Slashcry Champions Online Review Pt 1

Welcome to the Slashcry.com review of Champions Online.  Part 1 of the review covers the content up to about the half-way point (low level 20s) as that is how far we have leveled our characters.  Part 2 will come after spending some time at the level cap (Level 40).

Before we start -- lets get out the obvious. We like Champions Online. If this is your first time visiting the site, we host a Podcast dedicated to Champions Online where we discuss our characters, news, game topics (our thoughts, likes and dislikes) and community feedback. So expect some fairly positive thoughts on the game, but we are not blind to its issues. No game will be perfect for everyone and Champions Online is simply what we enjoy playing the most right now.

About us -- the crew Reviewing the game (3 different perspectives can be found below) all have a background in gaming starting with the NES and going into current MMOs and console gaming. All three of us have found memories from Ultima Online, City of Heroes and World of Warcraft. We also toyed with DAoC, Warhammer, EVE, Everquest and are looking forward to many other MMOs -- we are fans of MMOs and look to enjoy our games. You will also see references to WoW and UO in this review -- WoW is the most popular MMO ever and it helps to have something to compare Champions against and UO is an open Framework game set in a Virtual World rather than an action MMO like Champions, but it also helps to be able to compare how the two handle their open frameworks.

Perspective:

Dozenz
As a disclaimer I might mention World of Warcraft (WoW) frequently as I spent more time playing this game than any other similar games (Ultima Online, City of Heroes, Warhammer).

I play an MMO for three reasons, in order of importance:

1. To play with friends
2. To beat content that requires skill
3. To experience the full story

1 and 3 were the reasons for getting into WoW, and from that game I found that beating the encounters was one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game. This was mostly seen in the PVE content until the Battlegrounds when objective based PVP was introduced which favored skill and strategy over fast reflexes and class balance issues.

An MMO must be enjoyable in all three aspects for me to keep playing, as evidenced by me leaving WoW once my friends started quitting even though I enjoyed the way the game was designed (more so than in the beginning)..

Wolfgang
I like MMOs for one main reason which then splinters into two aspects of MMOs that I like. I like to play games with my friends and family. I enjoy grouping with them and working together to accomplish tasks in games. I like MMOs because they offer the most complex Co-Op gaming to my knowledge. This then splinters off to I like doing group PvP and enjoy casual Raiding.

That is why I enjoyed WoW -- I could play with my friends and family, do PvP and Raid. The main reason I left WoW was it was designed to take up a lot of your time and I found the gameplay rather boring. I came to Champions hoping that those two main complaints would be fixed -- Raids that didn't require 25 people and gameplay that was more fast paced.
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