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| In City of Villains, you can strap on your evil attire and cause destruction throughout the city | The enhanced creation mode lets you opt for different colors and different styles |
You will be able to choose your villains archetype at the very start. This is an extremely important decision because it will determine how you fight your battles and basically, how your character operates. The offensively minded stalker, the personal killer brute, the corrupter, the mastermind, and the will-bending dominator are the five different archetypes available for your villain. The types are very similar to those in City of Heroes, but there are a few differences that stand out to keep things feeling new. For instance, dominators how have a bar that boosts their powers when filled. The mastermind character type looks to be the most inspiring and interesting. As a mastermind you are able to have lower classes of minions do most all of your fighting for you. You will choose your base development tree at the start of the game; for instance, who do you want fighting in your corner, robots, zombies, or ninjas? Then go through the entire game as you sit back and watch them fight, telling them what to do, of course.
One interesting addition is the ability to dress your evil character in sinister attire whenever you feel like it. The enhanced creation mode lets you opt for different colors and different styles, such as leather, buckles, straps, and chains for you super-villain. On certain levels you will be offered different creation options to choose from, such as cape creations. There are even some different looking heads and body parts available. It all costs money for this, however, so if you want to be a fashionable villain, get out your pocketbook.
The islands you are located on have both urban and industrial city places to play, but most of your time will be spent in specific zoned areas. There are more play areas to choose from them City of Heroes was equipped with, but you will be going through some of the same looking sewers, warehouses, and office buildings. Everything has a block or Lego type style to it and pretty much stays the exact same throughout the game. You will have lots of ground to cover during play as well. Sometimes it will be a mountain, city, or an open minefield you must go through. It gets old when you must get past these environments just to get to a mission, especially when you don’t have special speed powers.
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| It gets old when you must get past these environments just to get to a mission, especially when you don’t have special speed powers | If you don’t pay rent the power will be shut off and you will literally be in the dark |
The Super-group mode allows you to build a base building (there are hundreds of options for creations), which is where you will come back (resurrect) if you should happen to die and set up traps for defense. You will also have the ability to turn salvage you happen to pick up into items that you can actually use. Remember before building a gigantic and enormous building, you will have to pay rent every now and then, so stay within your budget. If you don’t pay rent the power will be shut off and you will literally be in the dark. You will be able to gain money through Prestige, which is something similar to experience points in Super-group mode.
City of Villains is easy to understand and can be grasped quickly by any player. The interface is user-friendly and extremely flexible. Your target keys are easy to set up and windows can be resized whenever you feel like it. It can definitely be classified as an “easy” game.
Missions you will be taking revolve around a few specific goals, basically find an object or person and destroy it, along with everything else around. If you are familiar with City of Heroes, it’s pretty much the same mission types with the roles reversed; you are fighting for evil instead of good. For instance, instead of rescuing citizens you are kidnapping them. Mission types of very straightforward and simple: kill them all. You can pick up your missions in a variety of places, such as brokers who set them up for you, a car radio, or the Rogue Island Protector newspaper.
Things in City of Villains are pretty interactive and interesting, but relaxed enough that you have time to keep your head on straight.
The graphics in City of Villains are not like that in City of Heroes, and character models aren’t very detailed, but they are interesting since you are able to design their attire yourself. Environments for play are filled with little hiding spaces everywhere, but overall are very spacious. Audio is also taken straight from City of Heroes (big surprise) and the power sounds, such as super-punches and rifle shots, are identical. It would have been a nice edition to have some voice over for these characters we are so painstakingly designing, but hey, maybe that will come later.
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| The graphics in City of Villains are not like that in City of Heroes | The initial differences between City of Heroes and City of Villains is not that great, in fact, the fundamentals are basically the exact same |
CITY OF VILLAINS VERDICT
The initial differences between City of Heroes and City of Villains is not that great, in fact, the fundamentals are basically the exact same. City of Villains will undoubtedly appeal to any player who is a fan of City of Heroes. The idea of being an evil personal might wear off, and the quickly completed missions and repetitive environments could have players losing interest in the game after awhile. Whatever the game encompasses, I was just excited to play the bad guy for once!
TOP GAME MOMENT
The ability to team up with other online evil-minded players in City of Villains is perhaps one of the games best features. Each player will have their specially designed character, making for a plethora of different abilities.
