Heya guys!!  So, what is Champions Online?  CO is a new MMO-RPG releasing on Sept 1, 2009 (or tomorrow if you got into the early start like me!!).  Originally this game was slated to be Marvel Universe Online, but that got scrapped by Microsoft.  It was going to pull from the entire Marvel Universe history, but MS stated in 2008 that they were dumping the project because they couldn’t compete with the current MMO market.

I’m not exactly sure of the details leading to how MUO has become CO, but CO is where we are now at.  Now most of you will not recognize the name Champions, but it is in fact a leading edge industry name in the super hero gaming industry.  While it was not the first super hero pen and paper RPG around, it is hands down the best and most successful one in the industry (tired of the word industry yet? heh).  I’ve personally played in several super hero campaigns using this pnp system, and an “anime occult-horror” campaign as well.  It’s good stuff.

And that leads us to who is running CO:  Cryptic Studios, lead by Jack Emmert and Bill Roper.

Cryptic Studios is the same company that originally launched City of Heroes and City of Villains (both commonly referred to as CoX).  So the first good news is that they have tons of experience in how to run a super hero MMO.  With Jack Emmert (Chief Creative Officer) behind the reins there is little to worry about from the start since he was the lead Dev on CoX.  But to add in to that we have Bill Roper.

Bill Roper was a Director for Blizzard for almost 10 years, and a VP for Blizzard North.  In addition to that he worked on the Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo franchises.  If you are a fan of Blizzard games, then you are a fan of this man’s work.  And the really good news?  He is the Design Director and Executive Producer for CO!!  But enough of the backdrop eh?  Let’s get to the game!!

 

Champions Online – the Beta

I was not able to get into the Closed Beta for CO; however, I did get into the Open Beta.  So I’ve spent the past 1 1/2 weeks running around in CO being a fool!! 

 

Character Generation – 10 out of 10

When it comes to character generation, there is no game in existence that compares.  CoX was the basis of this design, and CO brings it to an entirely new level.  You can make demons, angels, mecha, robots, droids, super teens, spandex heroes, gothic avengers, swashbucklers, gods, ninjas, pirates, and MOAR!!! 

To give you a taste of some of the possibilities I’ve got some screenshots of random players, plus a few designs of my own!  Everything with “Random” in front of it are players I saw around the game.  Otherwise, it’s a hero I designed myself.

Warning!!  You’re gonna have to scroll down past a TON of screenshots in order to get to the rest of the review.  Sorry.

Mechanized Force Beast (aka Mecha Rat!!)

Mechanized Force Beast (aka Mecha Rat!!)

Mecha Rat running

Skeleton Jill

Skeleton Jill

Skeleton Jill with Fire Flight active

Skeleton Jack in Powered Armor

Skeleton Jack in Powered Armor

Electra

Electra “Charging Up”

Electra in Electricty Form

Electra using Rocket Boots

Psi Psexy (aka Hot for Teacher!!)

Psi Psexy (aka Hot for Teacher!!)

Random Flaming Scarecrow

Random Droid

Random Cat Dude

PUG and myself tackling Tutorial End Boss

Random Fire Demon

Random Spandex + Super Monkey

Random Heroes + Super Shark?!

Random Anubis Dark Mecha

As you can see, the design possibilities are endless.  Now I only took some SS’s the last day of some good designs, but all kinds exist.  Mock ups of existing heroes (you have no idea how many Goku/Vegeta and Hulk clones I saw), goofy clowns, and more are all at the push of a button.

In addition to that, the fact that you can scale the size of the toons makes a big difference.  You can design tiny limbs with a huge body.  You could have a 3′ tall Mecha Rat, or a 8′ tall Behemoth.  Want a brainiac psionicist?  No problem!!  You can enlarge the head for that extra gray matter!!  You can also choose the stances of your toon.  Like Mecha Rat who is in the Beast stance which changes how he runs and stands.

The simple truth is this.  I can’t say anything to give you guys a full idea of the possibilities before you.  But it’s the closest thing to freeform character design that has ever existed.  And then that doesn’t even touch “Costume Unlocks”.  In addition to the costume options at character generation you can earn in game additional costume pieces that are even more amazing.

Overall the Character Generation gets a 10 out 10 simply because there is nothing that even comes close to something this amazing.

 

Graphics - 7 out of 10

Now this may seem odd since I seem pro-Champions, but I think they missed something here.  The graphics are solid.  Things look really good.  But they tried to capture a “4 color” comic book theme (which I’m still not 100% sure what that is supposed to mean, but they sure like saying it a lot…).  In the end the game has a very cartoony feel.  Which for some, is probably awesome.  But for me…not so much.

Now you can’t walk into this with a crappy graphics card btw.  If you play something like WoW and get lag, prepare to not be happy in CO.  But fear not!!!  I have for you the perfect tool to see how you will fare.  Please click this link to You Gamers, for CO!!  It’s a super quick and easy way to see how your computer measures up to the CO requirements.  You will have to install a plugin or something, but it’s ok.  I use the site, it gets a SJ /approved!!

Now, as I was saying.  The graphics design in and of itself is very nice.  It’s not cutting edge, but then you honestly don’t want cutting edge.  Cutting edge in raid environments, or massive PvP, just isn’t desirable for MMO’s.  But as I said, the cartoony feel (which they purposely went for since it’s a “super hero” game) is a turn off for yours truly.

That aside, the zone designs are fricking sweet.  Open Beta only released the Tutorial, the Desert, Canada, and Millenium City initially.  But they looked awesome!!  NPC designs were well thought out, the zones felt realistic in size and depth, and it gave you a truly immersive feel.  And the random instances (not dungeons) for quests were an awesome spin.  The feel of them really brings the game to life.

Overall the Graphics gets a 7 out of 10 because the cartoony feel is a bit of a turn off.  In addition to that you can run into some rough lag when in a raid, pvp, or outdoor event with a lot of PC’s and NPC’s at the same time unless you’re rolling with a current video card.

 

Game Play - 9 out of 10

Now let me say I don’t give out 10’s pretty much ever.  The Character Generation rating of 10 is a fluke because no one can normally impress me that much ever.  Imagine the hottest girl ever that you’d give a perfect 10.  She’d probably be a 9 to me.  Moving on…

The game play draws you in and immerses you in the feel of an epic super hero the moment you leave the tutorial.  We’ll leave that as the hint that the tutorial, while fun, is not as immersive.  But once you get out and travel to the Powerhouse to learn your first Travel Power!!!  ZOMG, the sweetness!!!

Fly through the air, shoot past with rocket boots, tunnel through the earth, glide on your hover disc, swing though the air like a certain web crawler, leap and tumble at amazing speed, super leap like that big hulking green guy, run faster than a speeding bullet, and vanish and reappear at your destination.  Leveling up for a travel mount?!?  Not in this game!!  Once you’re out of the Tutorial you’re grabbing your travel power and exploring the land!!

And if you caught my mentioning of instances earlier that were not dungeons, get ready for a treat.  Not only are there permanent instanced missions (dungeons) in the game that you can do with your friends.  But they have mission/quest lines that lead to random instances preset just for that quest.  They tend to be much smaller mind you, but talk about drawing you in.

When you find out about the villain who has been causing all of the problems you’ve been trying to fix in your chain of missions/quests you actually go find their lair, beat up their minions, and nail the baddie!!  And that’s just one example of how they are used.

Every time you get a new mission, it automatically tracks it for you with a short reference list on your main screen.  In addition to that it places a green circle on your mini-map and main-map for the quest locations.  No trying to look up on a site, frantically searching in game, or getting lost.  A click of the map shows you exactly where to head for the next mission!!

And to retouch the travel powers, it’s amazing to actually fight opponents in game with these at your disposal.  Fly into the air out of range of devastating melee attacks, use acrobatics to literally run circles around mobs, or quickly teleport away before you fall in battle.  It’s amazing guys.  Even if you fight without a travel power active, the fact that most powers can be used while moving will knock your socks off.

Overall the Game Play gets a 9 out of 10 because the game really does draw you in.  It’s immersive, fun, smooth, and both easy and hard.  While a lot of the content is easily soloable, the difficulty scales as you level to a very nice degree.  I won’t forget when I got to 40 walking into an instance and just getting my face owned by Henchmen because I went all “Leeroooyy!!!” instead of playing smart.

 

Powers - 8 out of 10

The power design structure really just blows you away from the start.  It’s honestly overwhelming the more and more you level up because with each new power purchased, *TONS* more become available.  It’s a pretty free structure that allows you to purchase any power eventually.  It all comes down to Power Frameworks. 

Basically every power falls into one Framework.  Each of those powers has 2 different pre-requisites in order to purchase them.  Either x number of powers in the specific Framework, or y number of non-energy builder powers in any Framework.  X is always smaller that Y.  For example, the current top tier powers require 5 current Framework powers to purchase, or that you have 8 total non-energy builder powers.  So once you have a total of 9 powers (1 energy builder – you use energy to fuel your powers, and 8 other powers) you can purchase any power in game.

Now the powers get really complicated.  Certain ones from other Frameworks synergize well with other Power Frameworks.  Then again, others don’t.  It can get very complicated and confusing if you start off trying to buy powers from multiple Frameworks (or sets).  And to boot, it becomes much easier to pick a poor synergy power that way as well.  So be very careful there.

But once you understand the system, that is where all of this begins to shine.  This is a truly class-less system where you design your character from the rock bottom up however you see fit.  Sure there will be “cookie cutter” builds and FotM builds as time passes.  But it’s not like playing a specific class and only ever having access to certain things.  Whatever you make can literally do *anything*.

Add in to this the Powerhouse.  Not sure what a power does?  No problem.  You train everything up at the Powerhouse where they have test dummies, travel power areas, moving targets, blocks to pick up and hurl, laser beams to blow you up, and MOAR!!!  You can sit there for hours on end (trust me, I did just that) picking new powers and testing them out there.

So what’s so good about it?  You can immediately respec that new power (at no cost so long as you did not leave the Powerhouse) and pick something else!!  That’s right.  Feel free to sit there and try out 20 different powers (if you so choose).

Overall the Powers gets an 8 out of 10 because the power design, and classless system, has been truly well done.  Most of the powers are fairly well balanced, and the character builds are nearly limitless.

 

Combat - 9 out of 10

Gotta say, I *LOVE* the combat!!!  Fluid, fast paced, and markedly different from anything I’ve experienced in the MMO industry.  It’s easy to pick up any type of power you wish.  Melee, Ranged, CC, Anti-Travel power, Escape power, Defense power, Heals, etc… 

And the combat itself actually looks and feels like *real* combat.  There’s not a ton of people standing in place doing nothing.  You can be running around firing away at a target, dashing in and out of range while slicing them with your swords, or holding back in place charging up a massive detonation.  It’s no surprise that this game will later release to XBOX 360.

You can actually line of sight a mob and their attacks won’t hit you.  They will hit the environment.  Where you stand, where you move, what you do…it all matters.  Running behind a wall will stop a nasty charge up attack from hitting you.

Overall the Combat gets a 9 out of 10 for being truly awesome!!

 

End Game Content - No rating

Sadly the majority of top end content was disabled.  I never got a chance to explore their raid content or their permanent instanced dungeons.  These are already slated for game release, and they have been described.  But I was unable to test them.

 

Respecs - 2 out of 10

This is the number one massive fundamental flaw of CO.  The upside is their immediate respec system which allows you to respec anything purchased within the last 10 levels.  So if you want to go test out something for a few missions then you’re golden.  If you don’t like it you can easily replace it.  But that 10 level cap is the problem.

At the moment, you are stuck and forced into anything gained more than 10 levels ago.  And as everyone knows, leveling builds are nothing like end game PvE or PvP builds at all.  I have an extensive forum thread post at their official forums about the matter at:  Feedback – Respec/Character Generation.  I highly recommend that you read it and add your own thoughts.

Overall the Respecs gets a 2 out of 10.  It would have gotten a 0 except for the ease of the Powerhouse, testing new powers, and being able to test out a power for a few hours and then respec it.  If a full respec system is not eventually implemented I expect CO to quickly lose thousands upon thousands of their player base within the first few months of game release.

 

Replay Value/Alts and Level Grouping Issues - 8 out of 10

Now the Tutorial is going to get on your nerves.  After the 4th time I wanted to hit somebody.  But there’s always downsides to games.  Outside of that you find yourself happily leveling alts in this game.  The powers play out in so many different ways, with such amazingly different feels that you will enjoy the hell out of it.  Add in the “Sidekick” system which allows you to be a sidekick to another hero and you’ve got a winner here.

No more issues with your friends outleveling you (or leveling too slowly).  CO has a system in place where you can set the entire party (not just one person) to the level of a designated player in that party.  Got one friend who is level 30, you’re level 22, and another friend who is level 20?  No problem.  You set the first friend for everyone to sidekick to and BAM!!!  You all count as level 30 characters so long as you stay in range of him!!

Now you don’t get the new powers, etc…  But you no longer suffer level penalties for fighting that level 30 content.  So there won’t be a problem with your alts either when you decide to level them.  Not only will it be fun as hell trying out all of these new powers, but you’ll still be able to level with you friends if you like.  They can be “de-leveled” as well.  If you’re in a group of 2 level 10’s, one level 30 and one level 40 and everyone is set to sidekick to a level to, then everyone counts as a level 10 hero.  It’s good stuff.

Overall the Replay Value/Alts and Level Grouping Issues gets a 8 out of 10.  The Tutorial needs a method to bybass it and do other content for later characters, but otherwise this system is PURE WIN.

 

PvP - 6 out of 10

This is a super tricky topic simply because most of the pvp stuff was not fully enabled in Beta.  Also there were no real teams of players who had been working together to learn how to PvP well as a group.  But there are some serious flaws right out the door.  Teleport has the potential to be brutally abused, Anti-travel powers skirt the edges of OP and too weak, CC might be too plentiful, knockback powers (which result in CC) are far too OP, and melee floats between OP and terribly underpowered depending on the build.

Basically it’s too much in flux to really determine how it will end up.  But as of now it only gets a 6 out of 10, especially because the game caters more towards PvE than PvP content.  However I actually have high expectations for how PvP will play out in the end.  PvP in CoX was *very* rewarding and fun.  I expect it will be even more so in CO.

 

Longterm Durability - No rating

That’s what it all comes down to for some people, and the fact is that there is no answer as of yet.  And there won’t be for at least 3-6 months.  Dem’s da facts bub!!

 

Overall Rating for CO - 8.5 out of 10

I would personally still rate WoW at a solid 9 out of 10, and CO at an 8.5 out of 10.  WoW is the king of MMO’s for a reason.  They are the best.  That said, CO has serious potential to both rise and fall as an MMO.  In the end it will come down to the following facets:

• Respecs
• Micro Transactions (whether they influence game play)
• PvP
• End Game Content (raid environment beyond 5 mans and outdoor missions)

If Cryptic does a solid job developing those 4 areas, then CO will be a massive success.  If they ignore those areas, or fail to develop them well, then CO will end up just being another MMO in a long stream of products passing us by.

 

That said I had a BLAST in the Beta and highly recommend this game.  Even if you only play it for 1-3 months, it’s *more* than worth the money.  You’ve never played anything like this, and the experience it totally worth it.

 

 -Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

 

Tags: Champions