City of Heroes Previews

City of Heroes, Cryptic Studios’ upcoming superhero MMORPG, is the subject of two new previews. The first is at MMORPG.com:

The mission system is brilliantly done. You receive missions from your contacts. They can be anything from simple delivery missions to missions to patrol the streets of a particular zone to even clearing out a warehouse of thugs. The indoor missions are instanced just for you or your group if you are in one; which eliminates the problem of quest camping found in a lot of other games. When you receive an indoor mission, such as clearing out a warehouse or office building of bad guy scum, a waypoint appears on your mini-map directing you to which building it is. Once you arrive at the building, you and members of your group (if you’re in one) may enter the building. You simply click on the door, zone in, complete the mission objectives and when done return to your contact to receive credit for the mission and possibly pick up another. The mission system does a great job of making the player feel like not only are they stopping minor crimes here and there, but also playing a part in stopping grand schemes of very powerful supervillains.

And the second is at Gamers.com:

Teaming up with other players can be a significant part of the game. Fortunately, Cryptic Studios has made it as easy as flicking the switch on your own personal “Bat Signal”! Simply press a button and a call goes out to all other players with your skill level and informs them that you’re looking to join a team. If you find a really great group of player/characters and want to keep it alive, form a “Supergroup.” Up to 75 players can join, complete with matching costumes! While the early missions can be tackled solo, the “Supergroups” add a whole new dimension to gameplay. Instead of simple quests, your team might be assigned to a truly epic mission that, according to Cryptic, takes at least 8 players around 10 hours to accomplish!