MMORPG.com is committed to bringing our readers innovative and interesting ways to find out about their favorite games. In our latest video review, we take a look at City of Heroes: Freedom. Check out City of Heroes: Freedom Video Review and then let us know what you think in the comments!

I disagree with knocking the aesthetics of City of Heroes down to a 6 because of dated graphics. It is, after all, a dated game and not much about the graphics can be changed without an expensive overhaul which even then, it'd look similar. It's how the game was made when it released and during its time, the graphics were great.

If I could use cars as an analogy, it would be like judging an old Mustang's aesthetics in accordance with today's Mustangs. You can't change much about the old Mustang and it's classic because it's aesthetics are from its time of original manufacture. It's a classic.

Much like City of Heroes, or Crash Bandicoot 1, or Frogger - It is what it is and may not be entirely fair to receive such judgment.

Just my take on it and realize opinions differ.

I used to play CoX, then i took an arrow in the knee.

Hm. Not sure I agree with a 6.9...considering how lacklustre and lacking in depth both Champions and the game with the name and the most amount of resources in DCUO are, City of Heroes leads the pack.

Sure it's 7 years old and doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but that's hardly their fault. Bringing it up to today's standards would be painfully expensive. And they're only a few months into free to play, so I think the review is a little unfair. And the important question to ask about this review is how long was spent playing? The videos indicate no more than a few levels....

S.

This game is fun. There's no reason to buy the VIP package though. The best content is sub 50.



About the graphics, this game can be played on ANY computer. I'd rather have any laptop game than a game that has a 20GB core file and 10GB regularly updates like DCUO. This game is mostly action with few cutscences and nonsense. COH takes up like 3-5GB. The game has a fantastic character creator so you'll love playing your character. COH does this well.

 

the comment on the lack of detail might have been better if explained, because the graphics in CoX are extremely detailed.

a ridiculous amount of character customization (including both skill animations/colors)

varied enemy NPC types all with a unique flavor

TONS of details to the environment (seriously just look around, there's so many little background elements just to add to the atmosphere)

not to mention the world design itself. so many of the NPC's are actually doing things in the world, whether it's breaking into buildings/vehichles, stealing purses from old ladies, goldbrickers patrolling the cities on flight routes, enemy NPC factions fighting it out in real time, etc etc etc.

sure some of the models and textures look a little outdated (usually the stuff that came out in 04), but it makes up for it in the amount of detail and variety in everything else.

The age really shows when you compare some of the older costume options to the newer ones. Just look at the hairstyles. One of the old male long hair options is extremely plain and has an almost flat texture, while there's an almost identical newer one that just has a lot more detail. Having high detail graphics mixed in just makes the entire rest of the game look that much worse. The inconsistency in graphics also feels a little sloppy or even unprofessional if you're playing the game for the first time.

A 6.9 because of graphics? Despite the fact that it's STILL the best super-hero MMORPG out there by a wide margin?

Silly.

Originally posted by ChuvarHrama

I used to play CoX, then i took an arrow in the knee.

 

I see what you did there.

I'm not sure I agree with the review. I think it should be a bit higher.

I disagree with the review. It's too low. CoH still atleast an 8.

So even though I'm a fan of the game I know it's not perfect 10 of a game, but the 6.9 seems a trifle low.

Also did I just miss something important in the review or did the gameplay get a 6.0 because the PvP in a PvE focused game wasn't very good, and was the score of 8 on innovation because it innovated away from fantasy too much?  Or at least that's what I took away from the reviewer's comments.

The graphics thing I think is fairly valid, even though I like CoH's graphics more than a respectable chunk of MMOs that have been released since it's release it's perfectly fair to downrate the graphics when so much better is possible currently.  Admittedly I don't really think graphics are the most important bit to judge a game on, but some folks do.

As a huge fan of CoH, I'd say it's about time for City of Heroes 2.

I also think the 6.9 is a bit low. Not alot.. i would say something like 7.2 to 7.5 range or so, i do not think it would be over that though.

I think he should play a little longer than a LVL 2 charactor and give a better opinion.  Did he do a task force mission? Even try to play in a group? Was he trying to pvp with a LVL 2????

One of the dullest reviews i've ever seen.

Coh is a fun game, and has the best teaming system of any MMO imo. When you are having a ton of fun, you dont notice that the graphics are not top notch. You cant really even say that they are that bad. They have ambiant occlussion, true player reflections, and blob shadows. Tech wise the engine is fine. They only real thing that is dated are the player models, which arent that bad.

I think you are discounting the graphics unfairly. They aren't flashy, by any means, but they have a very impressive amount of detail. Not to mention, at any given time in a city, there's probably 20-30 NPCs all walking aorund the screen. And in combat, the animations are very smooth. Even rag-doll physics.

I will say that the hair models are pretty terrible. Worst thing about the character models...

Originally posted by trancejeremy

I think you are discounting the graphics unfairly. They aren't flashy, by any means, but they have a very impressive amount of detail. Not to mention, at any given time in a city, there's probably 20-30 NPCs all walking aorund the screen. And in combat, the animations are very smooth. Even rag-doll physics.

 

Yeah its fun to watch an enemy go flying after a powerful finishing blow :)

I recommend MMORPG gets someone old enough to know CoH when it was released to do a review on it now. Really, a 6.9?!?! Give us someone who knows the game and the history of it from its start on. I dont want to hear about how its' "dated" from someone who was like what 8 years old when this game came out?? Of course he is going to give it a low rating, he has no reference to compare it to but the new games that came out in the past couple of years. Either redo the review with someone who has some knowledge to base the review on, or have this guy  do some research before he reviews it again. Seriously, this review is like me doing a review on Big Band music from the 1920s.

How can this be a review??? Everything you did in the video was below lvl 6!!!! and there is a lvl cap of 50! thats like judging a book by its cover!