What's missing and what's not.
For traditional MMO'ers there's a little thing called substance, which this game sorely lacks. Past character creation, there is no way to truely vary your character from any other toon with the same powers. A level 50 mutant/ice controller is really no different from any other level 50 mutant/ice controller. Sure, you can throw in the fact that each may have put different enhancements into their power slots, but ultimately you would have a hard time distinguishing one from the other. I think the two biggest hurdles this game has to leap are: End game content and loot. These are two of the most basic concepts when developing an MMO, but neither are properly done in CoH.
Loot - By all means the most important aspect of a game that wishes to keep a user base thriving for the next upgrade. Enhancements just don't cut it. They have the same purpose as enchantments / slotted items, etc, in your fantasy related MMO's. They should be something used to augment your cool loot, not the only reward for your efforts. Cool boots with power increasing stats, capes that offer invisibility to those without the base skill, etc, are what we want...not round disc's you plug into your slots.
Inventions now offer a 'tradeskill' option to enhancements, but basically, you're making a round disc to fill a slot....*snore*
Gimme some gloves with pulsing light effects, that increase my tuffness and dodge ability. End game - The new Statesman encounter looks cool, but you need about 40 more of these to fill the gaps between level 10 and 50. I really hate having to move from City A to City B, C, D, E, F, G, during the course of one task force, just to complete the mission. To copy previous reviews, the basic mission quests - used for leveling - get down right boring after level 10. The AI is very simple, and offers no real test of group skill. It boils down to "Lets see if you can handle X number of mobs at once." They all have the same dang tactic... - Zerg -
What the game does better then any other is...
LFG interface - If you're looking to party up and join the action, it really doesn't take long. The grouping interface is very easy to use, and is very effective at pin-pointing those looking to team up. I've literally logged in, checked the LFG interface, and had a group up and running in about 3 minutes. Try that in WoW or EQ/EQ2.
Assisting main tank, etc. - This is very well done. It allows you to select one player, whos target is always visible to you. You can damage your target's target, without having to de-select him/her. At the same time, if you're a healer, you can seamlessly heal your tank, because all beneficial spells go to him and not his target. It's so seemless that you don't really care if your tank is constantly switching targets because you'll always damage the one he's hitting, and you're able to heal him without the tedious target switching.
Costumes are very well done, and though I've seen some similar characters in the City, it's nothing like other games. You wont see 20 dwarven paladins, all wearing golden shoulder pieces, in this MMO. To sum up, it's very fun for the first day or two, but after that it becomes a tedious grind to get to level 50 so you can do the one truly epic TF mission. Everything else is just mindless filler.