A second look at the Free to Play ARPG Marvel Heroes - PC & Tech Authority
A second look at the Free to Play ARPG Marvel Heroes
by John Gillooly | Thursday 7 November 2013 | 9 Comments
With the game about to hit version 2.0, we return to this rapidly evolving online game, and like what we see.
We last looked at the free to play Action RPG Marvel Heroes as it exited its beta phase, and while we were generally impressed by its direction, we had some fairly serious worries about the game in the longer term.
Our major issue, that we were experiencing some fairly serious lag when using the beta servers, disappeared by launch time, while other worries about the long term viability of the game have been put to rest with ongoing work put into the title by developer Secret Identity Studios.
This weekend marks the first major milestone for the game since its launch, with the release of patch 2.0, timed to coincide with Thor: The Dark World hitting cinemas globally. This new patch not only brings with it new content set in Norway and Asgard, but also a raft of long promised UI changes, new item types and the most villainous playable hero so far, Loki (There has been talk of introducing more villains from the marvel universe in the future, after all, the nature of comic books means that pretty much every villain turns magento-like into a hero at times, briefly forgetting the crimes of the past).
But before we look at this new content, it is worth stopping and taking a look at the game as it stands. One of a growing number of Action RPGS being released as free to play titles, Marvel Heros thrusts players into the Marvel comics universe with a chance to play as many of the iconic heroes from the comics. This involves a huge mix of characters, from the iconic ones like Wolverine, Hulk, Thor, Iron Man and Spiderman, all the way down to more obscure members of the Marvel pantheon, like the recently released Squirrel Girl and the “soon to be movie famous” Rocket Raccoon.
Since the game’s launch, it has recieved numerous new characters to play, and the developers are currently working on releasing at least one every month (this month will start with Loki, which was a surprise announcement last week, and should also include X-Men’s Gambit as well). But more than this, the team is in the middle of a long process of going back through the initial roster of heroes and revamping them, tweaking abilities and playstyle to make them all feel like the superheroes they are supposed to be.
Not only is this being done to ensure that all the characters are fun to play, but also to ensure they stay up to date with the vast number of changes made to the underlying mechanics of the game since release. One of the most refreshing things about marvel heroes is the interaction between developers and players. Not only does the team actively seek out player feedback when making changes, but in some notable cases it has implemented suggestions from forum users in spite of what seemed rigid stances being taken against design philosophies.
Generally speaking the changes made to marvel heroes since launch have led to positive quality of life improvements to the game. New heroes can be unlocked through the cash store, or through the collection of ‘Eternity Splinters’, ingame drops that happen with fair regularity. Low amounts can be gambled on a random hero, or you can save more to unlock specific heroes at different pricing teirs. This has led to a much more enjoyable system than the original one, which had heroes as drops with an incredibly low drop rate.
This has also led to such things as a revamped defense system, which now uses a percentage damage reduction, despite the fact that lead designed David Brevik (of Diablo 2 fame) was vocally against percentage based systems. The initial defense mechanic just wasn’t working for a lot of melee heroes at maximum level, so it was changed, and done so in a pretty quick timeframe.
In many ways this quick turnaround from concept to implementation is the most impressive thing about the ongoing evolution of Marvel Heroes. Things are announced, discussed, and then often pop up in a patch a week or two later. It happens to everything from content to game systems, and has led to it rapidly becoming one of the most enjoyable ARPGS out there. Things aren’t perfect, and there are still some big holes when it comes to end game enjoyment, but more is on the way with the Asgard patch, with the promised introduction of group content like raids (in which the philosophy is to encourage short blasts of team-focused gameplay, rather than get players to commit serious chunks of their lives, Wow-style, to the experience).
Asgard also brings in a bunch of improvements to itemisation. In recent months this has been expanding through the inclusion of unique, character specific items with very low drop rates, but with Asgard players received slots to equip more artifacts (trinkets that boost specific build types), up to four from the initial two, as well as new legendary items which level up over time. These reward players for continuing to play as their toons after hitting level cap, rewarding those who focus down on a single character, and work alongside the synergy system that was recently introduced for the more alt-focused players. Synergies give your characters small boosts based off the other characters you have levelled.
The process of unlocking Asgard is set to run for several weeks, with content slowly trickling out through patches and player activity. When it launches this weekend, it will be a refreshing content boost for players, and will continue to build upon the already impressive body of content added to the game since launch. It has been quite some time since we have experienced a title that has evolved at such a rapid pace, one that has focused on making things more fun rather than constantly nerfing characters to a homogenised state. If you are a fan of the Marvel universe this is a game that is well worth a look, even if you tried it at launch and were put off.