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City of Heroes Review July 05, 2004 Jason McMaster |
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Summary: Greetings citizen! Now stand aside, this is a job for SuperGameReviewerMan! Who else could tackle the mighty task of grappling with the complexities and appeal of a MMORPG like City of Heroes? So don your vaguely homoerotic skintight outfit, pick a corny name and get ready to read... er... ok, in the words of Jon Stewart: I got nuthin'.
 Overview | Page:: ( 1 / 6 ) |
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City of Heroes came out of nowhere and, in my opinion, has broadsided the MMO market. For the first time in a massively multiplayer game, the combat is really exciting. Fighting multiple opponents is not only challenging and fun, but a necessity, and this, my friends, is a good thing.
So, can a game like City of Heroes make it in the massively overcrowded online world? Absolutely. This game, after all is said and done, has the most potential of any MMO outside of World of Warcraft. The second game from Cryptic, City of Villains, is supposed to offer PvP with magnificent heroes fighting against diabolical villains. You get to choose which you are, naturally, and either start off as a low level scrub cleaning the streets or dirtying them. How can that go wrong?
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As for what’s available now, there’s tons of gameplay and fast paced fun to be had while flying through the city and striking fear into the hearts of evildoers. Striking magnificent poses on rooftops right before you sail down upon your unsuspecting prey. Who knew that wearing tights could be so fun!
| I want a Hero | Page:: ( 2 / 6 ) |
Learning the ropes, I mean webs… er, whatever.
The most interesting thing to happen in this game is that when you first step onto the streets of Liberty City, you feel like a hero. When you thwart the schemes of a few street toughs who are robbing a woman and she comes back to thank you, it makes you feel like a million bucks. Of course, when they mash your face in, you don’t feel like so much. Maybe a buck seventy-five or so, but that’s all part of being a hero, baby!
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However, before you start roughing guys up, you have to make yourself a hero! The character creation in CoH is amazing on every level. You start at what kind of background you have and progress all the way to customizing your look, which has an amazing amount of options, and writing your history and personal battle cry. This game has an incredible amount of personalization options, another first for the MMO community.
As mentioned before, the action in City of Heroes is quite intense. It’s not like a fighting game, but it’s as close as a MMO has produced to date. You get new powers on a fairly regular basis, which allows the game to stay fresh. Not only do you get to choose from a list of powers decided by you in your background but you have access to the general power category which includes such abilities as flight and super speed. You could make a character that combines Dolemite with the Flash, which is frightening and beautiful all at the same time.
Combat in City of Heroes ranges from leaping, building to building, to thwart bad guys on the street to taking on sect of villains in there own hideouts. When faced with a group of thugs you can take them all on at once or use certain powers to subdue others while you POW and ThwoK!! the ones closest to you. The action is fast-paced and the fists and energy beams are flying everywhere. Every villain fears you and every kid wants to be you. Life is good.
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The missions that were mentioned before are instanced for you or your group of friends, so you don’t have to worry about overcrowding. Don’t you hate it when you want to help a few goons “see the light” and some other bozo in matching leotards beats you to it? No worries about that, these goons are all yours for your own little private boot party. The missions are also one of the coolest aspects of the game. They range from burned out warehouses to sewers to skyscrapers and all of them are a blast.
| Groups | Page:: ( 3 / 6 ) |
Just the tights ma’am
Grouping with friends is an easy, good way to get some experience. It’s much easier to take down some of the more advanced bad guys this way as well as it’s definitely fun to hang out with friends and beat people at the same time. Then, of course, there’s the missions you’ll have to consider. Some of the missions will require that you bring friends because they get pretty hard later in the game.
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Grouping aside, you can also make super groups, you know, kind of like the superfriends except that you really don’t have to be that friendly. You could be the super-duper-mean-guys if you wanted. When you make a super group, you of course choose the name and such, but you can also choose the colors of the team outfits. You can change into your team outfits before taking on crime so that everyone knows you can coordinate color as well as feed thugs your fist.
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All of these things add up to a whole bunch of fun, but of course every game has its flaws. The only real nitpick for City of Heroes is the tedium, as is the problem with most MMOs. After blasting your millionth bad guy, you may find that it’s not as fun as it once was. Though, thankfully, Cryptic is doing a pretty good job of adding content as the game progresses. With enough color and excitement you may not notice the grind that’s inherently a part of all massive multiplayer games. This can be a hindrance, but it’s definitely not a reason to avoid a game that’s this enjoyable right out of the gates.
| Goodies | Page:: ( 4 / 6 ) |
What’s under the crime-mobiles hood?
Liberty City is a very attractive place. It’s not a modern marvel (get it, Marvel! HAH!) of graphical magic but it’s definitely stylish and clean. Depending on the section of the city you go to, you can expect a certain level of decay. Some areas will have things blowing along the streets and leaves falling from the trees whereas others will be squeaky clean and well lit. The scenery in CoH ranges from metropolitan to downright apocalyptic.
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The heroes and costumes are pretty great overall. It’s fun to run through the city and just stare at all the different vigilantes roaming the streets. The villains are pretty dynamite overall as well. From the Fifth Column down to the Hellions, they all have a different and fun look. The bosses are, well, pretty boss (pun intended), and are very imaginative and a load of fun. On occasion, you’ll be wandering down the street and bump into some crazy stuff. Every now and then, you’ll see a guy with a TV on his head preaching to a mass of crazies that will, inevitably, want to kill you.
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The sound is workable, it’s nothing to write home about, but it definitely does the job. The sound effects for the powers are pretty good, which is fortunate because there really aren’t all that many sounds in the game. The city has ambient sounds and the soundtrack is pretty decent as well. The enemies, depending on who they are, make different sounds as well. For instance, the clockworks make mechanical sounds (I wonder why). It’s not that the game has poor sound, it’s just that it doesn’t have enough sound.
| Ballistics Report | Page:: ( 5 / 6 ) |
Pros
Gameplay
It’s very seldom that you see a MMO that has fighting as fun as this one. There’s something magical about being a masked marauder, clobberin’ your way through group of neer do wells.
Theme
Who hasn’t dressed up as a superhero as a kid? Well, here’s your chance to do it without going to jail.
Graphics
As mentioned before, the graphics aren’t putting anything to shame, but they fit the game amazingly well. It almost looks like a Saturday morning cartoon coming to life.
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Cons
Tedium
Though not quickly apparent, there is a touch of grind involved in CoH, but that’s to be expected. Name one MMO that doesn’t grind.
Sound
Not so much of a con as it’s just kind of missing. The game could do with some more sound effects here and there and some spoken dialogue would be nice.
| Final Verdict | Page:: ( 6 / 6 ) |