What Acyl's saying is pretty much spot on.
The Graphics are pretty, there is that. As a matter of fact, CO actually cooperates with my Graphics card better than CoH does. I can tap out of the game, or run it in a window with out it crashing. That is nice. There's pretty much all the graphics settings that CoX has on the advanced menu, and it even has a mode for a pseudo-full-screen when you're running dual monitors. They have pretty graphics, but some of it can be troublesome for older stuff. There are occasional slow downs for me when playing at the max pretty I have it on, not huge slideshow lagfests or lockups, but some suttering in larger fights or animations.
Which brings me up to the next point it is a very fast-paced combat. Several of your attacks have no recharge whatsoever. You can spam it as fast as it will animate and as long as you have energy. Which it is also good to point out that you have an auto-chain energy builder attack that does minor damage as well. And momentary slowdowns are not good when you're fighting. Espcially as there isn't really any strong Tank Set. Some powers are more suited to particular roles, but everything is a lot more generalized. The closest they have to Archetypes are the 'Roles' you can access past level 8, which modify the characteristics of your powers toward a certain aspect like Defense, Offense or Support. Combined with a proper framework of powers you can make a sort-of effective Tank or Buffer. But it takes a lot more work.
This is best noted by a quote on the CO offical site's feature page. "Use your head, or wind up dead!" And while I agree that this sort of game should not be a no-brainer everyone can succeed easily, it is pretty easy to make a bad choice in terms of powers, or talents or other build parts and be pretty sub-par. While it is a unpreventable consequence that if you balance powers to a certain set and then allow players to pick and choose their own from the conglomerate you can wind up really messing yourself, it shouldn't be quite so easy to do so. The thing that really bugs me is there doesn't really appear to be many clear cut defensive powers. You can't really feel like a strong superhero, but more a squishy-fighter-with-powers type. There really isn't a clear "don't do this!" or a "this would be a good idea.." choice. From what I've seen you just have to guess and go with what sounds right, and then hope it works out. It has been fun in groups (With Terr, and then later adding in Acyl and Atlantea) and I have enjoyed the gameplay, but when I tried to do some stuff on my own it was really hit and miss. It may be that I chose one of the more damage-focused powers rather than defense, but as I said, there really isn't a clear way to tell what are good powers and what aren't.
There is one last thing to say. YE GODS the GUI! It's not as horribly condeluded and awful as it looks after you get used to it a little, but it could certainly use some work. To start off with, everything is so damned small by default. Now, that may not be a problem for people that like lots of screen real-estate, and don't mind having to squint a little to see the chat or power bar. For me however, it was quite irritating how little space you had in the chat bar/window and simply how diminutive everything was. It was, furthermore, inanely difficult to resize and scale the GUI up. I like to be able to see my interfaces, rather than to be able to pretend they aren't there when I don't need them. The targeting system is not bad, but it isn't all too smooth. In fights it can be somewhat problematic, as it is hard to change targets in the middle of a group fight, if you need to, and occasionally it just will be stupid with its auto-targeting and cause big problems when you attack the wrong thing. and interactions can be a pain. You might get used to it with some experience, but rather than walking up to someone/thing you want to interact with, you don't click on them. That doesn't really help. You have to walk up and either press the 'Z' key, or click on a little button down at the bottom center of the screen. If you have multiple things in range that you can interact with, it is a little too easy to mistakenly use the wrong thing.
Continuing on this note is the Costume creator. It is very pretty, it really is. You have a good deal of options - several of which I wish were available on CoX - and you have fantastic control over the body and face sliders, truly amazing complexity. However, the problem is, if you don't spend the amounts of time required to fine-tune your sliders, you can end up with a very generic looking face, as I haven't seen any alternate 'faces' you can choose from. You have to really make the face you want, given the slides provided. This can be an incredible boon if you know how it use it, it really can. Past the sliders, you have the actual costume to make. There are plenty of pretty pieces, but getting to them can be an exercise in frustration. Once again, if you know how to use the costume creator, it can really do some great stuff. But if you're just starting out working with it, it can be pretty irritating messing through all the drop down menus, different colors and options trying to see how you would build a look you have in mind. One thing I wish they had done a little better (or differently, depending on your point of view), Hair. A lot of the hair looks the same, and while you can do some pretty wonderful shading/coloring, there simply just aren't some hair styles I would have wanted. A lot of the female hair has the common characteristic of being middle parted and over the shoulders to stop just around the top of the breasts. I really don't like that look, for instance. I would like to see some longer hair styles that come down the back instead. One other thing I wish they had more of is boots. You've got a pretty good assortment of classic spandex tights and patters, and plenty of tech-armored boots. I haven't seen to many shoes or more 'normal' looking boots. The only normal (relatively) looking boots I've seen are their heels. Some a bit clunky, one is somewhat appealing, and some are kinda ugly.
Suffice it to say, I can be a fun game. Especially if you are looking for somthing in the same genre as CoX, but different in implementation. If you have a group of friends to play it with, so much the better. Some of the story lines they have in the quests are pretty well done, some are a bit hammy. It is worth it, while it is free, to join up with a few friends and have something different than CoX to play, and if it's relatively cheap and I know a few people that are in the game, I might get the 30-day retail, but it is exceedingly unlikely I'd spend the extra money to stay subscribed.
---
The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."
>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI
The Graphics are pretty, there is that. As a matter of fact, CO actually cooperates with my Graphics card better than CoH does. I can tap out of the game, or run it in a window with out it crashing. That is nice. There's pretty much all the graphics settings that CoX has on the advanced menu, and it even has a mode for a pseudo-full-screen when you're running dual monitors. They have pretty graphics, but some of it can be troublesome for older stuff. There are occasional slow downs for me when playing at the max pretty I have it on, not huge slideshow lagfests or lockups, but some suttering in larger fights or animations.
Which brings me up to the next point it is a very fast-paced combat. Several of your attacks have no recharge whatsoever. You can spam it as fast as it will animate and as long as you have energy. Which it is also good to point out that you have an auto-chain energy builder attack that does minor damage as well. And momentary slowdowns are not good when you're fighting. Espcially as there isn't really any strong Tank Set. Some powers are more suited to particular roles, but everything is a lot more generalized. The closest they have to Archetypes are the 'Roles' you can access past level 8, which modify the characteristics of your powers toward a certain aspect like Defense, Offense or Support. Combined with a proper framework of powers you can make a sort-of effective Tank or Buffer. But it takes a lot more work.
This is best noted by a quote on the CO offical site's feature page. "Use your head, or wind up dead!" And while I agree that this sort of game should not be a no-brainer everyone can succeed easily, it is pretty easy to make a bad choice in terms of powers, or talents or other build parts and be pretty sub-par. While it is a unpreventable consequence that if you balance powers to a certain set and then allow players to pick and choose their own from the conglomerate you can wind up really messing yourself, it shouldn't be quite so easy to do so. The thing that really bugs me is there doesn't really appear to be many clear cut defensive powers. You can't really feel like a strong superhero, but more a squishy-fighter-with-powers type. There really isn't a clear "don't do this!" or a "this would be a good idea.." choice. From what I've seen you just have to guess and go with what sounds right, and then hope it works out. It has been fun in groups (With Terr, and then later adding in Acyl and Atlantea) and I have enjoyed the gameplay, but when I tried to do some stuff on my own it was really hit and miss. It may be that I chose one of the more damage-focused powers rather than defense, but as I said, there really isn't a clear way to tell what are good powers and what aren't.
There is one last thing to say. YE GODS the GUI! It's not as horribly condeluded and awful as it looks after you get used to it a little, but it could certainly use some work. To start off with, everything is so damned small by default. Now, that may not be a problem for people that like lots of screen real-estate, and don't mind having to squint a little to see the chat or power bar. For me however, it was quite irritating how little space you had in the chat bar/window and simply how diminutive everything was. It was, furthermore, inanely difficult to resize and scale the GUI up. I like to be able to see my interfaces, rather than to be able to pretend they aren't there when I don't need them. The targeting system is not bad, but it isn't all too smooth. In fights it can be somewhat problematic, as it is hard to change targets in the middle of a group fight, if you need to, and occasionally it just will be stupid with its auto-targeting and cause big problems when you attack the wrong thing. and interactions can be a pain. You might get used to it with some experience, but rather than walking up to someone/thing you want to interact with, you don't click on them. That doesn't really help. You have to walk up and either press the 'Z' key, or click on a little button down at the bottom center of the screen. If you have multiple things in range that you can interact with, it is a little too easy to mistakenly use the wrong thing.
Continuing on this note is the Costume creator. It is very pretty, it really is. You have a good deal of options - several of which I wish were available on CoX - and you have fantastic control over the body and face sliders, truly amazing complexity. However, the problem is, if you don't spend the amounts of time required to fine-tune your sliders, you can end up with a very generic looking face, as I haven't seen any alternate 'faces' you can choose from. You have to really make the face you want, given the slides provided. This can be an incredible boon if you know how it use it, it really can. Past the sliders, you have the actual costume to make. There are plenty of pretty pieces, but getting to them can be an exercise in frustration. Once again, if you know how to use the costume creator, it can really do some great stuff. But if you're just starting out working with it, it can be pretty irritating messing through all the drop down menus, different colors and options trying to see how you would build a look you have in mind. One thing I wish they had done a little better (or differently, depending on your point of view), Hair. A lot of the hair looks the same, and while you can do some pretty wonderful shading/coloring, there simply just aren't some hair styles I would have wanted. A lot of the female hair has the common characteristic of being middle parted and over the shoulders to stop just around the top of the breasts. I really don't like that look, for instance. I would like to see some longer hair styles that come down the back instead. One other thing I wish they had more of is boots. You've got a pretty good assortment of classic spandex tights and patters, and plenty of tech-armored boots. I haven't seen to many shoes or more 'normal' looking boots. The only normal (relatively) looking boots I've seen are their heels. Some a bit clunky, one is somewhat appealing, and some are kinda ugly.
Suffice it to say, I can be a fun game. Especially if you are looking for somthing in the same genre as CoX, but different in implementation. If you have a group of friends to play it with, so much the better. Some of the story lines they have in the quests are pretty well done, some are a bit hammy. It is worth it, while it is free, to join up with a few friends and have something different than CoX to play, and if it's relatively cheap and I know a few people that are in the game, I might get the 30-day retail, but it is exceedingly unlikely I'd spend the extra money to stay subscribed.
---
The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."
>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI