City of Heroes: Overview
Cryptic Studios and NCSoft set the standard for which all other super hero MMOs will be measured. First on April 28th, 2004 with City of Heroes and then again with City of Villains on October 28th, 2005, they have given players the freedom to create their own super heroes and super villains. With the most robust character creation to date in a MMO, as well as the ability to fly, teleport, super jump, and turn invisible, City of Heroes truly allows players to become any super hero they want.
In the game you take on the role of a super hero fighting for justice, or a super villain fighting against it. The majority of the game is about Missions, commonly known as quests in other MMOs. Most missions take place in instanced areas, so you are your team mates can confront a Boss villain, rescue hostages, or kill a whole hide out without interference. Amid the missions, story arcs will emerge. These are a series of missions which form a larger story, that will give the player new insights into the history and mythos of Paragon City.
There are other gameplay options, from PvP, to raids called Task Forces. City of Heroes tries to cater to both casual players as well as the hard core. With innovations like Sidekicks, a system that allows players with lower level characters to team up and fight along side players with high level characters, and a badge system to reward players for going out and exploring their environment, City of Heroes gives every type of player, something fun to do.
With a character creation system that allows you to create characters from tiny to monstrous in size, and to customize each body part from alien to robotic, monstrous to zombie like, you can make almost any look you desire. Add in the cool abilities to fly, super speed, hover, and an array of weapons from beams shooting out of your hands, to guns, and swords. Cryptic and NCSoft has set the bar high for super hero MMOs.
On November 6th, 2007 NCsoft announced that they had acquired the full game from developer Cryptic Studios and would continue development themselves at a new Northern California office.
