Call me Mr. Wonderful.
No, its not Mary's pet name for me. And no, I don't have a super-inflated sense of self.
Mr. Wonderful has been my alter-ego these past two weeks in City of Heroes, a massively multiplayer online game recently released by Cryptic Studios.
The fictional location of Paragon City has had a difficult time lately. What with an alien invasion and several gangs of thugs battling it out for control of the cities several boroughs, innocent civilians are in dire need of help.
Look! Up in the air! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Mr. Wonderful to the rescue.
And thus began my short-lived comic book fantasy come alive.
City of Heroes is a beautifully designed game, with terrific graphics and animations that breathe life into the world it occupies. Bad guys terrorize citizens, deal in illegal goods, and essentially give the superhero plenty to do.
One of the most unique features in the game is the ability to customize your hero from head to toe, literally. With all the permutations of faces, eyes, noses, mouths, body build, boots, uniforms and color schemes, it is rare that you find two heroes that look even remotely similar. Select from a variety of skills and powers, develop a legend attached to your hero, slap a carefully thought-out name on him, and away you go to fight off ever increasing levels of baddies.
Mr. Wonderful was quite different from other heroes. Most people elected to create very colorful and costumed characters. I opted for an understated man-on-the-street meets Sean Connery kind of look. My character would feel just as welcome at a cocktail party as he would kicking butt and taking names, without having to change his clothes.
I must confess, some of the heros I saw must have spent an hour or two designing their look. It was a great deal of fun just to "hero watch".
The game has a variety of missions and game styles. Non-player characters send you to dilapidated warehouses, dark forests and underground sewers to battle various gangs and groups of thugs. Fighting solo or with other player heroes, you endeavor to kick the crud out the bad guys and complete the mission.
There are dozens of super powers to select from and they are all pretty darned cool. Mr. Wonderful was a "Blaster" archetype with powers in the "Technology" family and an "Energy" specialty, meaning a dash of my hand could send several villians tumbling to the ground. As I increased in level, I acquired a variety of moves, including a sniper blast that came in quite handy from a distance.
The more baddies you defeat, the more "influence" and experience you gain in the city. Experience determines when you may get training from a non-player hero and increase in level. Influence is the currency of Paragon City and is used to purchase "enhancements" and "inspiration". The former are power-ups that increase the duration, distance or any number of other parameters related to a power. Inspirations are good for healing, reviving, luck, power and other skills.
There are over ten main regions in Paragon City, each one with increasing difficulty of battles to fight. I breezed through Atlas Park, the place where all heros begin. I took on the rough streets of King's Row, where mechanical robots and bizarre ritualistic magicians tried to do me in. Once I reached security clearance level 7, I ventured into Perez Park and found a team of players to help me take on the hoards of evil minions terrorizing the fine people of the city.
At level 12 I acquired the ability hover in the air. And at level 14, I could finally fly. Each level required increased experience points in order to level up, and I was having a blast doing so.
And then it happened. I got bored. Terribly bored. I mean, that was it.
Since I could now fly, I entered some of the more dangerous zones and hovered above the action, attempting to see all I could see. What I saw was beautiful eye candy. But the bad guys were mostly of the same species, only more difficult. Essentially, with the exception of gaining new powers, the game remained the same no matter how many levels you increased. Was it worth investing several hours to jump a new level and get a new power? And would it be worth investing ever-increasing hours to reach the next level after that?
The answer was a resounding no. The game had become a series of repetitive tasks and has lost its appeal.
And so, this evening I bid farewell to Paragon City. There are literally hundreds of heroes roaming the city, so I won't be missed. I picked a random hero and blessed him with almost 40,000 hard-earned influence. He thanked me and went on to continue fighting the good fight.
There is much to say about City of Heroes. It really is a fantastic game and there is much to do. I choose not to develop relationships with other players, which can definitely increase the quality of gameplay. I choose not to take on some of the missions. And there will undoubtedly be add-on packs released, one which will allow players to battle other players in order to add new depth.
I am glad for my two weeks as Mr. Wonderful. I am once again, mild-mannered blogger, Joel Comm. However, I did learn a thing or two as a superhero. So be nice. Or its into a nearby phone booth...
It's Del.icio.us!
Furl It!
