Early MARVEL HEROES Beta Impressions
Launching tomorrow at 10 AM PDT, Marvel Heroes is an upcoming action-based MMORPG developed by David Brevik (Diablo series) and Gazillion Entertainment. Does this Free-To-Play game delivers on it's promise and hype?
Disclaimer: The following is not a 'review' of Marvel Heroes and nor should it be taken as such. It is a personal evaluation of the beta program and does not reflect the final game client.
Marvel Heroes is an upcoming action-based MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) developed by David Brevik (Diablo series) and Gazillion Entertainment. In Marvel Heroes, you may choose a free hero to start with and play a slew of missions and side-quests that should take you quite a while to complete, while offering you the ability to gain loot and experience to power-up your hero as you go along. Certain areas of the game are open and will be filled by the many players on the server. The story is provided by engaging motion-comic cut scenes with fully fledged voice-acting. In a way, if you’re a fan of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance this is basically an online version of that cult-classic.
Marvel Heroes’ advantage was a long-running beta program that, for a while, wasn’t allowed to be talked about. I never kept-up with the game because at the time, I had a terrible computer and I knew I couldn’t play it. So, when I was finally able to upgrade to what I have now, I was able to snag a beta key (shout-out to Deadpool Bugle for providing them) and instantly hopped on the game at each scheduled beta period. At that time, the beta client was very bare but still had the fundamentals of what was needed for the game and I still had fun. Choosing Captain America was a blast, and the fact that they gave away the in-game currency for a while allowed me to pick and choose several heroes that I wanted to give a whirl. Recently, the server has had some trouble and the team has been working around the clock to fix everything, thanks to the reports from the beta program. If you’re looking to play Marvel Heroes on June 4th, all of the problems should be panned out thanks to their great beta program that spanned over a great length of time.
Gameplay for Marvel Heroes is very simple and user-friendly. Each character has basic attacks, and powers which use up “Spirit” (energy) to execute. At default, the basic attack is mapped to the left mouse button, which the player can also use to navigate the map. If the player starts moving around while using their basic attack, they can hold ‘Shift’ to stay put and attack enemies around them. Each power can be mapped to the “A” row of keys on your keyboard or the left mouse button. The order of powers can also be customized. If the gameplay doesn’t suit you due to your keyboards size or your hands can’t stretch far enough, the key bindings are completely customizable in the options menu. I suggest changing the S.H.I.E.L.D medkit’s hotkey from “H” to “Q” for easy access during boss battles. Speaking of boss battles, Marvel Heroes has two types. Bosses appear at the end of every mission with a large range of Marvel Comics villains such as “Shocker”, “The Hood” and “Taskmaster” to name a few of the beginning bosses. However, in the open zones are also “Events” that trigger randomly. In these “Events”, players of Marvel Heroes must gather to one spot and defeat a boss, such as “Venom”, who has a large amount of health and power. Not only does this encourage team-work and party creation in Marvel Heroes, but it also offers great loot for your character. Marvel Heroes has some of the easiest and generic, but fun, gameplay around and is easily accessible for new and old MMORPG players alike.
With a story written by Brian Michael Bendis, it’s hard for me to avoid Marvel Heroes. The fun, lasting gameplay left me addicted and wanting more. The community so far is incredibly generous and often times host/join parties to help players out with tough missions or to power-level your alternate heroes that you bought with the in-game currency. I’d be lying if I said I’m an experienced MMORPG player, because I’m really not. So take that into account while reading this impressions piece, but Marvel Heroes has quickly become one of my favorite superhero gaming experiences and I hope to see a lot of people playing the game. It’s free to play and launches June 4th!
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