Thoughts on Marvel Heroes

I recently had the good fortune to be able to get in on the Marvel Heroes open beta a couple of weeks ago through Steam. I jumped on to Steam and went to my library to figure out what I felt like playing. As I perused my list, I came across “Marvel Heroes – 2 days left”. I was confused. I didn't remember downloading a demo or getting a gift or anything. So I went and checked it out on the Steam store. Ah ha! An open beta for the weekend. I looked at the in-game photographs and description and thought, “It looks okay, maybe I’ll check it out later.”

At this point, one of my best friends and most excellent gaming buddy, Trevor, jumped online. He wanted to do some gaming, but wasn't sure what he wanted to play. I mentioned that the Marvel Heroes open beta was available and we were off!

As we began to play and get our feet beneath us, my fiancé wandered over to see the game. (She is a Marvel fan-girl from way back.) When I mentioned the game to her earlier she didn't seem excited at all. And, truth be told, she hasn't been very excited about gaming for a long time. (I blame Blizzard. What they did to WoW broke her heart.) However, once she saw Deadpool and Wolverine clobbering waves of bad guys, she got a gleam in her eye.

Hulk smash!

“This is free to play?” she asked.

“Yup. This is the last open beta before launch,” said I.

And then she was gone. Downloading the beta on Steam.

Marvel Heroes is an MMO ARPG. Think Diablo meets super heroes and you're in the right neighborhood.  In fact, the game is being developed by Gazillion Entertainment. The president and COO of which is David Brevik of Diablo and Diablo 2 fame. Knowing this put me at ease straight away.

The game is done in the same top down isometric perspective as other games in the ARPG genre. The environments are lush and well done within the confines of the genre's style. Much of the scenery is destructible, which is a practical necessity when you deal with heroes like the Hulk, Thing, and Colossus. Speaking of which, watching one of those guys throw a car at a group of baddies is AWESOME!

The heroes that I’ve played so far seem to all be rather different in play style and hold true to their iconic powers as found in their respective comic books. Some definitely seem over powered and others under powered, but it makes sense in the setting and keeps characters from becoming too homogenized.

Another interesting and FUN decision by Gazillion was to make the iconic characters playable. Nothing puts a smile on your face like playing the Hulk and smashing. The only problem I had with playing the actual heroes from the books is that it can be a bit jarring when you see 3 or four of yourself running around on screen.

Avengers assemble! Or at least some of you...The biggest issue I have with the game currently is that it seems like the main story line is pretty short. I don't know if this is really the case, however. The day that I played the game with Trev and my fiancé, it seemed like we made it through two thirds of the story chapters, but there could be more in the full release of the game. That being said, the real fun of the first two Diablo games was leveling your characters and destroying hordes of enemies in the pursuit of better loot as it is here with Marvel Heroes. Plus Marvel Heroes will have endgame content in the vein of raid bosses, it sounds like.

So what do I think about the game? I think it's a great start that can really be built upon, and I think the proof is in the pudding.

Trevor, my fiancé, and I played the beta for an entire day together with us settling on the Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor. Honestly, it was the most fun I've had playing a video game in a while...

... And we've all bought one of the Founders Pack options available on Steam.

Marvel Heroes will be available in the U.S. June 4^th.

“Remember the Athenians.”

Episode 63 - Mike Stevens: Golden Sky Stories

If you're looking for a family friendly, non-violent tabletop role playing game, this is the episode for you. We talk with Mike Stevens from Star Line Publishing about their translation of a Japanese Tabletop Role Playing game, Golden Sky Stories.

This whimsical game lets the players game as henge (hen-gay), magical animal creatures with the ability to take human form. Game play focuses on cooperation and effective communication. Check out the last few hours of their Kickstarter project and support this great game. Let us know what you think in the comments!

Until next time, game on!

Regina & Mark (filling in for Rhonda)

Episode 63

Winners of PAX East loot

We have SIX winners for the loot we brought back from PAX:

1. ERIK O (from the comments) (Peggle plushie & game code)
2. Curtis Lu @curtislu (Plants vs. Zombies t-shirt - sorry only got one of these)
3. James @Emp0rt (Plants vs. Zombies Walnut hat)
4. Chris N @CtrlChris (Popcap water bottle, lanyard, and Peggle plushie)
5. Becca Moulton @_sing_opera (Magic cards, lanyard, Tomb Raider illustrated story)

And the winner of the Anywhere MOGA is:

Curtis who said in the comments "My chosen weapon for Zombie kill of the week would be a vaporizer."

We verified that Curtis Lu is the same as Curtis so we redrew for the Moga (thanks Curtis for being gracious about the rules). The Moga was drawn separately after the first five loot bags so they stand as is. I've redrawn for the Moga and the new winner is:

Beth Case @Desdemina

Congratulations everyone!

To claim your prize you need to send me your mailing address. You can send it via:

• DM @game_on_girl 
• "CONTACT US" on this web page and fill out the form there
• Email me directly rhonda at gameongirl dot com. 

We're all out of loot for now but keep an eye out here and on twitter. 

Please see #GoGgimme rules. 

WoW Confessions

It started out innocently enough. I was having lunch with Ryan, the editor of the podcast, and he was giving me a bad time about my lack of game time recently.

"There's all this Game on Girl talking and yet you're rarely on Steam."

I confessed that my professional and personal life has gotten in the way of "serious" gaming but that I still game socially everyday. I then sent him an invite to Bookworm Heroes, my new social gaming addiction. A little role play, a little word building. Pretty much perfect for the amount of time I have to game right now.

From there we started discussing other games we played together.

"What was that one game we started that we didn't really get back to?" asked Ryan.

"Which one? That's most of the games we've all played recently."

"The MMO?"

"Oh Guild Wars 2."

"Right. That one. That was the last big one we all got together and didn't play."

So I asked because the answer had been bugging me for awhile: "Why didn't you like it, Ryan?"

"It wasn't WoW."

He said it. What I had been thinking for ages but had never said. As much as I loved the streamlined questing, the story elements, and the artwork of Guild Wars 2, I couldn't engage with the game the way I normally would with an MMO. I couldn't figure out why... I think in part it was timing and the other part was the lack of commitment from my fellow gamers. We just didn't "click" with Guild Wars 2 as a group.

So then I said it.

"I miss WoW. I miss playing Sunnybee (my main avatar - a human warlock)."

Ryan said, "Yeah me too. You were just getting good with Sunny when we quit."

It was true. I wrote about the first time we all raided together and the satisfaction I felt from that experience. We had managed to get decent gear and I was finally understanding spell durations and not to "clip" my duration spells. It was also one of the first times we had all worked together as a group.

We started talking about going back to WoW, resurrecting our accounts and old friends (avatars) and how it might actually be fun to <gasp> play a panda. A hush fell over the table and Ryan said, "After all the grief you've given WoW, after all the stuff you've said about Blizzard on the show, how can you go back?"

I thought for a moment about going back in secret... starting a new account and not telling anyone, perhaps most importantly one of my closest gaming friends, Mark, who was furious with Blizzard after D3 and pandas and pokemon pets. But I knew that would be beyond disingenuous. Game on Girl was created based on my gaming experience and has grown into something amazing and dynamic and awesome and I couldn't start lying about that.

It's been a couple of weeks since this conversation and Ryan started a new trial account to test the waters. I've been tempted but I still haven't committed myself to going back into the WoW fray. I can't quite bring myself to do it even though the thought of playing again is compelling. The time commitment keeps me from opening a browser and reinstalling the game.

So, dear readers, I ask you: what is a gamer to do? To WoW or Not to WoW? Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

Episode 62 - Genese Davis

Bridging the gap between gamers and non-gamers: this is a topic that we've addressed many times on the show. This week we talk to author, host, and video game columnist, Genese Davis. Genese has written a novel, The Holder's Dominion, aimed at describing game culture and the desire to game to non-gamers. Listen to hear Genese's story about becoming a gamer as an adult, the process of writing a novel about gaming, and how to lark your life. 

As always, we'd love your feedback. Let us know what you think in the comments here, on our Facebook page, or on our Twitter account. 

Until next time, game on!

Regina & Rhonda

Episode 62