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[Marvel F2P MMO] Superheroes for all ages - come Marvel at them

citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizenI'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
edited July 2012 in MMO Extravaganza
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Are you familiar with Marvel Comics? If you're on this forum, there's a higher-than-average chance you are. They're rather popular, I hear.

Have you ever wanted to play in an online game as your favorite character from the comics? If so, this thread might just have what you need.

Gazillion Entertainment has been given the rights to the IP, and they already have one title available:

Super Hero Squad Online, a kid-friendly arcade-style MMO. This one is great for the younger fans of the characters, and it's not too bad for the parents playing alongside them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FRRPu9kfMo

Missions consist of (usually) three stages, the first two being a left-to-right brawl through piles of generic enemies and the final stage being a boss battle against a Marvel villain like Doctor Octopus, Juggernaut, or Ultron. The game is semi-browser based, running in the Unity player.

For more detail:
Free players and paid subscribers alike start the game with four characters:

cyclops.pngthing.pngms_marvel.pngfalcon.png


Missions are played solo, with people from your friends list, or with a random group of up to four players. You can't lose a mission - if your hero gets knocked out he/she will always respawn and you can continue. But the better you play (more attack combos, KO more enemies, get KO'd less yourself) the higher your end of mission score, and the more rewards you earn for completing the mission.

Missions reward you with prize wheel tickets, silver coins, and XP. The higher your overall team score, the more of these three things you get.

Prize Tickets are used on the prize wheel in the middle of every public zone. Spinning the wheel earns you coins, cards, and items for your personal HQ (which is like a home in other games, but with no function other than appearance).

Coins are used to purchase characters, cards, and other items. There are two forms of currency in SHSO - gold and silver. Gold is more readily available to paid subscribers and is the primary currency for buying just about everything. Silver is what you'll earn more of as a "free" player and honestly it won't get you very much.

XP is, as you may expect, for leveling up your hero. Each character can go to a max level of 11, and you will pick up new powers along the way.


Characters

There is a huge list of characters already in-game with more on the way. While you and everyone around you may own the same characters, in a mission the first player to lock in a character plays that one and you simply pick another from your list. (I would suspect this is also how it will work in the Marvel Heroes game)


Extras

SHSO also features public zones where you can perform various activities to earn XP and coins, as well as a card battle system and mini-games. Though I haven't spent much time in the card battles, a number of players take it as seriously as Magic or Pokemon, working to collect every card and come up with the most effective decks...so apparently there's some depth there.


Video

Gameplay Example
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7qaJ6u-HGA


Useful Information

There is a very informative wiki I recommend reading that is run by some folks over at the Comic Book Resources forums. They have a very active community of players there and do a good job keeping up to date on the latest happenings.

For the adults, there's the upcoming title:

Marvel Heroes, a Diablo-style point 'n click affair with a storyline, random loot, and boss battles against the iconic villains of the comics.

Official "first look" trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgp0nPM5c0M

In-depth demo by Gazillion showing gameplay and talking a little about what to expect:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9ppowiVpTM

A recent hands-on preview from PC Gamer had this to say:
PC Gamer wrote:
The brief demo I played through with two other intrepid journalists (a condensed version of what the devs said would be hours and hours of content in the final game) pitted us against William Stryker and the Purifiers: a group ripped straight from the pages of the comics on a holy crusade to destroy all mutants. As a mutant, I took issue with this mission. And by take issue, I mean I took my claws to the copious, crimson-clad baddies. After a brief warm-up at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, the Professor himself gave a brief monologue, which transitioned into a motion comic explaining the story. Gazillion says there will be a bevy of these throughout the game.

The story (as you might recall, being written by Marvel all-star Brian Michael Bendis) seems interesting, but chances are you didn’t read this far to hear me talk about what Dr. Doom is doing with his doom cube to doom us all. You want to hear detailed, graphic descriptions of how I took apart Stryker’s cronies with my razor-sharp talons, am I right? The game plays very similar to Diablo and its ilk, with left click being bound to a basic weapon attack, and right click, along with the S, D, and F keys (by default) holding slottable skills, such as one that caused me to whirl in place, creating a “clawnado” that damaged all enemies in a ring around me. Other abilities included a swift, directional leap for getting into combat, and a self heal-over-time representing Wolvie’s regeneration capabilities.

The most interesting thing about these powers is that, in addition to cosmetic costume pieces and “enhancements” that add stats to said pieces, you get them from loot drops. I started out with a mid-level Excellent Slash as my default attack, but it’s possible to loot different powers, and more powerful versions of existing ones like “Super Zomygod Clawmageddon Pwnzurface Slash” (not an actual in-game power name). Some of these, such as punches and grabs, will be equippable by almost anyone. Others will be restricted to a small number of heroes (such as a lightning bolt for Thor and Storm), and some will be specific to one particular hero (such as Hulk Smash!).

Both games fit into the "Free to Play" category. While we still don't have all the details on Marvel Heroes, SHSO uses a combination free/subscription/money purchase model. You can have a free account and be extremely limited with the characters and options available to you. You can be a subscriber and have more access to characters and features. And, of course, ANY type of account can purchase the in-game currency in order to buy their way past nearly all limitations. How much you want to spend is up to you (and your kid begging you to buy more).

citizen059 on

Posts

  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    Newly added to the game: Angel of X-Men fame.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd8Ur573cVs

  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    Announced via Twitter a little while ago: new characters & villains coming in February.

    feb-hero.jpg

  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    How are they going to kid-friendly the Punisher? Give him a water gun? What about Ghost Rider? He worked for the Devil (Not Teh Devil)! Shoot, telling them how Spiderman's backstory and how he accidentally killed Gwen Stacy could give little kids nightmares.

    *This is all in jest and I'm sure the game is nice for little kids.

  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    Oh yeah, it's all very kid friendly.

    One example: Deadpool's standard attack chain includes a super-soaker style watergun and giant rubber Hulk fists. ;)

  • StericaSterica Yes Registered User, Moderator mod
    Punisher is going to put shaving cream on villains' hands while they sleep, and then proceed to tickle their noses.

    YL9WnCY.png
  • DaMoonRulzDaMoonRulz Mare ImbriumRegistered User regular
    Rorus Raz wrote:
    Punisher is going to put shaving cream on villains' hands while they sleep, and then proceed to tickle their noses.

    He and Axl will put bananas in the tailpipes of their enemies' cars

    3basnids3lf9.jpg




  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    Do they have Venom? How did they childise him eating people?

  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    Kadoken wrote:
    Do they have Venom? How did they childise him eating people?

    Yeah, he's in the game - and for the most part, anything that doesn't fit into "kids game" territory isn't.

    This video showing the "intro" animations for the villain characters will probably explain it best.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OzP3NRO0q4

  • SquiddyBiscuitSquiddyBiscuit Registered User regular
    There doesn't seem to be a thread for Marvel Heroes so I figured I'd post the latest trailer on it in here in addition to the free MMO threads courtesy of Massively:

    http://youtu.be/IeeXO63M4GA

    steam_sig.png
  • EtchwartsEtchwarts Eyes Up Registered User regular
    Yeah, I've been looking for a thread for Marvel Heroes too. Surprised there isn't one, as it looks cool to me.

    (Sorry to slightly derail this thread, though. This game looks like good fun)

  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    No worries - SHSO and MH are actually both products of the same company (Gazillion).

    I haven't done much updating on this thread because there didn't seem to be much interest in this one.

    Once more info comes out about MH, or when it's in a playable beta stage without NDA, a thread for that one may appear.

  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    MH looks cool, but you can't create your own character. Which is the biggest appeal of any superhero MMO.

  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    If it's anything like the kiddie version, you unlock/purchase multiple Marvel characters and then pick one for whatever mission you're on.

    It works better than you might think. And besides - there's already CoH, CO, and DCUO...how many more "create your own" superhero MMOs need to be on the market?

  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    This is adorable. For anyone taking a look, there's two codes that work on accounts right now:

    shsobirthday
    -and-
    boyslife

    What is this I don't even.
  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    Updated title and OP to make it a combined Super Hero Squad / Marvel Heroes thread.

  • AldoAldo Hippo Hooray Registered User regular
    Well done on the thread citizen059. One question that always pops up: I know you talked about gifting your kid a playable character he liked, but what is the cash shop like in general?

  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    It's just a straight money for money exchange. You buy the "gold" currency (silver is only available in-game).

    500g for $4.95, 1025g for $9.95, all the way up to 19975g if you're willing to pay $149.95.

  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    edited July 2012
    Gamespot has a gameplay preview video available.

    So far, I like what I see. I like it a lot.

    citizen059 on
  • BigityBigity Lubbock, TXRegistered User regular
    How difficult is the actual gameplay of the SHS game? Appropriate for a 5 year old who can move around a character in WoW (mount/unmount/press a button to kill stuff/fish/accidently reset talent points?)

  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    It's as easy as point and click. You can control just about the entire thing with only the mouse. You also have WASD as a movement option, but clicking is how you perform attacks...and as I mentioned, even if your character gets knocked out you immediately respawn at full health, so you can never actually "lose" at a mission. You just get reduced rewards at the end (not that the rewards amount to a lot anyway - the gold currency is what drives everything).

  • BigityBigity Lubbock, TXRegistered User regular
    Ok thanks for that. Last question, can I set a password on buying crap or just turn it off altogether?

  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    If you're referring to the 'cash shop', it takes you out of the game and to their website where you have to select what you're going to buy and enter in credit card + personal info. It's not something a kid can accidentally do.

  • BigityBigity Lubbock, TXRegistered User regular
    Awesome, thanks.

  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    Added the Gazillion walkthrough for the MH demo they currently have on display to OP. Definitely worth a watch.

  • AldoAldo Hippo Hooray Registered User regular
    citizen059 wrote: »
    It's as easy as point and click. You can control just about the entire thing with only the mouse. You also have WASD as a movement option, but clicking is how you perform attacks...and as I mentioned, even if your character gets knocked out you immediately respawn at full health, so you can never actually "lose" at a mission. You just get reduced rewards at the end (not that the rewards amount to a lot anyway - the gold currency is what drives everything).
    see, that's what I was afraid of re: cash shop. :?

  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    It's super, super, super cash-shoppy. The things you can buy with silver are pretty much non-existent after the first hour of play. Also, the missions are crazy buggy; about 50% of the ones I was in would hit a point where they couldn't progress and you just had to restart.

    What is this I don't even.
  • Catastrophe_XXVICatastrophe_XXVI Registered User regular
    Kadoken wrote: »
    MH looks cool, but you can't create your own character. Which is the biggest appeal of any superhero MMO.

    I think of this game as being the next step in the X-men and Marvel Alliance games. Not an MMO like WoW or City of Heroes.

    PSN ID: Catastrophe_xxvi
    3DS FC: 5086-1134-6451
    Shiny Code: 3837
  • Catastrophe_XXVICatastrophe_XXVI Registered User regular
    Aldo wrote: »
    citizen059 wrote: »
    It's as easy as point and click. You can control just about the entire thing with only the mouse. You also have WASD as a movement option, but clicking is how you perform attacks...and as I mentioned, even if your character gets knocked out you immediately respawn at full health, so you can never actually "lose" at a mission. You just get reduced rewards at the end (not that the rewards amount to a lot anyway - the gold currency is what drives everything).
    see, that's what I was afraid of re: cash shop. :?

    So buying new heroes requires $? They should take a page from league of legends. Earn Heroes or buy them but all custom skins cost $.

    PSN ID: Catastrophe_xxvi
    3DS FC: 5086-1134-6451
    Shiny Code: 3837
  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    Yeah, that is easily my biggest complaint about being a non-subscriber.

    I have a free account that I play alongside my son, and I have waaaaay less in the way of characters than he does.

    Gold is nearly impossible to get, and Silver becomes useless fairly quickly.

    For my son, it's worth the $9.95 a month sub. The prize wheel resets daily, so he can get ~100 gold a day there, and he gets 500 a month. With the cost of most heroes being 600-1000 gold, he can earn new ones at a pretty decent rate if he plays every day.

  • RyadicRyadic Registered User regular
    I like the card game. Anyone else?

    Is Colossus voiced by Jim Cummings? Cause that sounds like he's using the same voice as Minsc.

    steam_sig.png
  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    edited July 2012
    It's possible. Not sure if I can find direct credits, but he does voice a few characters on the TV show that the game is based on - and they used many of those voice actors for the game.

    citizen059 on
  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    New addition to SHSO: Cable.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqhXjX7pQJo

  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
  • spookymuffinspookymuffin ( ° ʖ ° ) Puyallup WA Registered User regular
    Did any of you guys play the demo at PAX or either of the CCs? After seeing that it's basically Diablo II with Marvel heroes, I'm pretty much all in on this.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbrMYIm1dqU

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPEKv5-tHdg

    PSN: MegaSpooky // 3DS: 3797-6276-7138
    Wii U NNID: MegaSpooky
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