Cryptic Studio's revolutionary MMORPG City of Heroes has the potential to be the best of the genre.
City of Heroes (CoH) is likely the best MMORPG on the market today. It’s a refreshing and effective change from the sword & sorcery games that have dominated the genre. Although recent updates have diluted the gameplay, the essence of City of Heroes (CoH) remains the same: uncomplicated, fast-paced, amazing action matched with excellent sound effects and graphics.
II. Pros
1. Amazing potential as far as updates and add-ons. I can see it now...Issue 10: Secret Identities - choose a profession and play as a mild-mannered human...Issue 20: Galactic Wars - travel to other planets through space and time to fight evil, alien forces! Nice!
2. CoH never ceases to disappoint in terms of character creation. I’m still able to come up with original characters, even after filling up all the given 88 character slots.
3. Brilliant team dynamics. Each of the archetypes (jobs) are unique enough and fitting to play in a team in such a way that teaming is an incredible experience. CoH is full of action-packed, edge-of-your-seat fights.
4. Captures the essence of being a superhero. In fact, Cryptic Studios out-does most comics in terms of content and quality, in my opinion.
5. Unlike other MMORPGs, character movement is not limited. This makes the gameplay more realistic and tolerable.
6. The graphics, animations and sound effects are top-notch.
7. The interface is refreshing and easy to use.
8. For those who already have friends playing, will form super groups or join a decent super group, CoH will be, of course, a much more enjoyable experience (yet still a grind).
9. Kheldians! Two archetypes Peacebringers and Warshades, only accesible to players with level 50 characters...worth the wait. To an extent, Kheldians give a new perspective to the gameplay.
III. Cons
1. Watered-down powers and archetypes after Issue 6, the latest update. The new patch has left a little imbalance between archetypes and nerfed everything and every hero type.
2. Power selection is still vague. Unless you read the forums or go elsewhere to learn about powers, selecting a power in-game is “hit-or-miss” due to lack of power statistics and detailed descriptions.
3. For casual and solo players, it will seem impossible to level and a grind. In fact, soloing has become more difficult after Issue 6.
4. Lack of oomph or interest in mission storylines. Voice-acting and cut scenes are very much needed. Also, similar to many MMORPGs, the missions are very repetitive. Some puzzle-solving and less grinding would be nice.
5. Lack of an ongoing soundtrack. Although the small music clips rock, a selectable soundtrack would make the experience much better.
6. Fans of crafting or farming will find that CoH has nothing similar.
7. The actual system requirements needed to run the game smoothly or perfectly are much higher than recommended requirements.
8. Prolonged installation and/or updates due to internet connection speed.
9. Is it worth the $14.95 per month fee? For that amount, I expected a bit more...
IV. Tips / Suggestions for New Players
1. Some cool builds to play are: Fire/Ice Tanker, Stone/Stone Tanker, Radiation Emission/Radiation Blast Defender, Fire Control/Radiation Emission Controller, Ice/Ice Blaster, Dark Melee/Regeneration Scrapper.
2. Join with real life friends, family, or neighbors. Although you’ll need to look for members for Task Forces later on, a team of 3 to 4 is perfect for starters.
3. Fight Clockwork foes to level up faster. At low levels, in Atlas Park and Galaxy City, they come out at night.
4. When soloing, in general, stay away from Vahzilok!
5. It’s best to select a travel power at level 14, when it’s first available. So, before 14, plan on taking a power from the Power Pool that’ll open a travel power.
V. Conclusion
Cryptic Studios no doubt have revolutionized the world of MMORPGs with such incredible features as the character creation, new style and concept of gameplay and user interface.
CoH is definitely worth trying. Although one can’t help shudder while thinking about what nerfs the developers have in store for the future, hopefully each update will bring CoH closer to perfection.