Coming of the Champions (Part 2)

What Champions Online Will Bring to Gaming

By Darkgolem

The Champions World

Previously in Part One, I spoke of the massive amount of versatility I anticipate from the description of the champions game system, merged with the imaginative character design previously prepared by Cryptic Studios.  However, a pretty costume and complete set of abilities does not a superhero make.  You, of course, need to face off against villainous enemies.  Each should come complete with gloating rhetoric to, say, a mad plan for world dominance, and a varied selection of goons.  Even better, a villainous super group, prepared to work together for the downfall of a hero and his or her allies.  In the case of the HERO universe, this comes with the package.

The Caves: One of the environments to be used in Champions Online.The genre of the world of Champions is going to be carried over (in many cases) to Champions Online.  This has some subtle differences from what you might be used to from games such as City of Heroes and City of Villains.  

Organizations are very big in Champions.  You have some fascinating and just plain fun groups, such as a group of psionics (PSI), or Viper (a world conquest organization).  This is more or less the same structure you'd find in City of Heroes and City of Villains.  One difference from previous super heroic based games is the number of super powered enemies you see.  There are many villain teams you fight in Champions, and if this carries over to CO, your going to find yourself facing enemies just as powerful and as strong as you are, in groups.  If they carry over the way the things seemed to develop in the Champions genre, you will find yourself fighting toe to toe with enemies just as powerful as yourself, in groups, and more often.  Don’t forget that you also have very powerful super villains in the Champions genre, some of whom, such as the nefarious Doctor Destroyer, have already been identified as destined for CO.

Another very exciting change I see coming are multiple environments.  Champions itself had rules for all sorts of environments.  Space, adverse environments (lava chambers, the arctic), underground, you name it, you could find it in the HERO System, and from the data found on the Champions Online web site, they plan the same thing.  For example, there are comments about working on adventures on the moon.  Finally, no longer will you be locked into various landscapes, or even just cityscapes, but all over the world in a super heroic game!

The Goodies

Choosing your own nemesis is a fun feature of the HERO system. In the Champions pen and paper game, you had the option of having enemies specific to yourself.  You would chose this, aside from fun, because it was a way of making your character more powerful (you would exchange the limitation of being harassed for the benefit of getting bonus points in making your character).  It was a very common thing for one to have 3 or 4 enemies who were sworn to your defeat.

This particular feature is being brought to Champions Online.  You can design (yes design, it is not a typo) your own nemesis.  Of course, the first thing that goes through my head is “so will I be designing them to be easily defeated?”  According to the Champions Online forums, this isn’t something that can be done.  Your nemesis will be balanced and not easily defeated, even though you design them.

The nemesis is not static throughout the game.  You will have opportunities for your nemesis to be defeated, captured, thrown into Stronghold (the super powered villain jail) or otherwise put out of commission, meaning you get a new nemesis to design!  This is one of the most impressive things I find with CO.

Comic Book Feel

One thing that impressed me about City of Heroes and City of Villains was its comic book feel.  Aside from the great job that Cryptic Studios did with the game in other ways, they added some really neat aliases and scripts.  You could create comic book-like emote bubbles and other forms of communication, and link these to your attacks.  For example, in fights you could do a roundhouse punch on a villain and shout your personal “catch phrase” that goes with your attack.

Champions Online does even more to give a comic book feel than previous games.  Rather than more traditional forms of graphics, Champions Online will be using cell shading.  This provides a slightly less photorealistic, much more comic like look to the game’s graphics.

Even better, cell shading is ostensibly less intense in terms of graphics, meaning the game will be available to the widest number of players, and allow the game have higher performance in other ways, without giving up detailing in character appearance.  Indeed, Cryptic Studies claims that character appearance will be very detailed, especially facial expressions.

Have Cape, Will Travel

Champions Online seems to have all the potential for being one of the biggest games of 2009 because of its development potential.  Cryptic will be bringing to the table a massive amount of experience in superhero MMOG development, letting them have the necessities of this type of game already included before release - they will not need to reinvent the wheel.

Aside from experience, there are plenty of new things coming with CO.  There will, if it can be believed, an improvement with character creation, promising an unprecedented amount of customization in powers, and the appearance of the powers when used.  

Champions Online will be the first heroic MMOG released into an already proven super-heroic setting, with a much wider number of potential enemies, a massive number of new settings for adventures and plenty of fun and interesting characters and organizations to fight.   On top of the personal customization, you will be able to have your very own nemesis, and this enemy will not be static and unchangeable by yourself, you will be able to defeat and replace this enemy.

The feeling of playing in a comic book was big with previous games released such as City of Heroes and City of Villains.  With the new cell shading being used with Champions Online, the comic book feeling will be even greater than ever before.

Champions Online is going to be one of the big games of 2009, you heard it here first.  Make sure to pay attention to this title, so later this year, or at the start of next year, you can look at the person who asks about it, and be in the know.  Remember, every time someone gives a “Huh? What’s that?” look, an angel loses it’s wings.

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Return to Part One of this series to leanrn more about Champions Online, or discuss the game in the newly opened Champions Online forum in the Ten Ton Hammer forums.