C
ity of Villains is a stand-alone expansion pack to the City of Heroes
MMO. This time around you play as a super-villain instead of a one-
dimensional good guy, because—let’s face it—being bad is always more
fun than being good.
You begin as a villain-in-training in new zones within the Rogue Isles.
You’re a minion of Lord Recluse and the Arachnos organization, and as in CoH,
you’ll work your way up the social hierarchy by completing missions, meeting
new contacts, and collecting clues that move the global story forward.
The missions are twisted reflections of a hero’s normal day at the office.
Instead of rescuing civilians from muggers, you’re robbing banks, beating up
rival clans, and planting bombs. Unfortunately, despite the new take on quests,
the formula begins to drag when you’re sent to the same dungeons repeatedly.
Playing in teams makes missions more bearable, and lets you challenge more
difficult opponents.
Character customization includes more skins and nearly infinite appear-
ance options. We welcomed the change from spandex tights to zombified
brutes and hulkish monsters. But your villain can look almost the same as your
hero, if you’re particularly attached to that look.
New classes, like the mastermind, are wildly fun to play. You can create
robot drones or ninja lackeys to tail along and fight by your side. Team battles
become a visual feast when two or three masterminds join the fray. Lair build-
ing is another new feature; your guild (cleverly called a supergroup) can pur-
chase a base, which they can then customize. Protecting your base keeps you
invested in your supergroup.Player-vs-player (PvP) combat unlocks at level 15, but is limited to just
four zones. The frame rate really chugs in these arenas when too many char-
acters are present, but dueling with other players is a blast when the frame
rates are smooth. You can only interact with heroes if you have both the
original game and the expansion, but there’s no monthly fee increase if you
have both.
City of Villains contains enough new material to make the expansion a
must-buy for current CoH subscribers. Newbies can play either way,
but most players will eventually
want both games to maximize PvP
features.
—NORMAN CHANCity of Villains
Finally, a suitable outlet for the super-powered evildoer in all of us
W
e’ve been hankerin’ for a good ol’ fashioned western shooter ever since
we finished blasting our way through LucasArts’ classic Outlaws. It’s
taken nearly eight years for Gun to finally hop in the saddle, but it arrives with
six-guns blazing.
Developed originally for the PS2, Gun has been unabashedly ported to
damn near every other platform, and there’s little that distinguishes Gun on
the PC from its console cousins. Thankfully, the story and gameplay are good
enough to let this slide.
You are Colton White, an Eastwood-wannabe who’s out to avenge the
murder of his father—a task that will put you in just about every clichéd shoot-
out situation you can think of. The story is well written and told through plenty
of entertaining cutscenes. There are tons of mini-games and side missions
you can tackle, everything from playing poker to hunting wanted criminals and
helping the local lawmen. The extra content is little more than fluff, however.
It quickly becomes ultra-repetitive and you don’t really need it to develop your
character (the main plotline action should suffice).
Still, without the fluff, the game would be embarrassingly short—you
can complete the main story in as few as six or eight hours. However, your
screen will be filled with hot lead almost the entire time—the action is fast
and furious and the pace never really lets up (unless you take the time to
explore). The boss battles are challenging and memorable, as are the horse-
and stagecoach-riding sequences. What the title is missing, ironically, is a
classic high-noon showdown. This could have been a great dramatic device,
particularly considering the “bullet time” Quick Draw mode. This slows thebad guys down so you can take ‘em out with your six gun—for a limited
amount of time—and it’s a blast, literally.
Had Neversoft put as much time and care into developing Gun’s game
world as it did with its story, this title would be up there with the
likes of GTA. As it stands, it’s an
entertaining game that fills a
void—but only for a few hours.
—STEVE KLETTGun
A game for ‘the man with no name’ in you
8 MA XIMUMPC MARCH 2006
reviews TESTED. REVIEWED. VERDICTIZED
Combat in City of Villains is still a frenzied click-fest to get your
super powers off first!Gun is brimming with mature situations, language, and more
than its fair share of gore: You’ve been warned.GUN
$40, http://www.gunthegame.com,
ESRB: M8
CITY OF VILLAINS
$50, http://www.cityofvillains.com,
ESRB: T