Champions Online Previews
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We didn't get to see the hero creator tool in action, but rest assured that it's more fully fleshed out than that of City of Heroes. A hero can range from three feet to eight feet in height, and almost every body part can be customized, from eyebrows to a bosom that will raise your eyebrows. Aside from the assortment of costume options, you can choose your hero's stance and animation style, such as a traditional, barrel-chested hero or a knuckle-dragging beast. Even your attitude plays a part; facial expressions will easily distinguish stoic heroes from wisecracking sidekicks. But what's a hero without superpowers? There are 13 power sets, including powered armor, beast, darkness, and the ability to summon dark energy and drain your enemy's life force. Each set has its own list of individual powers, such as force fields, electric bolts, energy swords, or ice beams. You can mix and match powers as you like so you're not restricted to one power set. Want ice beams and fire balls? Make it happen. You can also write your hero's backstory, choose his or her own personal kryptonite, and even create a personalized archenemy that will pop up occasionally in the game to foil your plans. There are even rumors of being able to create your own secret identity.
In our demo, we watched Cryptic play through Monster Island, the project of the grandson of Dr. Moreau. His experiments have predictably run amok, and Cryptic's power-armored character created for the demo made quick work of the enemies using a combination of melee attacks and laser beams. The controls were designed with the Xbox 360 controller in mind--even developers play the PC version with a USB gamepad--and powers are mapped to the face button. The main attack is a simple power that causes minor damage but builds up your super power meter. The meter acts as currency for your three other powers that cause major damage. All of the combat is in real time and plays out more like a traditional action RPG than an MMOG, which is sure to please console gamers who aren't keen on queuing attacks.
And a little something from RPS' article:
...Cryptic is a company that has its intellectual roots clearly in the world of table-top gaming. We pass through a room where ranks of figures and half-played games of Warhammer 40,000 and Warmachine await gamers' return (Emmert's Tau was losing to Eldar, for the record). And specifically - Champions was fundamentally influential on Jack's development. (I particularly played Champions a lot when I was younger it formed one of the inspirations for City of Heroes, along with all the comic books I'd read. To me, it was just as important as Marvel or DC or anything else.)
Cryptic were convinced. They liked the IP so much that they bought it outright from owners Hero games, who now produce Champions games under license from Cryptic. Hero Games' Steven S. Long is even present, showing the first post-Cryptic sourcebook of Monster Island, which includes pen-and-paper statistics for all the creatures of one of the game's areas.
And, funnily enough, it's also the setting which Cryptic use to showcase the game and demonstrate its approach. Visually, as the screenshots show, they've gone for a look that, while it shares some characteristics with cell-shading, hasn't completely capitulated to the cartoonish. And there's that sense of the place, where they've turned years of RPG history into a coherent games world.
