City Of Heroes Unveils "Freedom"
You know, the only MMO I've ever missed playing, apart from Eve Online, is City Of Heroes. I am vaguely tempted to see if I can somehow resurrect my age old tanker character in the new, free world that NCSoft are touting. I bet it's changed a bit since I was last in there over three years ago. The latest update "Freedom" has a bunch of stuff new content (see below for the full feature list) but also opens up the game pretty substantially, allowing people access to most of what made the game great (character creation) and the capacity to play through to level 50. Paragon's Brian Clayton says of the update: “We aren’t just flipping a switch and going ‘Free-to-Play.’ We’re embarking on the biggest content and feature update to City of Heroes in its seven-year history.” I hope he's right, because I have a genuine soft-spot for the ageing villain-biffer.
Details and video below.
· New Zone: First Ward, the training and testing grounds for some of Praetoria’s most elite forces and sinister weapons, is where players will encounter all new threats, including the massive zone-wide event, the Seed of Hamidon.
· New Epic Challenges: The Underground Incarnate Trial takes place deep below the streets of Praetoria, in the secret lair of the Devouring Earth. Those strong enough to break through their stronghold may reach the devastating Avatar of Hamidon for a final showdown of epic proportions. Up to 28 players can team up to fight new menaces and unlock great rewards.
· New Power Sets and Costumes: Time Manipulation (free for VIP Players), Beam Rifle and Street Justice represent just the beginning of new powers coming to players with City of Heroes Freedom, while the Barbarian and the Circle of Thorns Costume Sets, as well as the IDF and Defense Costume Sets (free for VIP Players) add even more options to the millions of customisation options at a players’ fingertips.
· New Starting Experience: Puts new players right in the middle of the action, giving them access to all archetypes with no alignment restriction. During the new starting experience, players will have the opportunity to determine whether they ally with the forces of good, or harness the powers of evil.
· New Missions: The debut of monthly Signature Story Arcs (free for VIP Players), enables players to play a key role in the main storyline as they fight alongside iconic heroes and villains and discover which of Paragon City’s premier heroes will die!
· New Rewards: The Paragon Rewards program is our way to thank players for investing in City of Heroes and provides new and unique in-game rewards designed around each player’s unique tastes and play style.