Champions Online
26/11/2009 at 19:46
- Score 4/5
-
Champions Online, MMORPG, Camp it up, Super Heroes, Lycra
Dinah Washington sang "What a difference a day makes" back in the days when the world was still in black and white. In the world of Champions Online, things seem to work a bit slower. Initially there was quite a buzz about the game, mostly due to Cryptic being responsible for that other super-MMO City Of Heroes/Villains. Plus Champions is based on the paper based RPG of the same name so taps into the wealth of characters and the back story from that.
Sadly on launch the game was found to be plagued by bugs and performance issues, coupled with a game structure that isn't entirely like every other MMO meant that the initial critical and commercial reception was rather chilly. Or it could have been down to a lot of players choosing ice powers, I'm not sure.
So while a day generally makes no difference, it's now been a good couple of months since launch, and Cryptic have ensured things are now looking rosier in Millennium City... Well, the crime rate has gone up thanks to the quests added recently but that's good news for the hundreds upon hundreds of heroes inhabiting the world. Better news is that the game now runs smoother, with an improved frame rate, lots of bugs have been removed, broken quests have been fixed and as an actual gaming experience Champions Online has come leaps and bounds. Or super leaps and super bounds.
Through the beta and upon launch Champions Online was immediately compared with World of Warcraft. Of course it was, WoW is the MMORPG to beat; the success story which has never been matched. This was problem number 1 for CO... It isn't World of Warcraft. A rather obvious statement, but the changes go far beyond a simple change of theme.
The Birth of a Hero
For a start when designing your character, what you initially come up with using the character creation tool will be what you be looking at for the rest of the game. For the most part at least, as you unlock further costume slots, meaning you can have up to four separate outfits for your hero. There are also different weapons that can be found, bought and made that occasionally look different, plus the "acclaim" points you earn in PvP can be used to buy lucha-libre costume pieces but beyond that you'll find your look stays consistent throughout the game. To me this is a massive plus point over your stereotypical MMORPG. You don't have to make do with mis-matched armour you have found until you're at such a level that you can begin grinding for armour sets.
Talking about grind, CO is structured in such a way that defeating enemies delivers a relatively low amount of XP. The big points come from completing quests. Although the quests themselves are rarely more than "defeat x amount of this enemy type" the numbers are generally kept low and a high drop rate of quest items mean they don't become much of a drag. Quests are found from specific characters stood on the same spot for all eternity like you would expect, but it's also possible to happen across events like bank robberies in progress or citizens in distress. It helps make the world feel that little bit more dynamic, passing a spot that you've passed many times before, only this time there's police responding to a crime and asking for help.
When you do find yourself short of quests, checking the "crime computer" accessible from the quest window will show available quest dispensing NPCs, what zone they're in and even lets you set a way point on the map. It's rare you'll be short of anything to do. However, going by the chat in game it seems Cryptic haven't made this clear enough as I have often seen people complaining they have no quests. Unless they've stumbled across a bug this should never happen and mostly you'll find your quest tracker is full, especially now Cryptic have added further quests at the lower and mid levels along with quests that can be repeated.
Momma Said Knock You Out!
Combat differs from normal MMOs by the simple virtue that you can actually move around during combat. The occasional move still requires you to be stuck to the spot while you charge it up, but generally if you want to swoop in, firing a volley of shots before dropping to the ground and running a ring around your enemy you can. Sadly movement doesn't seem to help in evading attacks, but whatever - it still looks good right? It helps make combat a bit more interesting at least and you can switch from ranged to melee as easily as walking up to your opponent. There are also moves that knock back enemies, so clearing space to move is always possible if you've chosen appropriate moves. Still - beware, there's nothing worse than being knocked back yourself into another mob, or worse still a big ol' lava pit.
Combat is more sophisticated than that still. There is an energy bar - mana if you will. However instead of waiting for it to recharge or glugging mana potions you have a "energy builder" move. So firing off a few volleys of this move will increase the energy available. Normally this bar sits somewhere in the middle (depending on your stats) so unless you just want to use your low level moves forever more starting off with a few hits from your energy builder is the right way to go.
Area of Effect attacks are given a tweak in Champions Online as well. You'll find your standard close and ranged AoE attacks are present and correct, but there are also AoE attacks that only hit in a cone area in front of you. For example the "might" skill set has a swinging punch that is a cone AoE and knocks enemies back. That means any bad guys in front of you when you trigger that learn what clubberin' time means real quick.
There's also the option with some moves to either tap or charge. Tap is a weak, instant blow, but charge means you can hold the button for extra power and effects (energy allowing of course). Then there's the option to block, with extra block powers available. Very handy for when you see an enemy charging up an attack (which comes complete with a comic book BOOM or POW style icon above their head) as it means you can lessen the damage done, plus lessen the chance of being affected by any other effects the move may have such as knock backs or holds. Along with that if you've chosen a block power it'll build your energy as you take damage. It pays big time to know when to block.
Combine it all together and you've got a dynamic combat system that knocks the hat off any other MMO by being - dare I say it? - exciting. Sure it still remains within the constrains of an MMO, but you'll never find yourself following the same button presses each time you fight like in WoW. No more memorising 1,3,1,2,3,1,6 or whatever your personal preference was.
Zoned Out
Something that does seem to split opinions is the actual structure of the game world. Unlike many MMORPGs where you can just walk between zones, Champions Online is split into zones that are only accessible by taking helicopter jets from specific points on each of the maps. The number of Zones seems slight at first glance - Millennium City, Canada, Southern Desert, and the high levels zones of Monster Island and the undersea kingdom of Lemuria; however they're all bit larger than your average WoW zone, with distinct areas within the zones to explore. Each zone has it's own "Crisis" open mission before the zone opens proper, which is a large mission where everyone is fighting together to achieve the same goals. If you've ever played Warhammer Online then you'll have likely come across this kind of thing on a smaller scale.
It's not unusual to have several quests active in each zone as well. While playing you generally find that you don't have to stay in one zone, but rather can travel between them and get a good spread of action at an appropriate level. The normal server structure has been dumped as well - instead of choosing a server for your character, you just hop between instances of up to 100 players making joining up with friends a snap. It can make the world feel a bit more abstract as you generally don't see the same strangers again and again but it works and it's good to see a change.
In a rather genius move that supports the zone structure, you are actually given your first travel power at level 5 (out of 40). Admittedly you don't get chose it before you leave the tutorial zone, which will generally mean level 7 or 8 for most people, but to have the freedom of flight, super speed or one of the other choices is like being granted a flying mount in WoW as soon as you leave the starting zone. With my main character I chose super-acrobatics, allowing me to run fast and jump high and I feel that I saw much more of the games little details than I did with any of my alts with flying abilities. Having said that, the ability to fly over difficult sections is something that is most appreciated. A second travel power is granted at level 35, but you'll never get the same thrill as the very first time you powered up and took off at high speed.
Super Problems
It's at level 35 or so that you'll notice a big problem with Champions Online - there's not much in the way of an end game. The trip through the later levels to level 40 kind of fizzles out once you've cleared the Monster Island and Lemuria "Crisis" open missions. Between them and the Doctor Destroyer story arc that halts before you ever reach those zones you feel you've reached your peak. Once you reach 40 there are no raids, just some more missions that are nothing special. Party quests never go above the 5 person limit set early on. There's nothing at all in there that would be of interest to those WoW players who enjoyed the massive end game that Blizzard provided. Content is the Kryptonite of this game, it's hard to feel excited about putting a pair of tights on if there's no-one to batter while wearing them. Although I suppose you could go visit the in-game night club to show off to the furries that are usually role-playing in there.
There is yet some hope however, content is being added often with the Halloween specific event "Blood Moon" adding a permanent new addition to the otherwise lacklustre PvP modes. The main meat of Blood Moon was a series of open missions in Millennium City where a series of dead heroes were brought back as evil zombies by an evil Lich King. It was a fun week long event that lead to people running around the entire city like a group of headless super-chickens as each undead hero spawned and hopefully shows Cryptic does actually intend to continue fleshing out the game further.
As far as MMOs go, Champions Online looks great. It would never stand up against the most graphic intensive games, and the texturing could do with some work in some areas - some seem quite blurry and when you're flying high above the zones you see the same textures repeated constantly. Lemuria stands out as the artistic highlight - it's a colourful underwater world with some amazingly realised landmarks, and it seems as deep in parts as it is long or wide. Such a shame so many people may never bother to reach it!
On the technical side, it's not good news. It's still fairly buggy, with broken quests where enemies don't spawn, or aren't targetable. Some NPCs stop responding or get stuck in a loop. Zone chat is often filled with people asking "is this quest still broken?" and the answer is usually "yes". Performance, while improving, still is an issue with low frame rates even on powerful machines and occasional random crashes. Balance is also a sticky point with some power sets seemingly over powered but some far too rubbish to be of any use. The martial arts moves in particular are about as helpful as firing spit balls at the monsters instead. However this is one area where Cryptic are making constant changes, shame it's the one area where the players are guaranteed to have a good whinge each time. OMG you nerfed my orbital cannon!
Time for a Retcon
Therein lies the issue with reviewing MMO games. There's a lot of content to cover in a world that is constantly changing via regular patches. Therefore this is more of a report on the current state of play rather than your standard review. Think of this as more of a representation of Champions Online at this point in time.
I've just cancelled my subscription this week down to changes in my personal situation. Although I expect to eventually come back, if I had the time now I would probably keep on going regardless of the problems I've listed as Cryptic have put out a game full of character. The hero creation tool supports this, and the fact you can pick up a car, fly it over a building and lob it at street-thug only serves to enforce the point.
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