I finally managed to download the City of Heroes European Beta. So far, I have to say that I'm rather impressed with what I've seen. The Character Creation is, indeed, out of this world with excellent customisation. Currently playing as a Katana-Wielding Cyber-Ninja like character named Saber(I know, the name might not make complete sense, but it works).








The overall gameplay is just fun, so far it has never really felt like a grind. In fact, from the few MMORPGs that I've played so far(Star Wars Galaxies beta, Worlds of Warcraft beta and Anarchy Online), this one seems to be perfect as a MMORPG. The missions make sense. The random encounters always tend to make sense instead of feeling as if they're just standing around, waiting for a hero to beat them up. It makes sense that there are a large amount of heroes in there doing the work for the little people. In fact, with all the normal civilians around who get constantly mugged, the game definately gives you the feeling as if you are already a high-powered hero, despite the fact that you'll often see much stronger heroes run by. Only played two hours so far, but it definately looks like a fun game.

Just curious, is anyone else in the European Beta? I'm currently on the Freedom server, named Saber, level 5 Natural Scrapper. If you ever wish to team up, give me a shout.

Looks interesting... kinda low level but still... interesting.

It is fun. For a while.

I got to level 12 with a controller until I got bored and realised just how shallow the game really is. Yes, the powers you get are cool, but... that's all you get. There's no loot, there's no player crafting, there's not really any point in exploring, the only thing City of Heroes has for it is the powers. This wouldn't really be a problem if you got new powers quickly, but the levelling speed slows down so rapidly and the death penalty increases so rapidly that you will quickly find yourself grinding endlessly. The 'enhancements' are a nice idea, but the actual difference they make is so tiny. As the game is essentially centred around powers, it's a shame that there's not much you can do if you realise you've chosen a fairly useless power. Hover was such a dissapointment.

But yes, the character creation screen in CoH is the second most impressive character creation screen I've ever seen. World of Warcraft looks terribly bland and boring in comparison. Everyone is the same height, and this looks quite odd in large groups.

CoH is really fun for awhile, but then the lack of any engrossing storylines(not to mention any kind of PvP) makes it less than exciting for me. I will say though that I love fighting on, to the side of, and between skyscrappers.

That is soooooooooo not true once you get Single-Origin Enhancements at level 22. Having 6 SOs in a power makes a massive difference. Hell, you basically double your effectiveness if you buy 100% SOs at 22.

Hover is a utility power, not a travel power. It's great when used by Controllers or Blasters to hover above a battle out of melee range.

You should've got a character to 14, Super Jump is IMO the most fun power in the game. Especially if you also have Hurdle. Leaping from building to train track to tree tops to building is so insanely fun.

Also, most skill sets have a level 28 or 32 power that once you get will totally redefine the way you play. Fullcrum Shift and Instant Healing for my ex-characters are just two examples.

Katana is very nice since it got its own animations, burrie. What's your secondary? From the screen shots I'd hazard a guess at Super Reflexes... Bad choice for a first character! SR doesnt bloom for a long, long while, and even then you really gotta know what you're doing with enhancement slots.

Well, went somewhat farther this time and joined two other players who were looking on doing a few missions together.


So from left to right, you have Trogdor(Blaster), Saber(Scrapper), and Molly Malone(Defender).


Cleared a few bases out there, generally just going against the forces of evil. (and I'm glad I had them both at my back. Good lord, but some battles were tough)


And got to Level 6, and choose invisibility as a new power, which kinda goes with the whole Cyborg-Ninja theme.


To be honest, I'm really not going to play a MMORPG while expecting engrossing storylines. I mean, how engrossing and powerful can you make a storyline when there are a few thousand people out there, undergoing the same engrossing storyline? With City of Heroes, the theme really, REALLY seems to be perfect for a MMORPG. With MMORPGs like Anarchy Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Everquest, Ultima, whatever, there are always these high-powered and low-powered heroes who keep on defeating the same rats, wolves and dragons over and over, and it just keeps on going. In CoH, it seems to fit with the storyline. Granted, the number of villains is through the roof, but again, it fits the superhero theme.

Ach, I pretty much wanted to have some sort of cool-sword-wielding hero, and well, the katana really seemed to fit the bill. Looks bloody awesome in action too. And you might be right about having Super Reflexes... and well, frankly, perhaps it was a good or bad choice, I don't really care. So far, I'm mostly playing this for the sheer fun of it all, instead of really wanting to level up or win. Super Reflexes seemed to kinda match with the sword-wielding hero I wanted to have.

Well I understand that. My first character was Claws / Regen. Guess why...

GROUP! For the love of jeebus, group. One of the best things about CoH is how the different archetypes work together so damn well.

Dont forget to get a travel power pre-req by level 12 at the absolute latest. I cant recommend Super Jump more highly, but the choice is yours. They're all pretty cool.

I managed to get to level 25 before EQII snatched me away. But I'd have to say CoH is a very nice game. And super reflexes was a fine choice. Now that regeneration is nerfed, SR is probably the most powerful secondary for scrappers if you slot it properly.

If you tell me you chose Everquest 2 over World of Warcraft, I will give up all hope on you as a human.

Have you, you know, played it? I really like EQII. I haven't played WoW, but I won't pretend to compare them until I've played them both.

From what I've heard, all it is is a graphical update. Some people even say EQ1 is better.

All the reviews on it are horrible, nobody I know likes it (except this one kind of weird kid...he scares me actually. And he's really stupid), whereas World of Warcraft...

Bleh, now I regret for not trying to get into the beta

I thought they un-nerfed Regen? And what happened to Invuln? That used to be the most powerful by far...