City of Heroes Review

City of Heroes is a great game. I'd played Everquest a couple of times and hated it, so I thought that MMORPG's just weren't for me, but I had to go to Wal-mart with my wife about a week ago. And I figured as long as I was there anyway, I'd get something for me that I liked. And City of Heroes was on sale for just $20, so I thought I'd go ahead and pick up a copy. And let me tell you something: I am so glad that I did.

I tried Freedom Force not too long ago and absolutely hated it. And I hated Everquest. I'd read bad reviews of the Star Wars MMORPG, so I didn't even try it. So I was extremely surprised by how much I loved City of Heroes right from the very beginning. The character creation process was robust, fun, and flexible. Not too complicated, but flexible enough that you can really create the kind of superhero that you want to play.

The actual in-game experience is pretty awe-inspiring at first too. If you've read Alan Moore's Top Ten, then you have a reasonable idea of what City of Heroes "feels" like. Top Ten is a comic book story about a police precinct in a city where everyone has superpowers and is more or less a superhero. Kinduva Barney Miller for comic book lovers, or Hill Street Blues. Since City of Heroes is a MMORPG, there are hundreds of players at any given time running around the city, forming teams, forming supergroups, and battling crime.

I haven't yet gotten a character past 10th level, but I've had a tremendous amount of fun getting him there. I've certainly wasted enough time playing the game. If you're a superhero fan and/or an old-school RPG fan, then City of Heroes is worth checking out. I've already reserved my copy of City of Villains too, which is due out by Halloween.