More like a comic book than a video game.
I’d like to think of myself as a creative and imaginative person when it comes to certain areas of design, which is why I spend such a long time creating my character. Games which have a long-winded but creative character creator usually end up disappointing me once I get around to playing it, but Champions Online fought back with good gameplay and a good looking graphics.
I didn’t know what to except when I received the game, being given different opinions on it by friends each day made me wonder if I was getting my hopes up over Champions Online, but now, I know I wasn’t. There are thousands if not millions of different designs in the character creation process, it’s very easy to create a unique character and even if they look similar to another character the bio will be different.
It works as any other MMO does, different classes are better at different things, you’ve got your Tank and DPS classes as well as others which are useful to the party which is what you’d expect and a party is never hard to find, there’s always someone willing to group up.
I’d recommend this to any MMO player who’s welcoming a change of scenery
Visually Champions Online doesn’t exceed that many boundaries, I like it because it has the comic book feel to it (which is the point) but some people may not, but don’t worry! You can remove the comic book lines from around the world and characters by just going into options. The graphics are good but different people may have different opinions on them, it’s down to personal taste in the end. The effects could have used some work, superpowers don’t look and feel as amazing because of the downgraded effects but it’s not such a big deal if the gameplay is good…which it is.
Lag is an issue, hopefully this issue will be dealt with sooner rather than later but it’s not a good sign to get an ingame notice in the middle of your screen while playing saying, ‘Large amounts of lag around the teleporters to the Powerhouse, please avoid them as much as possible’, this message appearing just after you’ve levelled up and are returning to increase your stats, it’s infuriating.
I wasn’t particularly pleased with the movement and combat, it felt very clunky and slow, for superheroes I’d expect more of a fluid combat, fast paced and awesome kickass moves. The inability to run away from enemies who are pursuing you does get a little annoying at times, mainly because you have to run across most of the area again to get to where you died, fighting your way through the same mobs you fought through several times before.
Have you ever played a game and thought ‘these voices are way too cheesy for this game, it just makes it bad’? Well, Champions Online makes those cheesy voices work, after all, it’s not meant to be an entirely serious game.
The sound and graphics make Champions Online the game it is and a fantastic game at that. The only letdown is the gameplay and a few minor annoyances that are noticeable throughout the game but overall I’d recommend this to any MMO player who’s welcoming a change of scenery.
The Bad: Awkward movement and combat controls, lag in even unpopulated areas.
Silver Y Award