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Life & Arts

'Heroes,' 'Villians' are worth a peek

Leet Speak

Derek Lanphier 

Even though it seems that World of Warcraft is all that I talk about,let me say this column isn't about that game. 

However, it is about another massively multiplayer online game I've been thinking about. City of Heroes and City of Villains are both pretty much the same game, although you have to pay for each one separately. 

I never got to review City of Villains when it came out because the NCSoft representative I was good pals with seemed to fall off the face of the earth. 

After finally getting a chance to play the game, I thought it would be nice to do a somewhat informal review.

First off, Heroes and Villains are games for the person who likes massively multiplayer online role-player games but hates the horribly long time commitment and experience grinding involved. The twin games are very much for the casual MMO player.

Villains is very much like Heroes when it comes to game play. It usually involves fighting countless numbers of enemies and sometimes has a secondary objective like blowing something up and whatnot. Often you find yourself fighting heroes and other villains to make your name feared throughout the lands. Some of the missions are new and different, but it still feels like City of Heroes. 

That can be good or bad depending on if you liked the original.

Player-versus-player takes a central role in the new game as players can now fight against other players (heroes versus villains) anywhere in the city. 

It gets pretty intense when you meet up against anyone from the other side. Once you get a method worked out, the game becomes more twitch-based as the victor is usually the player who can pull off his combo faster.

City of Villains also has new villain-only areas, where high-level heroes can't harass other players. There are designated contested areas where players can expect player versus player action.

NCSoft did a strange thing with the pricing. It is charging the amount of a new game for City of Villains although many consider it an expansion pack. 

It does this because Villains is playable without needing a copy of Heroes. So, if you only want to be a villain, then you can just buy one game. 

Luckily, if you do own both, you only need to pay one subscription fee every month. 

So, if you play the games for a few months, it is cheaper in the long run.

I played Heroes non-stop before I got into World of Warcraft. So, it has my seal of approval. 

If you can only commit so many hours to a game per week, then pick up City of Heroes or City of Villains.

GAME CHECK

The following is a partial list of video games being released during Spring Break:

TUESDAY

Daxter
The sidekick from the popular Jak series stars in his very own title being released on the Playstation Portable.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence
As with all Metal Gear Solid games, Konami has re-released the game with added features and goodies to unlock. 

The Godfather
The controversial movie-to-video game remake ships next week and is sure to vex die-hard fans of the movie.

CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder
The mystery series comes to the world of the polygonal in a title that is probably only going to be enjoyable for fans of the series.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Critical Hour
This game returns to the series' roots with updated technology. The very precise and careful gameplay that made the series famous is back with eight missions from the original Rainbow Six.

compiled by Derek Lanphier
 

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