City of Heroes Intelligence Report

City of Heroes Intelligence Report
January 29, 2002


In mid-summer of 2000, a group of experienced developers came together to found Cryptic Studios. Establishing itself in the high-tech center of San Jose CA, the team immediately set to work on its first project, revealing its existence fairly soon thereafter, but saying nothing about it except that it was an online world. Naturally, this was more than enough to rouse our interest, but the company decided to remain true to its name for another year or so before unveiling City of Heroes near the end of last September. We were rewarded for our patience with a title that immediately set itself apart from all the others in development as a result of its unique and highly attractive theme; inspired by many of our favorite comic books, it will cast players as superheroes fighting the forces of evil.

The game takes place in the fictional American metropolis of Paragon City where organized criminal groups and other malevolent and dangerous forces have been in conflict with valiant defenders of justice for decades. In the present day, players will first create their own superheroes, choosing among numerous powers, skills, abilities and items. Then, either alone or with groups of like-minded friends, they will venture forth to protect the citizens from a variety of threats such as super-villains, aliens, madmen, underground monsters, gangsters and more. As the project continues to moves forward, this City of Heroes Intelligence Report takes a look at the information currently known about this extremely intriguing title, the status of its community and its overall prospects.

Developer: Cryptic Studios was established in the summer of 2000. City of Heroes is its first project, but most if not all of the core team members have previous development experience.

Publisher: A publisher has yet to be named.

Projected Release Date: According to the official site, the target release date is in the summer of this year.

Type: Inspired by comic books, City of Heroes is an original persistent state world set in a modern city that is beset by various criminals, super-powered villains, aliens and underground monsters. Players take on the roles of the city's defenders; their characters can select from a wide range of different powers in order to combat the forces of evil.

Setting: The game takes place in the vicinity of the fictional Paragon City, the greatest city in America, where heroes who fight crime and villainy can attain fame, fortune and power. The official site currently offers the first two segments of an eight-part history of the city that begins with its founding and that will ultimately bring the setting up to an alien invasion in contemporary times.

Backstory: As noted above, only part of the backstory has been revealed. In 1929, after the stock market crash, organized crime invaded Paragon City. In response, a superhero named The Statesman founded the Freedom Phalanx. This marked the start of the conflict between the forces of good and evil that continues to this day.

Player Characters: City of Heroes offers a variety of different hero player characters. Most have superhero powers of some sort, but there are also a few that rely upon technology or their own skills to help them fight crime. The game includes seven different "origins" including Mutant, Altered Human, Magical Powers, Cyberware, Superior Human, Gadgeteer and Mystic Artifacts. Each origin comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. At present, the website provides background information on the first four.

Character Creation & Development: After choosing an origin, the player selects a number of powers, then creates a costume from numerous colors, patterns and geometries that allow millions of possible combinations. Skills and backgrounds may then be purchased to create a unique character. Advancement is essentially skill-based. Experience points gained by completing missions or defeating villains are used at a base or training hall to improve powers and skills. Some origins are more skill-oriented while others lean towards powers.

Powers: Superhero powers are grouped into two broad categories, Control Powers and Core Powers. City of Heroes will offer players more than 40 powers in all plus many sub-powers. Descriptions are currently available for eight powers, namely Cold Control, Density Control, Invulnerability, Leaping, Energy Blast, Flight, Power Punch and Fire Control.

NPCs: The team has stated that there will be many NPCs walking around Paragon City. Indeed, one of the heroes' main objectives is to protect them. In this regard, players must take care that using their abilities does not cause innocent bystanders to be harmed lest their reputations be damaged.

NPC Opponents: The official site stats that there will be many types of adversaries such as super-powered villains, alien invaders, criminal syndicates and black magic cults. It provides information about two groups, Freakshow and Fifth Column, and names several more while also stating that others will be added.

Combat System: Although only limited details are available about the combat system, it is known that one of the team's key goals is to provide intense graphics and special effects so combat will be visually stimulating, as befits the comic-inspired superhero theme. The combat system is also described as allowing players to choose powers quickly so as to be exciting, suggesting it may be fairly fast-paced.

Player vs Player Combat: Since the main theme of the game is players defending Paragon City, player versus player combat will be limited to the Arena System. In the Arena, players or teams will be able to test themselves fight against each other without risking death or experience loss.

Weapons & Armor: The importance of weapons and armor will depend on the hero's origin type. For example, certain origins and backgrounds allow heroes to employ special weapons and items to battle crime, and may even provide such items.

Missions: This is another area where the team has held back on revealing information. One element that has been disclosed is that the game draws upon its from comic book and adventure series inspirations by integrating a face-off with the chief villain into the climax of a mission.

Technology: The proprietary Cryptic Engine incorporates the Game Client, Server and Tools. The Game Client is said to render extremely high polycount worlds with thousands of moving characters. Its feature set reportedly includes a modular world hierarchy, progressive detail layering, a smooth-skinned character animation system and a particle system that can produce not only explosions, fire and smoke but complex multi-part effects as well.

Interface: The interface has been kept pretty much under wraps to date. Two known facts are that using powers and items involve on-screen buttons, and that there will be an icon system for quick identification of many game elements.

Interaction with Fans: The Cryptic Studios team has chosen to maintain a relatively low profile, doing a few interviews since City of Heroes was announced, but generally preferring to focus on developing the game. The official site is updated every few weeks. It includes message boards, but team activity is sporadic. Nonetheless, the game has attracted a reasonable amount of attention within the online gaming community and has built a small but seemingly fervent core group of fans.

Positives: The superhero theme underlying City of Heroes seems a natural one with a high built-in interest factor for many gamers. The visuals shown to date indicate it will be very competitive in this regard. The company has stated that development is fully funded, suggesting the game will not have to be rushed into release.

Question Marks: While the team has development experience, most or all of it is on standalone games. The engine and server technology are unproven. The low visibility of the game has almost certainly contributed kept the size of its community from growing as quickly as it might have. Publishing plans are unknown.

Outlook: City of Heroes is a very interesting title. Due to its superhero theme, it has the potential to appeal to gamers whose tastes don't necessarily run to high fantasy or science fiction. The rate at which information is being released makes it difficult to judge if the game is on track for release this summer. Whether this is so or not, it is an intriguing and potentially innovative project that we will definitely continue to watch closely

Related Links
City of Heroes Interview - October 2, 2001
Cryptic Studios Interview - November 2, 2000

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Richard Aihoshi - "Jonric"