The second you look at Marvel Heroes you may notice a stark similarity to Blizzard’s legendary RPG series Diablo. The camera gives the player an arial view of the map, there are hordes of enemies to defeat, and loot is randomly dropped by fallen baddies. Diablo has a clear influence on Gazillion Entertainment’s new MMORPG, but based on the 40 minutes I had with the game it’s clear that the team has a much different vision in mind.
The demo started with a comic book-inspired cutscene with Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and many other well-known Marvel characters crash landing in the Savage Lands. After getting attacked by dinosaurs the heroes rush into action and the gameplay begins.
One of Marvel Heroes’ most unique features is the ability to switch between characters on the fly. The developers want players to fill the boots of all the characters they want, not just one of them. Characters are unlocked in the main game by defeating bosses and completing objectives, but for the sake of the demo I was given handful of characters to use. Wolverine, Cyclops, Hulk, and Iron Man were just a few of the iconic faces who made an appearance. 26 characters have been confirmed so far.
Unlike many traditional MMOs that use a class-based system to balance gameplay, Marvel Heroes places each of its characters in their own unique class that have a wide array of customization options. The developers felt that forcing characters into classes that have a specific role would limit the player’s potential to create a unique experience. As one might expect the Hulk can deal a massive amount of damage, but the player has the option to focus on developing his defenses to make him a damage-absorbing beast. Every character has three different talent trees that the character can experiment. By the later levels of the game one player’s Deadpool could have a very different play style than another player’s.
Marvel Heroes’ is aiming to separate itself from the other MMORPGs on the market. The enormous amount of customization options and character-focused gameplay will certainly draw in fans of Diablo and MMO games. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the demo, and it scratched and itch I didn’t I had. The full game launches on June 4, so until then stay posted for more news on Marvel Heroes.
Gamenomics & Comicology 