City of Heroes Hands-On

I must be the luckiest person in the world! I finally have a valid excuse for wearing tights and a cape 24/7. No more will I have to endure sidelong glances from others as I stand, chin held high, hands on my hips, resplendent in my tight, purple body stocking, as it hugs every bulge and curve, small wiry black hairs poking through looking like a mauve bag of spiders or some furry eggplant; my neon yellow cape fluttering in the breeze behind me while I refuel my car and gaze through my mask keeping an eye out for evildoers everywhere.

Yes, thanks to the fine folks at Cryptic Studios and NCSoft, I can indulge my superhero fantasies online through their new Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, (MMORPG) City of Heroes.

Ya know, even us toads get to have fun sometimes.

I’m ready! Bring on the make up and Chanel No. 5!!!

We got a glimpse at City of Heroes (CoH) at E3 last year and were happy to see a developer trying to bring something fresh to the MMORPG market. CoH forgoes the usual Sword and Sorcery routine and instead gives players the chance to create a crime fighting super hero. ActionTrip was graciously ushered into the City of Heroes beta about a month ago and I have been enjoying my mask and tights immensely. But, enough talk of how I spend my free time, let's talk about the game!

Cryptic Studios, in their first offering are undertaking a hero sized task: They are releasing a MMORPG in a year when three other mammoth titles are slated for release. Those three titles are, of course, World of Warcraft, EverQuest 2 and; launching on the same weekend as City of Heroes, and also being published by NCSoft; Lineage II. Cryptic Studios hopes that their pocket full of Kryptonite that will protect them from the other Superman sized titles is the fact that they have a truly unique concept.

The unique concept is allowing players to create and play a hero who defends Paragon City, a city which was nearly destroyed a few years ago by invading space aliens and now has roaming gangs and super villains threatening the safety of the humble citizens. Upon first entering the game, players create a hero that has a custom body, color scheme and of course, costume. First you must chose the archetype and power sets that define your new hero. Archetypes include Blaster, Controller, Defender, Scrapper and Tanker. For more information on archetypes click here.

The combination of archetypes and power sets is dizzying in variety. The robust system promises that player will have a hero that is unlike any other as they advance in the game. After defining your hero's archetype and powers you then get to customize the look of your hero. The character creation process is very powerful and very customizable. The paper doll system that the character design system employs allows you to select different body parts and costume components. The system has so many options it's almost a game in itself. It is not uncommon to spend 45 minutes or more just tweaking the look and skills of your character and not even realize that time has flown by as you created the perfect look for your hero. It's very unique and the most fun I have had creating a character in a MMORPG so far.

After your hero has been perfected, you enter into a tutorial to get familiar with gameplay. The camera floats behind your character by default but scrolling the mouse wheel forward allows you to enter first person view. As you are acquainted with how to move, fight and use your powers, you get a glimpse of what life is like in Paragon City. 'Zones' or different locations to play in represent all aspects of stereotypical large city including sprawling parks and city centers, business districts with towering skyscrapers and areas of urban decay with factories and abandoned buildings.

Hey, save some monsters for me!

Dya think they’ll let us in? Not in these outfits.

You will explore many areas of the city as your career as a super hero takes off. Just running around and exploring will reveal groups of thugs who are mugging passers by or defacing public property. If you want a more directed approach to your adventures, missions are available. Missions (the equivalent of quests in other games) are acquired by talking to contacts scattered throughout the city. Your contact could request that you investigate some missing scientists that were seen being led into the city's sewer system or to patrol an area of the city to discourage gang activity.

Graphics are done in comic book style with bright vibrant colors and plenty of special effects to accentuate super hero attacks. When players type messages to one another, text bubbles appear over their heads to further complete the illusion that you are playing a comic book. Animations for heroes and villains alike are smooth, varied and overall, very well done. Comic book style enemies range from street punks to robot minions or even zombies and other undead.

Sound effects and music help bring the city to life as cars and trucks race by on the street and music swells as combat starts, or as you enter a new area.

Attention to the single player game experience in the MMORPG world seems to be a popular topic that most new games are trying to address. A group is not necessary in order to advance or have fun but again, in typical comic book fashion, joining a group of other heroes leads to more and harder enemies when combat begins and the battles can be epic. Heroes fire off blasts of energy that blow multiple bad guys across the screen while another hero hovers nearby shielding her teammates from the horde of thugs and their attacks.

As your hero dispatches villainous scum, and increases in level, new powers will be unlocked. These powers can be augmented by enhancement tokens that are sometimes found after combat. These tokens allow the player to further customize the powers the hero has chosen, such as increasing the damage an attack does or reduce the energy cost for the attack.