City of Heroes

"Poetry in motion, variety oozing out."

I had been following this game since about 3 months before the beta. But due to constraints of time and money, I didn't buy it until late June. I'm no stranger to MMORPGs. But this one sparked my interest early and set a blaze that still hasn't been put out.

Graphics: 9/10
I wasn't really impressed by the graphics at first. But then, as you traverse through various zones, and see the landscapes and the detail in each one, you appreciate them. The cliffs in Steel Canyon, the pillars in Skyway City, even the statues in various areas are great looking. Onto the characters, only one word can correctly describe them: spectacular. You notice each color, every detail from the beard to the monocle. Everything is crystal clear (maybe that attributes more to the video card than the game), and even though I've been on the lookout for jagged edges, I haven't found any yet. And then the character movements. The effects of abilities and moves are easily noticeable. And they're poetry in motion. The whole game looks like it comes out of a comic book with the fonts that are used and such things. Great work by the designers to stick to a motif.

Gameplay: 10/10
This is probably the high point of the game. You create your own superhero. Everything from the color scheme to the style of character to the biography. You join teams with random players. Many of them you'll end up making a bond with and you'll continue to grow with them until level 50. You join or create a super group and you can have a sidekick. They pretty much thought out everything that a superhero could have and put it in the game. And you can do that up to 72 times.

Of course, it does have its downfalls. The missions can get repetitive. The task force missions are laborious with most of them forcing you to play for at least 4 hours in order to accomplish your goal. But the rewards are worth it.

The enhancement system works very well(how you improve aspects of your abilities), and so does the debt system (what happens to you when you die after level 5). But of course, as in any game, you're going to have those people who enjoy making life bad for the newer/more trusting players.

The archtypes, origins and enhancements decide what direction you take your character, and you never can really find an exact pair. For example, my level 18 Dark Melee/Regeneration scrapper went on a Task Force Mission with three other level 18 DM/RGN scrappers. We all had the same build, but due to our choice of moves, we all made our own purposes in that mission. Scrappers are your close combat, high damage dealers with OK health; Tankers are your close combat, medium damage with great health; Blasters are your long range attackers; Defenders usually serve as healers while Controllers use the elements/psychic powers to dominate their foes. The origins (Magic, Natural, Science, Technology, Mutation) indicate what type of Enhancements you can use. Most people plan out what they want to do with their character before they make it, so they don't have to start it over because they feel that they made a bad decision.

Sound: 7/10
The sound at best is mediocre. There's no background music, except for clips that play when you switch zones. Of course this can be remedied by playing a CD in the background, and Paragon Radio(a non-affiliated internet radio station) takes requests in Virtue's server. The other sounds, such as the abilities being used and charging up are good, but nothing spectacular.

Replayability: 10/10
Of course its replayable. You can have up to 8 characters on 9 different servers. 72 characters total! The only problem is(at the time of this review) there is no way to transfer a character from one server to another with the same exact stats. You can have your serious character who villains look upon in fear, and then switch to your Oompa Loompa so you can join a supergroup with Willy Wonka (I know this by experience). The whole experience depends on what you decide to make of it.

Worth your time?:
Of course. It's $15 a month. I'm willing to pay $30 on it (but don't tell the developers). If you buy a time card, your first 3 months are $30 and you can cancel without the hassle of dealing with your credit card company. I know families that play this together. It can appeal to a wide audience of people. Who growing up didn't emulate Green Lantern? Now, its your chance. Not only that, but the developers are known to post on the forums. If that's not user feedback, then what is?

Negatives:
-Background music (or lack thereof)

Positives:
-Number of characters you can create and the various ways you can create them
-Battle System

9/10. More than likely its your cup of tea.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/15/04