It’s been along time coming and there have been rumors of every kind about what would be found in the expanding universe of Cryptic Studio’s smash hit, City of Heroes. For those that can’t stomach the thought of playing as a goodie two-shoes do-gooder, have no fear, City of Villains is just what you need. After seeing the game in action this week, it is pretty clear that this cracked mirror image of the pristine and good hearted super heroes of Paragon City will make for one outstanding adventure, albeit a crooked and dishonest one. Your character, that you create using the updated character creator as found in City of Heroes, starts off as a thug that gets freed from prison as the criminal group known as the Arachnos are looking for some new recruits. As you make your way through the missions in the game that you choose to take, you improve your standing with them and move up through the ranks and become more powerful as you go. Although there are other groups in the city that you can gain favor from as well depending on how you conduct yourself.

The game’s scenery and environments are filled with gothic looking buildings and old classic French style architecture that gives the city a unique and rundown feel. The streets are dirty and the crime is rampant as The Rouge Isles are dominated by nothing but villains and criminals, much like you. The game play is the same as it is in City of Heroes, with you being able to select which archetype your character will follow as well as which powers you choose to use to go along with it. The graphics themselves have received upgrades in certain areas which are quite noticeable from the get go. The game now takes on a bloom effect for light sources and reflections of light shinning off armor and shiny objects look dazzling. The appearance of water in City of Heroes wasn’t much to write home about, but they have fixed that in City of Villains. The water now refracts the image below the water line and now actually flows and moves like real water.

Not that you will spend a lot of time in the water, but it does show that they paying attention to what needs to be fixed and fix it they did. Also the new physics engine allows villains to create more spectacular explosions and allows objects to get blown to bits in all their destructive glory. The layout of the Rogue Isles will feature 11 zones; 7 that are PvE and 4 that are PvP and will feature some of the same enemies that were found in Paragon City such as the Skulls and Circle of Thorns along with some new and interesting groups such as the earlier mentioned Arachno’s. One of the other main and brilliant focuses of City of Villains is the creation of your “Lair of Terror”. The game comes with a very easy to use building editor that allows you to create and construct your own home of villainy. The editor allows you to raise and lower floors and ceilings, create walls, corridors and additional rooms. You can simply choose the look of your lair by selecting it from a list of styles and then use the set of textures that goes along with it to customize it how you see fit.

The base editor also gives you the tools you need to decorate your base with all the necessities of a cozy home. You can add gun turrets for a line of defense against pesky intruders, add hospitals for healing and of course you can add objects like a fireplace and computer panels just for decoration and ornamentation. Once you have your base built and are feeling warm and cozy at home, don’t think for a second that you are safe and secure in your nest. During the course of the game, there will be missions when you will be able to secure an item of power, one of many through out the game. When you have it in your in your possession and in your base, after a certain amount of time, you will be told that there is a team of heroes on their way to your headquarters to retrieve it. When that happens, you must defend your base and hold off the onslaught from the heroes of Paragon City for an hour while they try to retrieve the object and return it to its rightful owners.

Although you do get to fight certain heroes from Paragon in City of Villains, such as Mynx and Statesman, the thought of being able to fight against the player controlled heroes from Paragon whenever you want sounds like the best thing that could happen. Unfortunately however, it’s not something that will be happening for quite some time. In the first release of city of Villains, you won’t be able to interact with Paragon City, but it was stated that later on after the initial release it will be a feature of the games to have them intertwined. If you were one of the ones waiting for City of Villains to arrive before jumping into the heroes universe or if you were one of those that left Paragon City and decided to take a break playing City of Heroes, this is definitely something that will draw you back into it’s clutches. Thankfully you won’t have much longer to wait as it is scheduled for a release later this year.