SCOOP: Your feedback on CITY OF HEROES!

By: Patrick Sauriol
Date: Saturday, April 24, 2004

We asked and you answered the call! Yesterday we made a call for gamers participating in the CITY OF HEROES beta testing phase to send us their thoughts of this anticipated PC video game which allows you to create and play your own superhero in an online city, interacting with other players/heroes and doing battle with supervillains. The game is scheduled for release next week and the buzz factor for this MMORPG has been growing steadily so why not get an early judgement from the vanguard, those that have been already playing the game?

And it seems to be good news: of the six reviews we received in the past 24 hours, four of them were glowing recommendations for CITY OF HEROES. Many of the reviewers took time outlining what they loved (and what they didn't like so much) and that's precisely the kind of meaty review packed full of info that we like to get around here.

Special thanks go out to all who submitted their well-constructed criticisms and commendations for the CITY OF HEROES beta test. We hope to have more of these kinds of reader reports for other video games in the future (say, isn't WORLD OF WARCRAFT supposed to be coming out this summer?) Keep us in mind, peeps!

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REVIEW 1: (positive)

"I was a beta tester for the game. This game is the most amazing MMORPG I have played to this date. The engine is as polished as it gets and the graphics are beautiful. The gameplay is so fun! You really do feel like you are a superhero fighting crime in this huge city. Last night when beta ended we were treated to a great special event. The developers arranged an attack force of aliens to attack the city. Huge spaceships reminicent of INDEPENDENCE DAY filled the skies and aliens flooded the streets as superheroes of all kinds battled together to stop the invasion. We held them off and the alien ships flew away but we knew they would return in greater numbers when the game would be released.

"There is so much backstory going on as well. You start out busting gang members on the street and later you are nailing major crime syndicates, groups of magic users bent on destroying the world, and aliens who wish to dominate mankind.

"Your powers are anything you can dream of in a comic book. Flying? You got it. Shoot beams of powers from your hand? Yes. Jump over tall building in a single bound? Certainly. Control the minds of your enemies? It's here. There won't be a superhero you can't conceive and create in this game.

"The character creation system alone will induce you to spend hours on just creating your hero! There are so many choices for your costumes that no two heroes are alike.

"You can join what is called a supergroup (think Fantastic Four, The Avengers, Justice League) and fight together with the same uniform and save the city.

"Can't play as much as your friends? NO PROBLEM! Become a sidekick and you are able to fight by the side of your more powerful friends instantly (by leveling you up to one level below the highest member of your team while you are in range of your mentor).

"Do I sound like an advertisement for the game? Maybe. The truth is I am simply a beta tester and I'm just that excited about the game. I'll be there on Sunday for the pre-order head start on the Justice server as..."

[Thane - Master of Storms and Illusions.]

REVIEW 2: (positive)

"I spent a little of a month on beta testing the game. I've played all the classes some, but mostly as a Defender and Blaster.

"The graphics are outstanding. Character animations are smooth, the indoor and outdoor environments look great. Some of the views from the high rooftops can give you a little vertigo if you're afraid of heights.

"Creating a hero is the most detailed part of them game. Players can create a look and powerset that best suits their playing style. I've seen some pretty original characters and some pretty astounding recreations of 'The Tick', 'Wolverine', and 'Cyclops'. You can really lose yourself in it.

"The game itself is oriented around combat. There isn't an economic model along the lines of EVE-ONLINE or ULTIMA ONLINE. The currency of the game is influence which is earned by defeating villians and completing missions. Influence is used for purchasing Inspirations (temporary powerups) and Enhancements (boosts a specific power permanently). Influence, Inspirations, and Enhancements can be traded among players. Those who like detailed economic models will be disappointed.

"Combat is kept simple. Choose a target and use a power on it. The difficulty comes from choosing the right targets and the right powers. If you just blast away you'll find yourself in running out of energy .. and in trouble. Managing your enhancements on powers really makes a difference.

"The thing I've noticed is that gameplay improves immensely when you're with a team. The 'Indoor' missions adjust the number and strength of villans based on your team's size and strength. They are almost always challenging, but sometimes they push the difficultly a little too high. One or two missions were nearly impossible with a large group, even one that wasn't very powerful. I think if they keep working with players when the game goes live that will be improved.

"The only really negative thing I can say about it is that it doesn't work well with the Radeon 9600 or 9700 video boards. It took some work to get it play with mine. I've heard others had similar problems. The PlayNC folks were quick to respond to my problem report and we eventually found a satisfactory workaround. They are working with ATI to resolve them and I believe they soon will.

"Overall, I think it's a great RPG. I've enjoyed playing it so far and I look forward to going live with it next week."

[Thanks to 'Agamemnon' for their superheroics.]

REVIEW 3: (positive)

"Since you're inviting more comments about CITY OF HEROES, I'll provide a follow up to my earlier tip:

"CITY OF HEROES has me goo goo for MMORPG's again. After feeling positively burned by the mind-numbing drudgery of an unnamed intergalactic MMORPG, Cryptic Studio's initial offering is a breathe of fresh air.

"I imagine that some people will get the game simply for the unparalleled character creator. There are TONS of options in my months of beta testing, I never saw two characters who looked even remotely alike. There are millions of character combinations to play around with, making this almost a game in-and-of itself.

"The focus of the game is fighting evil in crime-ridden Paragon City. The game offers the typical MMORPG style combat (tankers, nukers, crowd controllers, healers, etc.), but ramps it up to a frenetic pace. This allows CITY OF HEROES to improve on the best part of other MMORPG's, the combat, yet it also manages to alleviate the worst part of other games, the dreaded downtime. Here, combat is fast and furious and recovery time is quick and painless.

"Characters initially start off with two super powers and continually gain more as the character progresses. The powers are very diverse, ranging from your typical superhero powers of strength, flight, and invulnerability all the way to the bizarre, such as poisonous spines and dark energy. Players can also play as Punisher-type characters with no real super powers to speak of such as using massive rifles, mines, and web grenades. All of the powers are expertly done with cool power effects and sounds.

"The city itself is full of life and is rendered in gorgeous detail. Flying high above the city, you can still see the cars moving far down on the street below you. Also, the level of detail included in the cities really shows off the designers' comic book roots. On top of the interesting back-story involved with nearly every location in the game, it also offers what are known as story arcs. These allow your character to explore in depth particular criminal organizations. So far, these have proven to be very engrossing stories and often leave me wanting to play longer just to learn the next piece of the puzzle.

"As for the game's cons, some people find it to be a bit of a level grind. At later levels, trying to earn your next power may seem like forever. Also, the game is far simpler than some other MMORPG's out there, as it currently does not offer some of the staples of the genre, such as crafting, player-owned housing, or pvp. Overall, however, the game is top-notch and I have enjoyed it immensely.

"Come launch, comic book fans are going to be in heaven."

['Danjak' likes to wear tights and so do we.]

REVIEW 4: (positive)

"I was a beta tester on CITY OF HEROES. I have played in several mmorpg beta tests, and COH was as smooth and bug free at the close of beta as any game I have been invovled in, and better than most. Its fun and very easy to play. I was sceptical going in but am now very much looking forward to launch!"

[Sent in by an anonymous hero from somewhere in Patriot City.]

REVIEW 5: (positive/mixed)

"The game is great, except for one glaring problem. I was part of the beta test, and I have never been kicked out of an MMORPG as much as this one. Several times people would get 'Lost connection to Mapserver' errors. It got to the point where if you saw someone running in place the rest of the group would go, 'Well, so and so got Mapservered.' It really saddened me when I found out the game went gold while this problem still seemed to be running rampant. I had this problem at least once almost every night that I played, oftentimes more than once.

"Well, enough complaining. The team-based missions are very good, and the different styles of heroes that are available make building an effective team something that requires a good deal of thought. If not for the above mentioned problem, I would have nothing but rave reviews for the game. Hopefully, with the increased amount of servers that will be up when the game goes live, this problem will not be so bad."

['Akagis' has their very own secret headquarters, but don't we all?]

REVIEW 6: (negative)

"I was a beta tester on CITY OF HEROES, and I have to say that it was far from becoming a pre-eminent 'super-hero' game. Every second of the game you are aware you are playing a game, not playing as a super-hero - up to and including being lambasted by fellow 'heroes' for 'leeching' when you help them fight villains or thugs in the city proper. Shouldn't heroes help each other? Oh no. Killing thugs earns experience points, so don't try to steal XP from another character, even if helping him defeat evil is what a superhero should do.

"See, the game is based on earning points fighting to get power enhancements and levelling up; that means you should mind your own business even if you see another hero fighting villains. It is the complete opposite of immersive. The controls are clunky, and you don't play the hero, you tell him what powers to use; even then, you don't have a power base to use powers from, each individual power must recharge before reuse, often leaving your hero powerless.

"The buildings often look nice, but you can't enter them, and they have no personality - outside signs have been boiled down to huge banners that businesses and buildings would never use. Sidewalks are the size of four-lane highways, completely negating the feel you are 'in' Patriot City.

"Lighting is flat, shadows are blobs - so many down sides to this game. Frankly, it became a boring repetition of 'kill the zombies' in the early levels of the Blaster character I created. So much potential unrealized in this game - the superhero genre will STILL continue to wait for the game that will put players in the heroes (or villains!) shoes.

"By the way - you can't PLAY as a villain. You can only fight NPC goons and baddies, and that gets repetitious FAST."

[They're also anonymous.]

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As well, Editor Derek McCaw of Fanboy Planet also alerted us as to his site's best testing reports of the game, which you can read here and here.

CITY OF HEROES is released to stores on April 28.


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