City of Villains Previews

Two new previews of NCsoft and Cryptic Studios’ City of Villains have reached the web, now that the expansion/standalone MMORPG has officially gone gold. The first is at Boomtown:

Extending their control over the oceans of Earth, the Coralax became masters of the Virtea, a race of humanoid fish creatures that tend to stay in very deep water. The primitive, nomadic Virtea are not overly violent but will defend themselves and their loved ones fiercely. Dominated through a combination of charm, intimidation, and mental strength, the Virtea serve the will of the Coralax.

And the second is at MMORPGDot:

As in all great RPGs, your first task when logging into City of Villains is to bust out of jail. You’ll meet some non-super inmates who’ll help you escape as long as you provide them with the drugs and weapons they need. These initial errands serve as a tutorial that instructs you how to acquire and perform missions (quests), and to use your powers and the minimap. In City of Villains, quest givers are called contacts, and it is by performing duties for these contacts that you meet other contacts and progress through the story. The heads-up display has a contacts menu that lists any contacts you currently have a relationship with. When you select a contact on the list, a little icon appears on your compass, which indicates the direction you’ll have to go in order to find that person. There is also a mission menu that works similarly; selecting your current mission (usually) places a blip on your compass which shows you where the mission objective lies. In addition to the compass, City of Villains also provides a nifty customizable minimap that marks important locations and people on your map; selecting markers on the map places a blip for that place or person on your compass.