- First month of online play included as well as 13 free major content updates.
- Includes the original ‘City of Heroes’ MMORPG where players immerse themselves in the fantasy of becoming a super hero.
- Includes City of Villains,’ the standalone sequel to critically acclaimed MMORPG City of Heroes, in which players get to assume the role of an ultravillain of their own making, playing in teams or on their own.
- City of Heroes’ Mission Architect which allows players to create their own characters, mission and storylines and dialogue from the ground up and share them online.
- Your choice between two exclusive in-game item packs, the Cyborg Pack or the Magic Pack.
Product Description
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Prepare to join the ranks of millions of super-powered heroes and villains. City of Heroes brings the world of comic books alive in this massively multiplayer 3D online universe. It’s counterpart, City of Villains, represents the dark side o… More >>
City of Heroes Architect Edition
Ok, there’s already numerous reviews up explaining all the wonders of player created content and all the amazing things you can do with the latest update. I want to mention a few things that don’t always get enough coverage.
First of all, YOU DO NOT NEED TO BUY THIS DISK if you just want to be able to play with the mission creator. You can get by just as well by buying one of the out of date expansions if you can find one for cheap (Game Stop was recently selling CoV Collectors Editions for a whopping $5.00, a bargain for the Heroclix figures alone, plus it comes with the game, an art book, and a month of free game time). If you already play the game or get the game via any other source (including the $20.00 Target game cards that come with a 30 Jet Pack), you will still be able to play with the Mission Architect system and design your own missions, story arcs, and custom villains.
So you might ask now, “Well why would I buy this then?” Simple… It comes with an up to date patch of the game. If you’ve ever had to download and patch an MMO that’s been up and running for a couple years, you know that that can take hours or even DAYS depending on your internet speed. With the DVD that comes with this purchase (yes, it’s a DVD, so you need a DVD drive to take advantage of this feature) you can install or reinstall the game much faster than downloading or even installing from an older disk and patching. That’s pretty handy all by itself.
Another great advantage to it is the bonus costumes. Over the past year or so, the CoH team has taken to offering “Super Booster Packs” which are small premium expansions. It started with “The Wedding Pack” which included some very nice bridal and formal wear costume pieces and some matrimonial character emotes (like being able to throw rice). It was a niche product for a small percentage of the players that wanted those costume pieces, but the company claimed it generated enough extra revenue to allow them to put more resources into providing part of a free content update earlier. Because of this success, every few months they have released an additional premium upgrade that includes very high quality costume pieces, emotes, and a temp power that all fit a central theme. The last one was the Cyborg pack, and it was very popular. Along with the release of the Mission Architect system they have released the Magic themed Super Booster Pack, which includes some excellent Victorian style coats and cloaks, witches hats, High Collared Shoulder Capes/cloaks, and a nifty “fortune telling” power that allows you to generate a random buff for an ally.
Under normal circumstances, these Super Booster Packs cost $9.99 (plus applicable taxes) and could only be purchased online through the NC Soft Online Store. For some folks this isn’t a problem, but for others who don’t have a credit card or paypal access (or people living in certain nations) it was impossible to buy these upgrades. With the purchase of this edition of the game however, you also get access to your choice of the Cyborg Pack or the Magic Pack.
This is a great deal to start off with just because of the cost. When you add the free month of game time (normally $14.99) to the Booster Pack price ($9.99), this edition is a Five dollar savings! (possibly a couple bucks more depending on whether you pay tax on internet purchases in your region. I have to pay tax on my purchases from the online store, but not from Amazon, so I save almost 8 dollars overall by buying on Amazon as long as I can get something else at the same time to qualify for Super Saver Free Shipping). Also, if you don’t have either booster pack yet, you can buy two copies of this edition, and use one activation code for each booster pack. The free game time you receive continues to add up so it won’t be wasted!
One last thing about the Architect system itself… If you’re at all like me, you may use the City of Heroes character creation system to build dozens or even hundreds of different characters just for the sake of creativity. Before, we were limited to just building characters in one of the 12 slots available on each server, and if we ran out of slots we sometimes had to erase an existing character in order to create a new one, even if we just wanted to build a character based on some concept rather than actually playing it though the whole game. With the Mission Architects ability to create custom characters to include in the missions you write, you can now make an unlimited number of characters (well, there is theoretically a limit since each character file is saved locally on your hard drive and takes up 5-10k of space, but if you have half a gig of free space, you’ll probably never be able to make that many characters), and you don’t have to level them up to try out special costume options likes capes, auras, or even Vanguard & Roman costume pieces. So now those of us suffering from “creative overflow” can build alts to our heart’s content without having to sacrifice established characters in the game to do it!
Rating: 5 / 5
Character creation is great, I could spend all day on it. The game itself, not so much. I’ve found enough to make it through the 30 days included with the game, but I don’t see myself paying for a subscription. This should be a free monthly game.
Rating: 3 / 5
I had gotten kind of bored with the game and was considering letting my account in the game lapse… until this came out. It is a great tool for all those would be story tellers who enjoy superheroics. While there are some flaws (The way the Ai works, the fact that you can only have 3 stories up at a time, and a few glitches here and there) I would say it is worth it. Actually, even without it I would say it would be worth it as they give a free month ($[...]) and a booster pack filled with special costumes and tricks ($[...])… so I consider it a good deal.
If you haven’t played the game before try it: it is a very fun, casual MMO with a good community and a good developers.
Rating: 4 / 5
I am not a “gamer,” but I have enjoyed “City of Villains” for quite a while now. And this expansion pack was worth its low price for the architect features and the chance to “jazz up” your tired and boring characters, giving them new life. I had no installation problems, and it allowed a bit of fresh air into the COH/COV universe, which was becoming very staid, predictable, and stale.
Recommended at its price (not to exceed $ 19.99). I would pay no more than that for what you get, but what you do get, as I mentioned, is sufficient to justify the cost and re-enjoy the game all over again.
(Added note: Please see the comment in this review by Mr. Stull, who kindly took the time to correct my deficient gaming “lingo!” My thanks to him!)
Recommend.
Rating: 5 / 5
Mission architect is the new system that lets players create their own missions in City of Heroes and City of Villains. Subscribers do not need this edition of the game to get access to the mission architect, but this new DVD has the latest version of the game (as of issue 14, May 2009) and makes it easier to install or reinstall. You’ll spend less time downloading updates with this DVD.
The architect edition comes with a free month of gameplay and lets you choose one of several “booster packs” that have extra costumes and minor powers. The boosters normally cost about 10.00. Gameplay is about 15.00, so the architect edition is a value of nearly 25.00. It’s a good deal.
I’m a longtime City of Heroes/City of Villains player. I bought this edition of the game and now I’m looking forward to the game’s first expansion in four years: Going Rogue. Going Rogue will let players switch sides and will include at least two new power sets: dual pistols and demon summoning. Should be a blast all the way around!
Rating: 5 / 5