Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich Interview

GameSpot has conducted an interview with Irrational Games’ Ken Levine, in which the executive producer answers a quick set of questions about the soon-to-be-released Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich. Check it out:

Q: Tell us about the process of creating custom heroes in the new game. Is it more or less a similar process to that in the original (creating an appearance, buying powers with prestige costs, then recruiting in the campaign)? Have the multiplayer modes changed any part of the custom-hero-creation process? Also, in light of recent events–seeing as how video game companies may not always have free reign (or, arguably, even legal rights) to use comic book characters in video games–what steps has Irrational taken to prepare for such issues?

A: We felt that the recruitment aspect of the original worked quite well. We didn’t want to step on our fans, so we’ve kept the functionality the same but have added a few features, like an autobalance option that can be used to make sure multiplayer remains competitive.

We want to make sure that our fans respect the intellectual properties of others. This means that unless you have permission, you really shouldn’t go about re-creating established characters. Freedom Force was never about that. We designed all these tools to allow gamers to create that hero that’s been cooking in the back of their minds. We’ve seen some amazing characters rise to the top of our community. If people were simply creating preexisting heroes, nobody would get to the fresh and original stuff.