So, I asked myself, what kind of column would I like to see for City of Heroes (COH)? And answer was, one that wasn’t there, at least not yet. A column by a gamer-girl. Which, of course, brings the inevitable question ‘am I a gamer-girl?’
I don’t have massive experience with MMOG’s (Massive Multi-player Online Game), the entirety of my previous gaming being Asheron’s Call, which I stopped playing quite some time ago. I had no intentions of going back but two friends of mine, that were playing COH at the time, were determined to change my mind. One of them had preordered City of Villains (COV) and pressured me into playing the free trial. I voiced my opinion that I would try it but probably would not be interested. Boy was I wrong! Not only did I buy the game, but also purchased COV, and have at least one of every single basic Archetype (AT) on both.
Why did COH hook me so badly? Simplicity. The game was easy to use and easy to understand, and that was lovely for someone like me. I started playing to play with my friends, for the social interaction, as well as the ability to seriously kick some butt and look cool doing it. Not only that, but they had this really cool sidekick and exemplar system, which meant I could actually play with my friends who were three times (or more) my level. I could team up with my buddies anytime and there where lots of people who were looking to team up for one or two missions – or even several runs of missions.
You’d think that, by now, some of the shininess that is COH would have rubbed off, but no. Building a character can take easily a few hours, what with all the options for customization. Not to mention the different power combinations you can try out for each toon, from the fire blaster, to the earth controller and everything in between. Cryptic Studios keeps updating adding more cool stuff all the time! If you’re the type, you can write a little background story for your toon, detailing where they got those cool powers, why they’re fighting crime, and so on, adding in the option of making up a battle cry you can actually use in the game. The real fun doesn’t start until you get in the game.
When you add all that is COV and COH together- well, lets just say I’m frequently lacking in sleep. Each time I log in is a new experience, even if I’m doing the same missions, depending on the group I manage to get, or when I’m soloing.
That’s not to say everything has been all sunshine and rainbows though. I’ve had the proverbial bad team ups, the kind where people frustrate you until you want to reach through the monitor and strangle them. I’ve also had some issues with my video card, it being the new ATI Radeon X700 Pro card. It’s terribly annoying to have spiffy graphics make your PC choke, or even get booted completely and have to relog, especially in the middle of a mission! Still, since Cryptic is aware of this problem, and I enjoy the game so much, I live with it. I’ve also had those occasions when you just can’t get a team, and that can be tough when you’re playing one of the less soloable AT’s.
The overall impression of the game is that the good outweighs the bad by a long shot, at least as far as I’m concerned. Of course, you’re more than welcome to disagree with me, but you won’t change my mind, and with a brand new issue due to come out in the near future, I’m even more excited.
And on that note, I’m going to let you go. If all goes well, you’ll see me here at least once a week, voicing my opinion – and provided my addiction to CoH/V doesn’t mind-wipe me some more. Feel free to look me up at @Mialiah.
