Published on: 19th May, 2009
Superhero comic books are brought to life in this MMORPG, and the people are counting on YOU
It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s… some character you created in a videogame. And that’s all you need to do to get started in the upcoming massively multiplayer, cel-shaded superhero RPG Champions Online, which we played last week during a visit to developer Cryptic Studios. Based on the pen-and-paper game Champions, Champions Online takes place in the established Champions universe, including the game’s iconic Millennium City, with classic Champions heroes and villains appearing as NPCs in its main story (written by Marvel writer John Layman).
The centerpiece of any superhero MMO is character creation, and Champions offers up enough options to keep us tweaking our heroes for hours. You can pick a powerset built around a theme, like fire, lightning or martial arts. You’ll also have a lot of control over your hero’s look, of course, and will be able to tweak body size, height, weight, and facial features, choose from hundreds of costume options and even go as far as to tweak individual pieces of armor.
Rather than tie players down to any particular “class,” Champions will enable you to mold your character however you like. For instance, if you want to create a tank-type character, you don’t have to limit yourself to only heavy attacks. The game also never forces a “look” on a player unless it’s part of the story, like having to use a disguise for a specific mission or use a certain weapon to defeat a boss. If you decide you want your character to have a broadsword for your visual look, but want the stats from a katana, those stats can be transferred to your broadsword.
When it’s finished, Champions will boast more than 900 missions and five different main zones, which will be huge and have their own unique characteristics. For example, we were shown a desert zone that had its own wasteland, a prison and an abandoned amusement park. Another zone, Lemuria, is 98 percent underwater, where some of your travel powers don’t work and you now have to worry about combat above and below you.
To make the missions a little easier (and tons more fun), players will be able to team up and fight evildoers together. That’s especially useful in the missions that involve giant monster fights, like the one against Lemuria’s Megalodon, a ginormous fish-creature that will typically take 20 people to fight. If you find you love your teammates just that much, you can form a Supergroup, Champions’ version of an MMO guild, which enables players to set officers, chat channels and message-of-the-days.
If you’re feeling more competitive and would rather see who is the better hero, Champions has a PvP system with three different types of fights. There’s a “Tournament of Champions” mode where you can create a team of five and battle against another team of five. “Bash” mode is the free-for-all combat that takes place in the slums of Millennium City, and “Apocalypse” mode features the end-of-the-world scenarios heroes prepare for, like prison outbreaks or villain uprisings.
Of course, no good deed goes unnoticed. Perks, like Achievements, are awarded based on various factors such as collecting items, exploring worlds, and completing storylines. These perks aren’t just for bragging, either; you can exchange them for new costume pieces and different weapon and stat upgrades at the perk store.
With so many great things in store for Champions Online, we’re excited for its release on PC this July 14, and fans of Cryptic’s notorious City of Heroes and City of Villains games should feel right at home with their new game. A version for the 360 will also be released in the future, but there’s no official release date yet.
via
NO MORE ROAMING FEES FOR INTERNATIONAL CALLS!
Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure: Looking at the box art of Gurumin, one may simply pass the game off as a simple, average children's adventure game. It's important...Powered by Games | Copyright 2007 - 2009. Game Maker, PSP Games VS PSP, PC, Xbox 360 Games. All rights reserved
Champions Online – hands-on | 
