Know About City of Heroes Here
City of Heroes, also known as CoH, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game that was first released in North America in 2004 and then in Europe in 2005. Developed by Cryptic Studios and Paragon Studios and published by NCSOFT, the game was updated for the last and final time on May 31, 2012.
Then, in August 2012, the development team was terminated, which ended all production of the popular video game by November. However, the game can be played today, thanks to the distribution of source code capable of running its server in early 2019. As of today, NCSOFT hasn’t shut down the servers based on this source code.
Plot and setting
City of Heroes is set in the fictional Paragon City for Heroes. The played characters are superheroes who fight crime in the city, and you can team up with other superheroes to keep your city safe from different gangs and criminal organizations.
Paragon City is divided into several zones by huge energy walls known as War Walls. The zones where there are large groups of criminals are referred to as Hazard or Trial zones, and these areas are marked in red on the in-game map, signifying the danger and threat they possess.
The game also has an exclusive Villains’ setting called the Rogue Isles, made of several islands connected to each other by ferries and helicopters. Some of the zones can be accessed by both the heroes and villains, and there are cooperative zones as well. There are also player-versus-player zones.
Before it was shut down by NCSOFT back in 2012, the City of Heroes had 23 free major updates.
City of Heroes has a pretty long and detailed backstory. To break it down, it’s mostly about heroes (controlled by players) hitting the streets of Paragon City and arresting the many criminals that run around the city. The more arrests they make, the more power they gain so that they can take on the bigger bad guys.
Gameplay
When it first came out, the character creation process in the City of Heroes was widely praised and was often touted as the best part of the game. Players can create the character they want based on any of the superheroes found in the Marvel and DC universes. You can even choose a name and their costumes, and you have yourself a very convincing replica of Superman, Captain America, Spiderman, or Wonder Woman in no time.
With the number of options to choose from when it comes to outfits, face masks, body types, theme colors, and other tiny details, you can even create your own original superhero look. After a while, you will see that each character has discrete elements that truly make them who they are.
Players can choose from five superhero archetypes, which may be the most important decision in the creation process. You can choose from the following –
- Blaster – a ranged specialist
- Tanker – a melee fighter
- Scrapper – a fast and strong close-range combatant
- Defender – provides support and healing
- Controller – provides support and crowd control
There are several distinctive options under these five main archetypes. This means that you will have to pick one respective option from a range of primary and secondary skill paths.
After your character is set and ready, you will start with a brief tutorial that will teach and show you every aspect of the game in a detailed manner. This includes how to move around, how to fight criminals, how to gain experience points, and also using “enhancements” and “inspirations.”
Players or heroes can take on tasks or “quests” from non-player characters. You can either try to complete these quests alone, or you could form a team with other superheroes and take on the mission together. The difficulty of the quest is determined by several factors, such as the size of the team, the level of the heroes in the team, as well as a separate difficulty scale known as Notoriety that the player chooses.
Much of the gameplay in the City of Heroes is driven by player-versus-environment action, and there are little to no diversions such as shopping and trade skills. Overall, City of Heroes is a game that is fun and addictive. It was a big part of many people’s childhood, and is still very popular and playable today.
