Champions Online is not the only MMO to be released this year, but it is definitely one of the most anticipated ones, following the considerable success of its predecessor: City of Heroes. This latest release from Cryptic Studios will face a fierce competition, but those who are willing to trade a fantasy universe with a more gritty one, without forsaking a quality MMO may find a great alternative in it.

 

The highlight of the Beta is probably the character creation system, which is one of the deepest available in a MMO, allowing you to shape you hero exactly as you see fit. It's time consuming but entertaining and the best thing is that the chances of meeting a similar looking player in the radiation infested world are slim.  Not only the facial and body features can be adjusted, but with plenty of sliders and dropdown menus there are limitless costume and color combinations to make sure your hero is unique. Some people will probably feel a bit overwhelmed with it, so choosing a random character and tweak it just a bit, to fit your image of a hero can be an alternative.

Following the intricate character creation, players will have to deal with a rather lengthy tutorial which is supposed to introduce you in the brand new world of Champions Online. For those completely unfamiliar with City of Heroes, this first chapter is a great addition which allows them to get in-depth knowledge about gaming mechanics and the basic narrative. I personally appreciate the way the tutorial unfolds, but some people may find it a bit too long, with rather repetitive quests they'd rather skip in order to start the real missions.

 

 

 

 

Once you've dealt with the tutorial and succeed in assisting the notorious Ironclad to fend off the alien invasion, there is a short instance to be solved before departing from Millennium City. The main villain in Champions Online is Doctor Destroyer, whose ambitions of world domination you are determined to shatter. Uncovering his plans will see our hero travelling to both fictional areas and ones bearing real names, with each zone being sectioned off by servers to prevent over population. It may seem a bit awkward in the beginning since it somehow affects the idea of open world, but the benefits are superior with no lag to worry about.

Champions Online was meant to be a game without any class restrictions, with players being capable of taking different roles while questing in a party. As a result there are plenty of powers and special abilities you can choose from and the best thing is the opportunity to constantly modify them as you see fit. On the bad side, I found some of these powers' descriptions not fully typed out and the advantages were lacking, not to mention the fact that customizing powers is mostly visual. You can also pick a perk for your special abilities to increase damage and make them look better, but this comes with a price, an equally potent weakness you'll have to deal with in the future.

 

Questing is not particularly demanding and if you are careful not to aggro too many bad guys, it's most unlikely to suffer an untimely death even when fighting enemies with higher levels then your own. Nonetheless there are certain occasions when your health is depleting very fast, after engaging the same type of enemies you were obliterating earlier, which makes combat a bit arbitrary. Death will eventually occur but there's no reason to worry about resurrection sickness or any death penalty, instead you'll be just losing stars. These can be replenished by donating to specific NPCs but the benefits of having all stars up are considerable, since they boost your powers and special abilities.

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