In March of 2004 a new concept of game play was released. Riding the success of other online games it decided to take a new lease on the world. Feeding on the desire of comic book novelty, it allowed a person to create their very own superhero, and allow them to interact in a huge world, with many other people. I know when I was growing up, I thought the Marvel/DC universe was fantastic, which made me wish to be like a superhero when I was younger, along with a lot of my friends.

What was so special about this game was the degree of customization. There was a vast array of choices you made to create a character, breaking it down from most factors on the human body. This allowed people to not only create their own dynamic characters, but also copy many of the existing ones out there like Wolverine. This lead to Marvel suing City of Heroes over this, and if a company like Marvel is suing it, you it obviously points out how good it could be.

Upon the initial release, one huge factor was missing. That main key thing was that was to be the bad guy. As great as it is to be a good guy, it is completely different type of satisfaction to be the bad guy. I am talking about the type of guy that pulls off the greatest “Grift” in history, and getting away with it. While you do get away with the entire misdoing you attempt, you do lack the stealthyness of the quiet theft. This is okay, as it is basically just a copy of their first game -- City of Villains -- but allowing you to go through the trails of evil instead of the righteous path of good.

Graphically the game does look quite nice. There is plenty of eye candy to look at from vehicle, to torn down blocks of city. The water looks nice, and they have even done a good job with the sewer system. The characters even look pretty nice, and are very customizable. For each piece of equipment that you put on, you can control the gross colours of them by selecting the two colours. You can also choose to have the same two colours throughout the entire suit to keep the same theme.

You have five groups when creating a villain, and first you have the Brute. This guy is your strong man as they use a lot of up front, and in your face attacks. They are your tank, and they are great at it. As you are hit you fill up your fury bar, and the fuller it gets the more damage you inflict upon your enemies. This one is the most fun to play because you do not have to put a lot of thought into it. This would be the type of character that is like the Hulk, where you go in and smash the enemies to bits.

Following the Brute, you have the Stalker type. I found them pretty good as a mid level character, as they have some offensive and defensive skills. They are also melee-based fighters so you will need to get up into the battle again. They heavily are tied to skills that have damage per second attacks. Rather than getting them in one hit and killing them instantly, it just takes a few seconds to accomplish their task. They also have the power to hide, which allows them to sneak up on the enemy and start off with a crucial critical attack. The best character I could reference to would be Psylocke when including the stealth factor.

Thirdly you have the Mastermind. This could probably be considered the evilest styled character, as they call forth henchmen to do their battle. They are able to summon characters like zombies, ninjas, and even robots. What I found challenging with them was juggling controlling the character, while telling my henchmen what to do. If you hate the idea of teaming up with other people than this would be the perfect character for you. If you are still having trouble on what they are like, think of Doctor Doom with his Doombots.

Next you have the Dominator. This type of character is sort of like a telepath, which can allow you to control even the enemies and have them battle for you. They do have a flurry of powers, which allows them to do quite well. Unlike the mastermind, they are more of a supplement for a team, rather that then a full battler. They do really well in the early levels, but later on they will need to team up. For this character, just think of Jean Grey to get their style.

Finally you have the corruptor. This would be your long distance battler that hurls energy attacks, and other weapons at their enemies. They do also have support magic, which makes them an excellent addition to the team. They do a lot of damage, but up close is not their strong point, and a good Brute can mow them down. If they can keep the Brute away they should be able to take them down. Think of Hawkeye when trying to imagine this character.

Another cool factor is that you get to choose the source of where their power comes from. They range from science, mutation, magic, and technology, to natural abilities. Science is based upon experiments that gave power to your character. Mutation characters were born with their power. Magic, obviously comes from tools, or other mystical vents. Technology items are similar to science types, but delve more into robotic enhancements to get the job done. Natural power is the last option, where the person did not need any assistance to where they are at rather they accomplished it all by determination and training.