City of Heroes Review

In preparation for the game’s European release, Eurogamer has posted a review of City of Heroes, giving the superhero MMORPG an overall score of 9/10. A snippet:

The game’s cityscapes are glorious places, full of cars, soaring skyscrapers and citizens minding their business. However, crime is constant, with districts packed full of bad guys up to nefarious deeds. In terms of pure atmosphere… well, take this entirely standard encounter. You’re patrolling. You see a woman having her handbag being wrestled from her by two thugs. She’s calling for help. You intervene. The thugs stop to fight you, cursing your name. You let them face stern vigilante action. The victim runs up, thanking you profusely… and you’re away.

Of course, in game terms this is identical to just spawning monsters for you to hit. But compared to how it affects atmosphere, going from City of Heroes to the sort of game that deposits you in a field full of monsters which wander around, minding their own business, until you attack them… well, it’s not fun and they’re shown to be as ridiculous as they clearly are. That isn’t adventuring. That’s a genocide simulator. What did that orc ever do to you?