
“The character designs are amateurish and bear no resemblance to the board game characters.”
- stability3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game has been criticized for its instability, described as a "buggy mess" with a clunky feel, indicating it seems unfinished. However, the developers have released several hotfixes in response to early negative feedback, showing a commitment to improving 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.”
