Warning. I am going to focus on negative aspects. If you want a review that sugarcoats the truth. Or talks about the game from point of fanboy in love. Please skip this.

Otherwise , if you want to hear about bad things before you jump in..read on

As great fan of PnP champions games, avid comics reader , roleplayer, altholic and well ... former COH/COV player.

I was very excited by the chance to participate in CO beta.

Lets start right out of the bat - Champions Online is City of Heroes 2

Its just game that asks question , if we would make City of Heroes again. What would we change ?

And so Cryptic did.

But did they succeed , or more so was the change for better ?

Not entirely. Or to be even more harsh. Its hardly worth (if at all) switching over.

Lets start with character creation.

Its improved. But for each thing fixed, another one is broken. For every thing added, another is taken away.

On the end I feel COH almost has the upper hand.

Which brings me to the graphic.

And i am talking as professional graphic designer (cause this is how i make my living)

Let start from OUTLINES - cell shading. It is horrible. You will disable it first moment you see it.

But the whole rendering engine is simply bad. Picture is jagged, and if you use Antialiasing , it becomes blurry.

They really used some funky rendering engine. Perhaps in anticipation of XBOX port ?

Level design is good during tutorial missions. But once you exit , and join the game world you are in for surprise!

Just take trip to Millennium City , for jaw dropping wake up call!

COH cities look 10 times better!? Millennium city is place of BLOCKS , with 8 bit like textures, and virtually no little details.

Its light years below COH graphic... shame i didnt make no screenshots, cause i was to shocked to see this.

Its almost like AOC with its 20 tutorial levels galore , and sub par game afterwise...

Animations ... nothing to write home about. Let just say, pretty similar to COH (same crew ?)

But lets go on.

Instancing. Whole game is split into 100 man instances. Is this good ? Depends on your taste.

Bugs..

Let just say that Gadgeteer archetype has pets (robots) , and they are so bugged most of the game you will have no idea where and what are they doing. Or let say you can respec your skills. But if you took a bugged skill. You can never respec again...

Gameplay

This should be redeeming quality. But lets say combat is good. It feels ok and its fun. Its nothing great.

And to top this. There is no group dynamics. And the whole game is completely SOLO oriented.

So is there something good?

Well. I guess ability to (limited) pick and combine skills. Its quite fun to try and create crazy combinations.

What can I say more ?

Bill Roper ? Big mistake giving that guys key to Cryptic offices.

All in all.

This are bed things. There are some good ones too. But not enough to make this game more than a passing hit.

It will be fun for a month maximum two , and than it will face fate AOC and WAR , know to well.

Whatever you do.

Do not take life sub !

Your post was the complete opposite of a run-on sentence! 

lol...I think I preferred your post over a run-on sentence and wall 'o text though...

Anyways, thanks for the review.  Always welcomed I guess :)  Could have used about 67 less periods in i though.

Originally posted by Lobotomist

There is no group dynamics. And the whole game is completely SOLO oriented.

Maybe you should... you know, actually take some group oriented powers instead of building every character as a solo generalist?

There is a heal that generates energy. Did you try it? There are a bunch of buffs that will only work on teammates. How many of those did you take? Were you able to finish any public quest after the tutorial one without a group? Didn't think so. Did you complete all the Lairs and Strongholds solo? Kinda doubt it.

So, yes you CAN solo to the level cap, but you can't do all of the content solo. There is a big difference.

I don't mean to come across too harsh by all that, because I can see how people will play CO as a solo game, but to say that the game is completely solo just ain't true.

As for the rest, I think the graphics and animations look awesome. IMO its the best looking MMOG I have seen even when compared to the overly gritty dark and drap AoC with its small zones and earthy colored everything.

Um well I just know for my self I will have to enjoy it, it is something new and Aion is boring. So I  am sticking with CO. Remember it is Open beta and when it is on full release it may or may not change but we have years to see this new MMO grow and from the look of  it to my eyes...later on it will be great. So give it time to grow, play it, have fun.

I find the game quite refreshing and fun to play.  There are some steep learning curves to the game due to the variety of option and potential for gimping.

Still, fun to play.  Just waiting for the hayteboi's to come out in FF.

That was one of the worst reviews I have ever read. I hope you're not native to the English language.  The only interest I have in Champions Online is for an Xbox MMO, and I probably won't get the game at all because its always looked terrible from the very first moment. But I tried to give this review a read and it was just wretched.... A+ for effort though. Next time... try wording yourself clearly and providing more detailed examples of all your little points of hate.

Is it true that you can't respec your character?

Originally posted by NovaKayne

I find the game quite refreshing and fun to play.  There are some steep learning curves to the game due to the variety of option and potential for gimping.

 

Still, fun to play.  Just waiting for the hayteboi's to come out in FF.

Ahh the I like the game but others don't so I will try to entice a flame war since I can't accept other people's opinions post. They really are the most fun to read.

There has been plenty of negativity coming out of this beta so I don't think someone posting his views and thoughts is wrong. And it shouldn't result in someone just trying to start trouble by using "hayteboi's" which as a word is more humorous then mean, who actually types like that? Save responses like that for when someone makes a thread that just says "CO Sucks" and doesn't back it up with any information.

Originally posted by MMO_Doubter

Is it true that you can't respec your character?

No, it is not COMPLETLY true. 

They provide an area to make your selection and test it out on various dummies before you accept.

I think there is a limit of only being able to go back 10 changes tho.  So, I am not sure that a FULL respec is allowed.

If you leave and then come back on another power selection, you can still make changes on previously selected items if the "real World" application of your selections did not mesh with what you thought they would do.  As stated above tho, only back like 10 selections or so.

Originally posted by NovaKayne

Originally posted by MMO_Doubter

Is it true that you can't respec your character?

 

No, it is not COMPLETLY true. 

 

They provide an area to make your selection and test it out on various dummies before you accept.

 

I think there is a limit of only being able to go back 10 changes tho.  So, I am not sure that a FULL respec is allowed.

Once you leave the testing area, can you respec after that, or only before you leave?

I can understand your frustration if graphics are really important to you.  I know they are to me, though polygon counts etc doesnt matter to me.  It's hard to play a game if you don't like how it looks.  Unless the gameplay is amazing.

I'm looking forward to trying it this afternoon and seeing for myself.  I look forward to the comic book graphics in theory but will judge on experience shortly. 

It would have been nice to have specific examples regarding character customization.

You're experiance was very different from mine.  Having been in the closed beta I loved CO, it looks awesome on my system and is extremly fun to play.  I had no issues with AA, although I think they were having some issues with ATI cards so that may be what you were seeing.

Originally posted by MMO_Doubter

Originally posted by NovaKayne

Originally posted by MMO_Doubter

Is it true that you can't respec your character?

 

No, it is not COMPLETLY true. 

 

They provide an area to make your selection and test it out on various dummies before you accept.

 

I think there is a limit of only being able to go back 10 changes tho.  So, I am not sure that a FULL respec is allowed.

 

Once you leave the testing area, can you respec after that, or only before you leave?

 hehe, noticed I did not put that in there before your post and edited my response.  So, the answer is yes.  Yet there is still a limit of like the last 10 or so changes.  Not sure exactly I just remember at some point not being able to go back and change a travel option when I was in my mid teens.

A lot of the criticisms you have listed are hardly founded - they sound like the opinions of a raving lunatic. Where is all of the support? All I see are a bunch of half-witted, brusquely pithy aphorisms.

Antialiasing makes the game "blurry?"

COH building textures not only look better, but are "10 times better?!"

Cell-shaded graphics are "horrible?"

The reference to AoC -did- make me chuckle, though, from the sheer stupidity of it all. Congrats on that. Give more hard examples that detail your experience - I'm not going to assume, right from the get go, that you're some kind of MMO god that just so happens to know what everyone likes and dislikes.

Originally posted by slim26

Um well I just know for my self I will have to enjoy it, it is something new and Aion is boring. So I  am sticking with CO. Remember it is Open beta and when it is on full release it may or may not change but we have years to see this new MMO grow and from the look of  it to my eyes...later on it will be great. So give it time to grow, play it, have fun.

You will 'have' to enjoy it? 

Why?

I never understood this mindset, and it seems to only come from MMO gamers.  They'll have a choice from a bunch of options, all of which are crap, but will play whichever one is least crappy, just so they can play something.  I'm starting to wonder if its not the games themselves that are addictive, but the genre as a whole. 

Originally posted by MMO_Doubter

Originally posted by NovaKayne

Originally posted by MMO_Doubter

Is it true that you can't respec your character?

 

No, it is not COMPLETLY true. 

 

They provide an area to make your selection and test it out on various dummies before you accept.

 

I think there is a limit of only being able to go back 10 changes tho.  So, I am not sure that a FULL respec is allowed.

 

Once you leave the testing area, can you respec after that, or only before you leave?

You can respec after you leave the training area but it cost ingame money (called resources) to "unlock" your choices.  While you're in the training area it is free to respec any choice which is unlocked so you can try a lot of different things.  (I'll spend 30 minutes in there easy.)

Originally posted by MMO_Doubter

Is it true that you can't respec your character?

No...that isn't true.  There were a few bugged skills that could not be respecced, but I'm expecting that to be fixed for the OB.  As far as graphics...I thought I would hate it.  When I looked at videos and such, it looked blah.  After I got in game, I grew to love them.  The graphics are very crisp to me, no blurring, no jagging, at least to me.  I enjoy the game.  Is there some problems?  Sure.  It's still in beta.  I think the closed beta went rather smoothly.  There were some bumps, but nothing disasterous.

Originally posted by Lobotomist

Warning. I am going to focus on negative aspects. If you want a review that sugarcoats the truth. Or talks about the game from point of fanboy in love. Please skip this.

Otherwise , if you want to hear about bad things before you jump in..read on

 

 

 

As great fan of PnP champions games, avid comics reader , roleplayer, altholic and well ... former COH/COV player.

I was very excited by the chance to participate in CO beta.

 

Lets start right out of the bat - Champions Online is City of Heroes 2

Its just game that asks question , if we would make City of Heroes again. What would we change ?

 

And so Cryptic did.

But did they succeed , or more so was the change for better ?

 

Not entirely. Or to be even more harsh. Its hardly worth (if at all) switching over.

 

Lets start with character creation.

Its improved. But for each thing fixed, another one is broken. For every thing added, another is taken away.

On the end I feel COH almost has the upper hand.

 

Which brings me to the graphic.

And i am talking as professional graphic designer (cause this is how i make my living)

Let start from OUTLINES - cell shading. It is horrible. You will disable it first moment you see it.

But the whole rendering engine is simply bad. Picture is jagged, and if you use Antialiasing , it becomes blurry.

They really used some funky rendering engine. Perhaps in anticipation of XBOX port ?

 

Level design is good during tutorial missions. But once you exit , and join the game world you are in for surprise!

Just take trip to Millennium City , for jaw dropping wake up call!

COH cities look 10 times better!? Millennium city is place of BLOCKS , with 8 bit like textures, and virtually no little details.

Its light years below COH graphic... shame i didnt make no screenshots, cause i was to shocked to see this.

 

Its almost like AOC with its 20 tutorial levels galore , and sub par game afterwise...

 

Animations ... nothing to write home about. Let just say, pretty similar to COH (same crew ?)

 

But lets go on.

Instancing. Whole game is split into 100 man instances. Is this good ? Depends on your taste.

 

Bugs..

Let just say that Gadgeteer archetype has pets (robots) , and they are so bugged most of the game you will have no idea where and what are they doing. Or let say you can respec your skills. But if you took a bugged skill. You can never respec again...

 

Gameplay

This should be redeeming quality. But lets say combat is good. It feels ok and its fun. Its nothing great.

And to top this. There is no group dynamics. And the whole game is completely SOLO oriented.

 

So is there something good?

Well. I guess ability to (limited) pick and combine skills. Its quite fun to try and create crazy combinations.

 

What can I say more ?

Bill Roper ? Big mistake giving that guys key to Cryptic offices.

 All in all.

This are bed things. There are some good ones too. But not enough to make this game more than a passing hit.

It will be fun for a month maximum two , and than it will face fate AOC and WAR , know to well.

 

Whatever you do.

Do not take life sub !

  

Well, I'm installing it now to see for myself. so, I will see for myelf.

I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to pick apart your review. Now, I've got no problem if you don't like the game, but I ask that you be coherent and specific when you talk about things you like.

As to your points:

Chargen: You say that for everything they added, another thing is broken, but you don't say what any of the bad things are. Then you say CoH is better. Better how? What's broken? Be specific cause it sounds like you've got no argument here.

Graphics: Cryptic made their engine specifically to make the game look more like a comic book with the cell shading and strong colours. You don't have to like the style, but, I think it's done very well. You may make your living doing graphic design, but that doesn't make you an expert on what people's tastes are. Some people like the bright and colourful graphic style of WoW, some people don't. Same situation here. Some people (most comic book fans I'm guessing) will love the graphic style. Some won't. I think your argument here is more that you don't personally like the style, which is okay. The graphics are done very well though.

Level Design: I honestly don't know how you think CoH has better level design. I've been to Millenium City and it's way better than any of the CoH zones. The buildings aren't all random, nondescript buildings with the same windows and the same fire escapes. It looks alot more like a real, if slightly futuristic city. There's billboards with funny fake advertisements like "Got Toxic Waste?" instead of "Got Milk?". There's actual neighbourhoods, where one place is kinda slummy and one place is nicer with trees planted etc. It feels alot more fleshed out rather than just taking up space.

I honestly don't know what you're trying to say with some of the other things. You compare it to AoC but I don't think it's like that at all. You're level 5-8 when you get out of the tutorial, but you go right into some cool zones and get to some free questing. The animations are better than CoH for sure.

Bugs: Well guess what, there's bugs in every game. Report them and they'll get fixed. You have to realize this type of thing if you claim to know the MMO genre at all. As far as the pets wandering around random, yes that's true. Is that a bug? I don't know. If it is, it'll be fixed. That's how MMOs work. As far as bugs go there's relatively few in the game, and it's not even out yet. WoW had tons of bugs when it first came out. You gotta know this if you're going to play MMOs.

Also, AoC and WAR didn't fail, they are still making profit. It seems to me you don't really know what you're talking about as far as the genre goes.

Originally posted by Excalaber2

Your post was the complete opposite of a run-on sentence! 

lol...I think I preferred your post over a run-on sentence and wall 'o text though...

Anyways, thanks for the review.  Always welcomed I guess :)  Could have used about 67 less periods in i though.

Grammar police allways stoping you for irrelevant shit