Marvel Heroes (MH) is an MMO that is more akin to Diablo than World of Warcraft in its structure. Players take on the role of Marvel superheroes and fight against those who would seek to destroy the world - or maybe just enslave it. It all depends on the level of bullying they were subjected to at school.
Dr Doom is the main villain against which players must pitch their skills and super hero abilities to thwart his plans. Yes, I really did write the words 'thwart his plans'. This is, after all, a video game based on the Marvel universe - and there is a significant amount of thwarting going on I have you know. So I get a free pass on that one.
On the surface,
MH looks remarkably like the
Marvel Ultimate Alliance games. They too were hack and slash adventures with players taking control of superheroes. The difference here is that with the game being an MMO, there is a persistent universe and thus items can be collected and traded with others online. Then there's the fact that it is very, very pretty.
gamescom 2012
MH does break away from one major tradition in the hack and slash genre by using Unreal Engine as its primary development tool. This unusual choice of engine has certainly borne fruit and it is visually a very impressive game - at least, from what I experienced of it during my brief play through. Lighting effects do much to enhance the destruction that is being wrought by the players. For there is much of this in
MH, as with any other hack 'n slash title.
gamescom 2012
Another key difference between
MH and other games of its ilk is the means by which players control the superheroes. Rather than trying to bring on acute RSI by insisting every action requires a left mouse button click, a selection of super powers can be invoked alongside the standard attacks. This adds variety to the gameplay by allowing the player to create a combination of powerful attacks without destroying the nerve endings to their index finger.
MH will also be free to play. The developers promise to allow players to play the entire game without paying a single penny. They claim nothing will be locked out for such players and any items paid for will be vanity based. This is something that is pushed a lot as a finance model for a free-to-play model. It has certainly worked for
Tribes Ascension, but that is an FPS and is therefore more suited to such a model.
MH is a very different sort of a game, one which is focused on exploration and the acquisition of items. If any aspect of that becomes monetised then it will cease to be free-to-play in the purest sense. Time will tell if they do hold to the original premise of paying money to look different.
