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First impressions
Yamota
Member UncommonPosts: 6,593
Since I have always been a fan of super hero comics I decided to take the game for a spin and so far, after about 15 hours of game play, these are my first impression:
The Good
- Graphics are good. Probably not all that advanced as AoC but the animations are smooth and with anistropic filtering and antialiasing turned on it looks better than most MMORPGs out there. The only thing I am a bit dissapointed with is that the power effects aren't all that spectacular but maybe that will change once I hit the higher levels.
- Sound is ok. Unfourtantely most games neglect sound and this game is no exception.
- PvE Gameplay is surprisingly good and the combat is fun and engaging. Missions are most of the time interesting and fun to complete. There are many different type of powers which makes the combat even more engaging. Stances seems also a very interesting feature that I have yet to explore.
- Customization of your character in this game is awesome, best I have ever seen in any MMORPG. For me customization is not only how you look (which this game is also very good at) but also what you can do and since this game is not yet another class based game, but rather skill based, it completely opens up how your character behaves. Awesome!
- Travel powers are the most extensive I have ever seen. You can fly (in various ways), you can run, you can jump and you can even tunnel your way around. Very nice!
- Open Missions. Warhammer Online started it (I think) and Champions Online has the same concept. Fun and relaxing being able to finish quests with others but without having to group with them.
The Bad
- PvP, what I have seen so far, is terrible. Only queuing for instanced PvP scenarios, like WAR, but there are far less of them and they give far less exp than they did in WAR. It is not a feasible way to level like it was in WAR. Dueling also exists but...
- The lack of Super Villains certainly hurts this game. What defines a Super Hero is his opponent the Super Villain and not having them as playable characters is BAD. Hope they fix this soon or I will tire of this game fast.
- The game is super instanced (like AoC). Meaning that every zone is instanced and seem to hold a maximum of 50 people. That destroys alot of the MMORPG feeling of the game and makes it feel more like a MORPG. But then why do I have to pay a monthly fee for it? Bleh, don't like it a bit!
- Lack of incentives to group. So far I have not felt that I neither needed to nor had the opportunity to group. Players being scattered through all those instances certainly doesn't help either. Feels mostly like I am playing a single player game so, again, why should I need to pay a monthly fee for this?
The Ugly
- Seeing so many characters that look, and have names, that much more look/sound like a Super Villain and not a Hero. Without a doubt because there is no way to play a Villain. Big misstake on Mythics part. By the time they implement villains as playable characters most people, that wanted to play one from start, would have become bored and moved on.
So to summarise, as a preview/first impression, I score this game 8/10. However I really don't see why it is an MMORPG with a monthly fee since it is so super instanced. Guild Wars is similar and it has no monthly fee and neither should this game. This is further exacerbated by the fact that there is little incentive to group. Atleast at the lower levels.
Anyway so far I am liking the game (alot) but I am concerned that if the PvP is not improved and villains are not introduced it will not last more than a couple of months, at most.
Comments
I pretty much thought the same till I got to MC and beyond and was bored out of my mind. All missions are almost the same. For me, it got really boring.
"Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it."
Yeah Im a bit concerned about that. If the first 15 levels is what the rest of the game will be like then I will probably get bored of it.
Like I said, they need to fix the PvP. The game feels alot like WAR but without most of the PvP features.
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Yeah the pvp side of this game is pretty raw unfortunately. I think to hit L21 or something it said I needed almost 200k xp. But each Arena when you win was only like 6.5k xp. If you lose, which happens most of time with random pubbies you will only get like 1.5k xp
I dont like the tight enclosed Arena maps either. Just seems really lazy too me. Superheroes should be fighting supervillains in big cities. We shouldnt be ganging up on each other in arenas
Meh, your thing about instances only holding 50 people is false.
You can level just fine off PvP if you choose to. I have a character I almost leveling almost exclusively by PvP.
Any mmo you play is going to have the same quests/missions. It's just the way they are built.
Get past level 15 and you'll have to start grouping more. It was about this level where some mobs starting handing my ass to me.
Sure you can level from PVP. But its wayyy faster to level from PVE from what I'm seeing.