City of Heroes/Villains Issue 7 Update Now Available

NCsoft issued a press release earlier today announcing the release of the free Issue 7 update for City of Heroes and City of Villains.

NCsoft releases new City of Villains and City of Heroes expansion

Issue 7: ‘˜Destiny Manifest’ raises the bar for villain mayhem and adds revolutionary new PvP zone

AUSTIN, Texas, June 7, 2006 NCsoft® today announced the release of a free expansion to City of Villains™ and City of Heroes®, Issue 7: (Destiny Manifest,) in both North America and Europe. In addition to level 40 to 50 content for villains, the new feature-packed expansion adds the opportunity for villains to wreak havoc in new (mayhem missions,) and a player-versus-player (PvP) zone where villains and heroes clash to control a dynamically changing battlefield.

The expansion is free to both City of Heroes and City of Villains’ subscribers.

The new City of Villains 40 to 50 level content includes more than 300 new missions and a new zone for level 40 and higher players, Grandville. Grandville contains Spider City, the vertically built capital of Lord Recluseâ„¢, the leader of the Arachnos, the top villain group in City of Villains.

Highlighting the new mission sets are mayhem missions, which allow villains to enter instanced City of Heroes zones in Paragon Cityâ„¢. During these missions, villains may wreak as much havoc on the zone as possible, reaping unique rewards and loot. The mayhem mission zones are destructible environments where villains can unlock multiple random events, harass citizens and battle the new Paragon City Police.

A new feature to both City of Heroes and City of Villains is the unique level 40 to 50 PvP zone, Recluse’s Victory. Recluse’s Victory is a replica of Paragon City’s Atlas Parkâ„¢, where villains and heroes battle for heavily armed control points. Depending on who has the upper hand, the zone will change from a neutral setting to reflect the peaceful and shining version of Atlas Park where heroes are victorious or to a dark and scarred vision of Atlas Park where villainous forces dominate. Heroes and villains can take battlefield control over powerful artillery including mobile siege weapons that can help turn the tide of battle. When one side takes an advantage in Recluse’s Victory, powerful signature characters may appear to aid the struggling side and help take back control points, allowing players to have toe-to-toe battles with the likes of Lord Recluse or Statesman.

(This highly anticipated expansion makes villains meaner and introduces a PvP zone that has not been seen before in the online multiplayer market,) said Matt Miller, Cryptic Studio’sâ„¢ lead designer for City of Heroes and City of Villains. (Players will have a blast exploring the new high-level content and causing endless destruction in the new mayhem missions, which take being a villain to a new low.)

Issue 7 allows villains who surpass level 40 to obtain (patron powers,) a new set of abilities derived from one of the City of Villains signature villains: Ghost Widowâ„¢, Captain Makoâ„¢, Sciroccoâ„¢ or Black Scorpionâ„¢. Examples of the new villain patron powers are Ghost Widow’s soul storm which levitates and spins its victims in the air and Captain Mako’s spirit shark power that fires destructive shark spirits at opponents.

This free expansion also includes new base features including storage items, empowerment stations, super group banners and base color tinting. Additionally, the expansion provides a new set of costume options and adds sweeping art and graphics improvements to City of Heroes.

City of Villains and City of Heroes are available at retailers in North America and Europe as well as at the NCsoft online store at www.plaync.com. Both games include the first month of online game play, and after the first month, players will be charged a monthly subscription fee of US$14.99. Customers who purchase City of Heroes and City of Villains can play both games for the single subscription price of US$14.99.

For more information on City of Villains go to: www.cityofvillains.com, and for more information on City of Heroes, go to: www.cityofheroes.com.

About NCsoft

NCsoft North America is headquartered in Austin, Texas and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Korea-based NCsoft Corporation. NCsoft, with its own development and publishing offices in Texas and California, also works with other NCsoft subsidiaries and third party developers throughout North America to develop and publish innovative online entertainment software products. The company has successfully launched multiple online titles in the last three years and continues to support its AAA franchises that include Lineage®/Lineage II, City of Heroes/City of Villains, Guild Wars®/Guild Wars Factions™ and Auto Assault®. More information about NCsoft can be found at http://www.plaync.com.

About Cryptic Studios

Cryptic Studiosâ„¢, Inc., located in Los Gatos, California, was established in July of 2000 and is an independent developer of massively multiplayer online games for the PC and next generation consoles. Its first game, City of Heroes, launched in April 2004. The game takes place in a virtual world where thousands of people play simultaneously, take on the role of super-powered heroes, fight villains and help create a dynamic story in a visually-stunning, 3-D graphical world.