City of Heroes

"Live out your childhood fantasies..."

Everyone, at one time or another, has wished to be a superhero. Whether it be in your childhood when you wore sheets as capes, or in your teen years, when you just got out of seeing Spider-Man in theatres and thinking, "Wow, I wish I could shoot web out of my wrist!" Well, nows your chance. City Of Heroes gives you the opportunity to customize your very own hero, from the millions of outfit combinations, to the mysterious origin of your hero, including such origins as Scientific (Self-Inflicted or Lab Accident), to Natural(Trained powers, usually from a tragedy in the past). With all these options, making your character hooks you into the game before you even get a chance to use him/her.

Gameplay
From the second you set foot in Outbreak, you're given details on missions that the police need you to accomplish for them. For the most part, you, and other superhero friends, are out to stop gangs from taking part in crime in the town. You're given the option of randomly running around gaining experience, or to take more mission from NPC's. One of the best aspects of gameplay in City of Heroes is teaming. Sure, it is incredibly fun to go around and kick some butt on your own, but it more fun, and more rewarding, to go out and kick some butt alongside another hero of Paragon City. You can eventually join a "SuperGroup." A SuperGroup is basically an elite force of heroes that takes the standard teaming option to a whole new level. In a SuperGroup, you are always on that team(As long as you never leave them) and you have the option of doing larger missions, such as stopping nonstop invasions with 18 other heroes by your side. It's a challenging task but also very rewarding. The gameplay is however, quite standard. You're given a selection of abilities(The more you level, you more you get) and you can use those in a very straight forward, real-time battle. I often find myself just holding down my "3" key(My bind key for my favorite attack, Fire Cages) and waiting the enemies death out. It's fun, but it could be better.

Story
After you get out of training mode, one of the first things you do is go to City Hall to get a mission from a NPC. It could be anything from controlling a gang war, to destroying drug labs, to rescuing homeless people in the sewers. All that is great, but NCSoft really hit it out of the ballpark in one way with the story...it's completely and utterly expandable. Say people get bored with battling the same old "Helions" or "Circle of Thorns" enemies...NCSoft is always working on new and better updates for the game, constantly throwing in completely different storylines for you to follow in the game. The more you play, the more you will be able to do with future updates, and I think that is one of the things that makes City of Heroes have one of the greatest storylines of MMORPGs on the market today.

Graphics
The graphics are exactly what you would expect from a game being released on the market today. They aren't mind blowing, but they're not mind numbing either. The detail of everything is very precise, and one of my favorite aspects, graphic wise, is the detail of the heroes. You can see each and every aspect of their outfit, from their head to their toes. One problem with graphics occurs when the game's Sun goes down, and night comes upon Paragon City. I know that many people have problems with coloring in the night time. In fact, when night falls on my completely black character, he gets blue gloves and shoes. This is a big concern, as it happens to many, and it seems to take away from my personal "coolness." =P Aside from that though, the graphics are just fine for the type of game this is.

Sound
The sound in this game is superb. Whether you're simply changing areas of the city, or engaged in an endless battle with hordes of enemies, City Of Heroes really delivers in the sound department. Every individual thing has it's own unique sound, from a huge character running, making loud noises on the ground, to a light female character running swiftly making barely a tap, it has it all. They went all out in sounds.

Replay Value
It's absolutely insane how many hours you can spend sitting in front of your computer playing City of Heroes. There are 11 servers, with a limit of 8 character per server, you can have 88 individual characters to play with. Once you get into it, you don't come out. I find myself out teaming, building experience when I wake up in the morning, and the next thing I know, my parents are seeing what I want for lunch. It's incredibly addicting, but it's also fun at the same time. It can get a little monotonous, but only if you're out on the streets of Paragon City alone. And the community is great in this game. Sure there are a few jerks, but in what game aren't there? If I get in a good team, I don't want to stop playing for anything. Who knows, you could be the same way!

Overall
Overall, I rate this game an 8/10. It's DEFINITELY one to get, but if you prefer to play alone, it can be a little boring. But with the combined package of a never ending storyline, great sound, and great graphics, you can't go wrong with City Of Heroes.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/27/04