Description City of Heroes is massively multiplayer RPG online world that's home to an entire universe of heroes. You and thousands of other players will be able to take on the roles of super powered heroes - in a stunning, 3D graphical world with numerous gameplay features that heighten the heroic online experience.
Summary: I have all of the reviews to date, and everyone has valid points. The question is whether or not you will love the game, like the game, or grow bored with the game after the initial 2-3 weeks of gameplay.
I think CoH is a game that combines FPS type melee with MMORPG play, but is not an immersive game in the sense of the storyline. You are definitely in a superhero world, but you are not in a story. The story is what you make up of your character and the people you interact with. Which is, in the end, very comic book like. Some people will like this, some will be put off.
I played the WoW stress beta and was blown away by the game. Depressed, I tried other games including SWG, but then tried CoH. I fell in love with it immediately and am still going strong. The thing I love most about this game is the avatar design, and the uniqueness of every avatar. When you are fighting melees, a balanced team is not only essential, but typically unique. And the fact that every character looks different, in most cases very different, makes the gameplay experience unlike any other game.
OK, the knocks on the game. I wish the stores would be displayed on the map. The chat interface is buggy, but I think they are working on it. It also would be nice if the landscape was interactive. Like if you land on a car it should get squashed. Or you should be able to pick up a car and throw it. Or smash through a building/fence. Kind of like Freedom Force. Would change some aspects of the game. These are not reasons not to buy the game, but rather proof of my "objectivity" :)
Summary: I can say that it is about time that a game comes out with a totally different concept from all the rest. The problem with this is that everyone who likes all of the same type of games will probably be expecting more from COH. Don’t buy this game expecting to become the single character to rule all and save the world. Where this is possible for the first 15 levels, it’s not the case for the rest of the game. Instead, plan on bringing your friends in for this one.
After reading the reviews previously written about this game, I can totally understand how some people don’t like it. This game (like many other MMORPG) is simply not designed to be played solo. It seems that the people who gave this game a bad review play alone.
If you are thinking about trying this one out, then I would say first off that it is well worth the going rate of $39.95 since the first month of service is free. And speaking of that, I know another bad aspect of the game is the hefty $14.95/mo bill that comes with it. Think back to all of the online games you have played with your friends. Were any of those games so bugged or laggy that it took the fun out of playing them? That was the case for me. Just remember that your monthly payment is going to constant tech support and online updates. Working out to about 50 cents a day, Heroes has proven to be bug and lag free for the most part, and has spawned constant updates as well as one major update. That is what you should expect for paying for a service like this.
You should purchase this game expecting to create many different characters before you settle on leveling one. Expect long hours of fighting, brief moments of downtime, and some frustrations...all explained below.
Summary: To be honest, I really didn't like this game for several reasons. First of all, while designing a super hero is cool in concept, it is actually limited in its execution. The game also gets very repetative and the controls are VERY clunky and awkward in my opinion. The monthly fee isn't exactly one of its shining characteristics either. I probably had the msot fun designing my character, which is not a good thing. I got this game because all of my friends got it and it is supposed to be alot of fun with a group of people. Well it may be, but for me, the control issues and some other minor issues makes me wish I would not have purchased the game.
Summary: This game really hooks you in when you fist start playing. The character creator is great, and you can spend an hour just making your costume. I read about how amazing this costume creator was from preview writings when the game was in beta, however trust me when I say it still leaves something to be desired. Many times you will find that there just isn't enough of a selection in each costume category for your liking, or you will groan when you find out you can't add a pattern to a certain category, or can't have 2 colors on the item you want. Also, because the game was rushed into release, there are no capes or shields. Funny, for as long as the game was in production, they still could not get capes or shields to look right, or work correctly.
OK so on with the game. This review will not be long because to me, the core of a game is obviously around how it plays, and what it offers you. Graphics aren't part of thecore of a game in my opinion. Me personally, if the graphics suck, but the game just compels you to keep playing and provides a sense of enjoyment, then who cares about the graphics? Sadly, unless you have a very low intelligence, or have real life issues that compel you to get sucked into a virtual game world, there's really nothing beyond the initial few hours of this game. Meaning, what you do for the first 2 hours in this game is what you will be doing in this game for as long as you play it. Let's take a deeper look.
The core of this game relies on your character running around a city and fighting bad guy after bad guy after bad guy. The reason you do this? To get experience so you can gain new powers, or enhance the ones you already have, so you can get out there and kill MORE bad guys. What I'm saying is, this game is a total level up treadmill. There is nothing to do in this game besides constantly grind away level after level and kill criminal upon criminal. Is this fun? YES for the first few days, until the newness wears off, then you start to think "Umm, what in the WORLD am I doing?"
And believe me when i tell you that there is NOTHING else to do in this game. There is no craft system. There are no minigames. Everquest is content heaven when compared to this game. The only other thing you can really do in this game, is roleplay, if you're into that, of which I'm not, because from my experiences, I've found that internet roleplay improv is hectic and very unrewarding. The stories turn into a jumble because eveyone wants to make their interjections into the sotry the most prevalent aspect. But I digress.
I played this game a LOT over a 2 week period. I started playing on my friend's account and I thought it seemed fun enough to warrant my own purchase and subscription. Two weeks later, the account is sold. In all the time I spent on this game, let's say 80 hours or so...I only got my character up to level 18 out of a possible 40. Now there's a few issues with this. One is that when you have a game that has a very low level cap, this means that the progress will of course be slower, because this game is a company's business, and they want you to keep playing to reach that pinnacle, they don't want you to reach the "end" in 2 weeks and then stop. Now the caveat with the low level cap is that because you are leveling very slowly, this means that your character will also be slow to change. The upgrades to your powers and finding of new powers will come very slowly over a real time frame. For example, If you only get a chance to play for an hour or two a day, you will definately find yourself becoming bored with this game much faster than even I did. Who wants to play a game for 2 hours every day for a week, and do the exact same thing over and over till your cry blood, and not have your character change one bit? Then you have to realize that when finally at the end of the week you gain a level, you gain you new power, or slot enhancements of current powers, all you have to look forward to is yet another week of grinding away doing the same thing over and over for a couple hours a day. Is this fun or more like work? There's just too much time passing between character upgrades for the casual gamer. Heck it was even too long for me and I was someone who was playing sometimes 8 hours a day. When you add in the fact that you can't do anything else in the game to pass time besides kill criminals, it's just sad. (continued in Gameplay)
Summary: Do you love comic books or simply always wanted to play a game in which you could be a superhero? City of Heroes just might be the game for you. Read on.....
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