This E3 saw a plethora of massively multiplayer role playing games, so many that most of them seem to melt together into a mass of elves and watch and wait combat. Out of this mass rose City of Heroes, which commanded attention with its comic book inspired setting and unique game play mechanics. Boasting an incredible character creation system aimed at making each avatar truly unique, City of Heroes is shaping up into something really special.
For a game that hasn't even entered beta yet, City of Heroes looks and plays amazingly well. One of the biggest concerns about the game was if the city would be a mostly empty place with superheroes waiting in line to take turns beating up Mugger #3. However, the city is alive and bustling with NPC citizens, and the alleys crawl with the less savory types. The game easily handled hordes of ordinary NPCs with no noticeable slowdown or frame rate loss and the citizens are animated well, with a fantastic hands over the head run of panic that lets you know where the bad guys are. The city itself is very bright and carries the comic book theme well with large statues of legendary heroes and towering buildings.
Character creation is where the game really shines. You begin by picking how your character got their superpowers. You have five choices for your background; technology, mutant, magic, normal, or science. These background choices don't influence what powers you can use, they alter what costume choices are available to you. After you've chosen your background it's time to pick your archetype. Your archetype is what determines what powers will be available to you. The four archetypes are Blaster, Scrapper, Tank, and Protector. Blasters use mostly ranged powers and don't get into close combat. Scrappers are melee fighters who focus on putting out as much damage as possible without any thought to their own health. Tanks are giant meat shields, capable of absorbing massive amounts of damage without a thought, and Protectors get forcefields and other powers that help out other superheroes. Once you have an archetype then you get to choose your powers. While not all the powers were shown at E3, there was still an incredible variety, giving a taste of just how unique your character can be.
The final and most impressive part of character creation is costume selection. There are only 3 body types to choose from; female, male, and hulking. However, your body type can be altered somewhat using the height and width sliders, and between those and the costume selection a woman can make a fairly decent, if somewhat less beefy, She-Hulk. And the costume creation is simply incredible. For the head, players can choose face type, face detail, eyewear, hair, hats, hoods, and helmets. For each of these players can choose colors from a palette with great variety as well as textures. The clothing was also extremely customizable, allowing you to cover up or flaunt your comic book proportions. I ended up making a very impressive, towering female cyborg with metal hands and a cyber-monocle who could casually toss an ice dagger at an opponent and then finish them off with a one-two punch.
City of Heroes has no auto-attack mode. You don't simply sit and watch your character do everything on its own, you are involved in every move she makes. Each power and attack, including your basic punch, is assigned to buttons. After being used, each power requires time to refresh before you can use it again. This requires players to plan how they are going to attack and to create their own personal combos to use in battle. In groups the combos can get even more complex, allowing a huge variety in how battles can be played out. As you level, your powers never become useless. Instead they level with you, meaning that getting new powers gives you more options in how to approach each battle. While this all may sound a little too complex, it's all rather intuitive and plays out well in the actual game.
Overall the game holds true to its promise: to make you a superhero. Whether it's receiving the thanks of the woman you just saved from a mugger or watching the alien mothership turn tail and run after you defeated their ground force, the game presents to you a true comic book feel. With the promise of secret hideouts and villains who will become your personal nemesis, City of Heroes is an innovative title in a genre that suffers from too much similarity. Out of all the MMORPGs at E3, this is the one to watch.
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