I’ve been a bit too busy to hang out much on the video game front, but I’ve recently picked up a couple of games with a common theme: super heroes.
First, I’ve played the new MMO Champions Online more than any other game recently. I’ve had a great deal of fun with the game so far- interesting stories, characters, and power sets. (Love the haunted Old West town.) I greatly appreciate the customization of character (as does my wife, since character creation is her favorite part) and the quick access to travel powers, as well as going after the baddies in strange and interesting ways. For instance, with one character I can trap enemies in ice cages, or with my main character I can summon zombies, a golem, and an angel to help me take them out. Plus, a game with Bob and Doug McKenzie as mission contacts cant be all that bad, right?
Well, it depends whom you ask. The group of friends I game with regularly have a tendency to be game jumpers, and unfortunately most of them are ready to move on already. Their one complaint that I have to agree with is that there aren’t enough missions. You pretty much must do every mission to get to the highest levels. The dearth of missions makes the replayability of the game an issue for them- it hasn’t bothered me yet, but I completely understand where they are coming from. There’s new content coming out next month with the Blood Moon update, but by then it will be too late. They’ll be gone. I plan to stick around, however, so drop me a line if you decide to give it a shot.
I also picked up Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 for the Xbox 360. Now, I wasn’t particularly thrilled with the Civil War storyline, where the heroes went to war over the registration act. For one, I’m probably one of the few that *liked* Speedball from his early days, and his character changed in ways that I don’t find compelling at all. More importantly, though, I had absolutely no sympathy whatsoever for the pro-registration side (led by Iron Man). The pro-registration side seemed motivated by fear and did what they felt necessary to achieve security, and of course there are obvious intentional analogies to real-world events that make the reaction in what is usually an escapist story a bit less than compelling. The game makes you pick a side, and I’m curious to see what happens when the other side wins… so as soon as I have a chance, MUA 2 will be up.
The next MMO my group is trying is Aion. As a former Tabula Rasa player, I have a free first month, so I’ll give it a shot.
Post a Comment