City of Villains Review

Another important aspect to mention is the re-emphasis on Supergroups. The Supergroup, originated in CoH, was a way for players to ban together to quickly find teams, but ultimately had no purpose. Other than a quick costume change, there wasn't any point to being in a SG. With CoV, the Supergroup system received an overhaul. In addition to the SG receiving a new costume scheme, each SG can create a Base, where members can hang out, plan schemes, and...steal stuff from other SGs. Once the SG has garnered enough Prestige points, they can expand their base and add things like workshops, where various bits of salvage can be turned into items, resurrection points, so a member can rez at the base instead of a hospital, or monuments that grant the entire SG some pretty serious buffs! The problem is these monuments can be stolen if your base's defenses aren't up to snuff, and any SG can attempt a raid on your base! So, the SG's leadership needs to plan out the base carefully, so you can keep all of your nifty toys.

I love zapping! Haa!

My spiky outfit rulez!

Another aspect that received some love is the inter-game PvP. During the game's beta, we were treated to a few events where Heroes of Paragon City went toe to toe with the Villains of the Rogue Isles in some hairy PvP maps. There were about 50 heroes and villains on each side, vying for control points, which were battled over by some NPCs. The object was to clear the other side's NPCs at each point, while fending off the other side's players. Also, higher level players who own both games can venture into zones from the other game...if they can avoid being ganked. Right now, the Villain level cap is set to 40, while Heroes can hit 50. More than likely, the Villain cap will rise after a few content patches.

As for the rest of the gameplay? Well, if you've played City of Heroes, then you know exactly how it plays. Each character has a HUGE number of wardrobe choices, but once you choose your costume, that's it. There's very little in the way of loot or weapons or any of that nonsense, so there's no squabbling over rolls or ninjas or any of that nonsense. Your powers are your powers, Enhancements and money fall like rain, and it's all very civilized...for a rampant, power-hungry culture bent on world destruction....

The last and possibly best feature to all of this is that everything I just mentioned as new additions to City of Villains - the SG upgrades, the bases, the new graphics engine updates, all of it - each of these things is available to City of Heroes players now. So if you've ever wondered what its like to be on the wrong side of the law, with super powers bristling from your fingertips and an appetite for destruction, give City of Villains a try. You may just find your inner demons like to play games, too.