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Champions Online

Champions Online 

General Discussion  » A brutally honest review.

12 posts found
  neorandom

Advanced Member

Joined: 1/15/08
Posts: 1429

 
9/03/09 12:09:45 AM#1

 So Ive been playing for 2 days and figured Ild give you guys who havent taken the plunge some idea of how the game plays from my stand point.  Ive wasted 11 years of my life on mmorpgs and I probably have seen close to it all in that time.

The good:

Massive costume and power options, along the lines of what the CoX games have, and you arent limited very much in how you set up your powers, you dont just pick fire and get stuck with offense and defense in fire, you can pick from every single set if you want for a total of 14 powers at 40.

While the open world of the game is instanced you dont dive into a private instance for every little thing you do, you will see other people playing and can join them and play together quiet easily.  The reason the main areas do have instances is similar to AoC's setup so that there literally arent 10000 people all in the same small area at the same time, and you can easily group with friends and all get into the same instance of the area you all want to play in.

The pvp is actually quite fun, you dont 1 shot people so battle are thought out and focus fire is required in team play to get anything done quickly, especially when trying to bring down a well defended healer!

The game just looks fantastic when cranked up, sure those outlines can slow your fps down but it really does look great when your machine can handle running it maxed, if not you can turn the outlines down or off and pick up 25% more fps off that along with slightly dialing down view distances and textures you can get the game to run well on  any machine that runs a current AAA mmo.

Theres no deilberate Tank Healer Dps setup, instead you have stance options so that you can make yourself balanced, or a tank with better aggroe and defense and less dps or a better healer with crap defense and dps or a great dps with crap defense at any time.  Balanced seems to do just dandy for soloing soloable things.

The combat isnt too slow or too fast, your energy builder power is constantly hitting your target when you tell it to and when you have your energy built up (which doesnt take long unless you have a massive gas tank but fill it slowly, based on stats so you can tweak this easily) you can fire off your heavy dmg attacks until you need to build more up.  You can also use multiple attacks simultaniosly if theyre channeled and come from different firing points and types, my power armor hero for instance can use his shoulder mounted chain gun and palm beams or chest beams or missiles at the same time, it does monstrously drain his energy of course but lets the target know I mean buisiness.

The bad:

Well theres no preset costume sets like CoX yet, so if you want to conjur up say a pirate you do have to hunt down those pirate elements yourself, which can easily mean an extra hour spent fudging with the system to find them.  They definitely could have included some presets and let people tinker with the coloring and whatnot from there!

You can definitely make a character that will just plain suck in pvp or soloing if you dont pay some attention when choosing powers stats and gear, but then again that is your own fault.

They let you pick some of the places your powers come out when you use them but they didnt allow nearly enough customization, I mean honestly I cant make a barbarian sword master named WIlliam Wallace and have him shoot lightning out his arse, wtf cryptic wtf.

Only 8 character slots but 16 power sets, while any char can get any power if you wanted to have enough chars to really use all the powers you have to buy more slots.

 

If I think of anything else that struck me Ill ad on later, hope this helps you folks that wanted to know this kind of stuff decide, like I said I have no regrets about spending 50 of my hard earned $ on this game, Im not a wealthy man so when I do buy a game I enjoy not feeling jipped =D.  cheers.

  neorandom

Advanced Member

Joined: 1/15/08
Posts: 1429

 
9/03/09 12:15:43 AM#2

 forgot to add to the bad that you cant be a villain yet, you can look evil, you can act evil, but they still force you to be a hero and do nice things for your missions.  hoping they make a villains update sooner then later.

  jonezi92

Novice Member

Joined: 2/26/08
Posts: 221

Currently Playing: Nothing.

Waiting for: The Old Republic & World of Darkness.

9/03/09 3:52:42 AM#3
Originally posted by neorandom

 forgot to add to the bad that you cant be a villain yet, you can look evil, you can act evil, but they still force you to be a hero and do nice things for your missions.  hoping they make a villains update sooner then later.

 

yeh ican see cyrptic releasing a villans expansion, look how CoV did,

Nexgenco Xfire Miniprofile
  KupoKupopo

Apprentice Member

Joined: 8/08/09
Posts: 211

9/03/09 3:58:01 AM#4
Originally posted by neorandom

 

The bad:

---

You can definitely make a character that will just plain suck in pvp or soloing if you dont pay some attention when choosing powers stats and gear, but then again that is your own fault.


 

I would actually categorize this under "The Good".  Heaven forbid there be some repercussions for poor choices.

  natuxatu

Spotlight Poster

Joined: 11/12/03
Posts: 1271

Bookah

9/03/09 4:01:54 AM#5
Originally posted by KupoKupopo
Originally posted by neorandom

 

The bad:

---

You can definitely make a character that will just plain suck in pvp or soloing if you dont pay some attention when choosing powers stats and gear, but then again that is your own fault.


 

I would actually categorize this under "The Good".  Heaven forbid there be some repercussions for poor choices.


 

Actually it is a bad thing. You shouldn't have repercussions when you're starting out and don't know what to expect as you progress. We're not psychic after all. We wont know if we are making poor choices untill later down the road when it's too late.. or costly to fix.

Playing: Star Wars: The Old Republic
-----------------
Excited for: Guild Wars 2
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Have Played: World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI, Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings Online, Vanguard, City of Heroes/Villians, EverQuest 2, Tabula Rasa, Dungeons & Dragons Online, The Chronical of Spellborn, Warhammer Online, Age of Conan. Champions Online, Aion
-----------------
Favorite MMO: Final Fantasy XI

  Aganazer

Novice Member

Joined: 11/20/08
Posts: 1328

9/03/09 10:32:58 AM#6
Originally posted by natuxatu
Originally posted by KupoKupopo
Originally posted by neorandom

 

The bad:

---

You can definitely make a character that will just plain suck in pvp or soloing if you dont pay some attention when choosing powers stats and gear, but then again that is your own fault.


 

I would actually categorize this under "The Good".  Heaven forbid there be some repercussions for poor choices.


 

Actually it is a bad thing. You shouldn't have repercussions when you're starting out and don't know what to expect as you progress. We're not psychic after all. We wont know if we are making poor choices untill later down the road when it's too late.. or costly to fix.

 

Much like DDO, CO a game where you play your first character to learn, then you make your real character. I have always appreciated games that have these vast amount of options. I like it when I can spend hours thinking about and planning a character. If I am playing a class based game with no real specs like Aion then I never get to experience that. I never need to plan or think about how my character will evolve. I'm not saying Aion is a bad game, just that its not a thought provoking game. At least not when it comes to character development, which I think is a major cornerstone of the RPG genre.


I like to be rewarded for a well thought out plan. If there was no reward for making a character plan then I wouldn't bother. CO would not occupy my mind when I am offline. I would get bored and move on.

  maskedweasel

Tipster

Joined: 9/24/07
Posts: 6791

"Kids, try imagining how far the universe extends! Keep thinking about it until you go insane."

9/03/09 11:00:00 AM#7
Originally posted by Aganazer
Originally posted by natuxatu
Originally posted by KupoKupopo
Originally posted by neorandom

 

The bad:

---

You can definitely make a character that will just plain suck in pvp or soloing if you dont pay some attention when choosing powers stats and gear, but then again that is your own fault.


 

I would actually categorize this under "The Good".  Heaven forbid there be some repercussions for poor choices.


 

Actually it is a bad thing. You shouldn't have repercussions when you're starting out and don't know what to expect as you progress. We're not psychic after all. We wont know if we are making poor choices untill later down the road when it's too late.. or costly to fix.

 

Much like DDO, CO a game where you play your first character to learn, then you make your real character. I have always appreciated games that have these vast amount of options. I like it when I can spend hours thinking about and planning a character. If I am playing a class based game with no real specs like Aion then I never get to experience that. I never need to plan or think about how my character will evolve. I'm not saying Aion is a bad game, just that its not a thought provoking game. At least not when it comes to character development, which I think is a major cornerstone of the RPG genre.


I like to be rewarded for a well thought out plan. If there was no reward for making a character plan then I wouldn't bother. CO would not occupy my mind when I am offline. I would get bored and move on.

 

Also at 8 character slots but 16 "sets" at your end level you'll pretty much be able to *almost* fully dual class.. it should give you enough of a variation between different sets that if you wanted to make another character based off of a set you'll have a pretty good idea how it handles.

"Loan me a Dragon I wanna see space"



Fratman in regards to SWTOR "All signs point to a massive success incoming."

  static07

Apprentice Member

Joined: 5/28/08
Posts: 7

9/03/09 1:02:04 PM#8
Originally posted by natuxatu
Originally posted by KupoKupopo
Originally posted by neorandom

 

The bad:

---

You can definitely make a character that will just plain suck in pvp or soloing if you dont pay some attention when choosing powers stats and gear, but then again that is your own fault.


 

I would actually categorize this under "The Good".  Heaven forbid there be some repercussions for poor choices.


 

Actually it is a bad thing. You shouldn't have repercussions when you're starting out and don't know what to expect as you progress. We're not psychic after all. We wont know if we are making poor choices untill later down the road when it's too late.. or costly to fix.

 

I disagree, painful or costly mistakes should imo be a part of every mmorpg, It is annoying for a beginning player but it's how I believe one should learn the game. What doesn't kill you only makes you strong... 

I've played enough mmo's where my choice of skills had little impact, I could be less effective due bad choices but never do they handicap you. The beauty of CO is the many ways you go, unlike most of the popular mmorpg's now where every player of class X and level Y uses the same A, B, and C skills over and over. Those developers were forced to add another layer of 'specs' just to diversify the effectiveness of A or B or C. 

I loved the whatever skills you want system in Single Player RPG's and it's one of the main features that pulls me to trying CO. 

  User Deleted
9/03/09 1:06:52 PM#9

I doubt you will see a villans update any time soon at all actually, simply cause it's based on a table top so it will follow the lines of that table top pretty much. So I'd see more powers and other stuff in the MT store well before I see them adding villan play.

  t0nyd

Novice Member

Joined: 8/19/07
Posts: 177

Im only pessimistic because everything sucks. -td

9/03/09 4:05:49 PM#10
Originally posted by static07
Originally posted by natuxatu
Originally posted by KupoKupopo
Originally posted by neorandom

 

The bad:

---

You can definitely make a character that will just plain suck in pvp or soloing if you dont pay some attention when choosing powers stats and gear, but then again that is your own fault.


 

I would actually categorize this under "The Good".  Heaven forbid there be some repercussions for poor choices.


 

Actually it is a bad thing. You shouldn't have repercussions when you're starting out and don't know what to expect as you progress. We're not psychic after all. We wont know if we are making poor choices untill later down the road when it's too late.. or costly to fix.

 

I disagree, painful or costly mistakes should imo be a part of every mmorpg, It is annoying for a beginning player but it's how I believe one should learn the game. What doesn't kill you only makes you strong... 

 I disagree entirely. If the developers make 2 powers completely identical except that one does twice as much damage, this isnt your fault. If your trying to stick with a theme, lets say a sword wielder, and all sword powers blow, how is this your fault? When choosing powers, all powers should be viable or why even have the choice?

 Its the same with a class based game. You chose warlock and I chose mage, warlock is gimped, your fault for choosing the class? I think not...

I've played enough mmo's where my choice of skills had little impact, I could be less effective due bad choices but never do they handicap you. The beauty of CO is the many ways you go, unlike most of the popular mmorpg's now where every player of class X and level Y uses the same A, B, and C skills over and over. Those developers were forced to add another layer of 'specs' just to diversify the effectiveness of A or B or C. 

 To be honest, this game does a good job in disguising that you really dont have many choices. Most powers are very similar and a lot of powers require you to pick specific statistics. If you want A power and it is affected by Z statistic, you dont really have a choice in what to raise, you must raise Z to be viable.

 Personally, I usually choose those powers that dont require you to raise a specific stat, in this way, I can raise what I like. If you pay much attention to the power sets, it seems that most of the defensive powers force you into a specific statistic. This is yet another way to take out player choice. Want dex to be your focus, then lightning reflexes is going to be your defensive, unless you pick regen (which seems to be nice even if you do not raise recovery). Not going to pick a defensive passive? Then your just gimping your character for solo play.

I loved the whatever skills you want system in Single Player RPG's and it's one of the main features that pulls me to trying CO. 

 I wish it really was what ever skill you want, but its more like, pick a skill, forced into a stat, which in turn forces you into other skills OR you gimp yourself.

 


  wishywashy

Novice Member

Joined: 8/26/09
Posts: 4

9/03/09 4:21:16 PM#11

I love this game, going through my first character and as someone in this thread classified it as a learning character. im to lvl 14 now and realizing how difficult pvp is for me cause i have no holds and good strength but not hight enought to easly break holds  of character equal lvl or above me. i also have good heatlh and def but not enough to tank anything in pvp. so as a pvper is suck, but a damn fine soloer who has great dps possibility in a group. I guess thats kind of what i was shooting for since im not in to pvp, but this game has some real fun pvp and now all i want to do is get better at pvp lol....... man love this game.

 

 

  neorandom

Advanced Member

Joined: 1/15/08
Posts: 1429

 
9/03/09 7:05:34 PM#12

 ive found my favorite thing is pvp is my bow archer, his charge up shots crit hugely because i keep his dex and ego high and i generally play him in avenger stance (dps mode) in pvp, i have a hover disc and try to be sneaky about shooting people in the top of the head from above them so alot of the time they cant find me hehe.  tazer arrow stuns almost 100% when charged to max and sonic arrow has a chance to stun as well =D.  my power armor character lives forever and has some decent aoes as well, much fun can be had in the death matches/