Champions Online Revelations first impressions

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Champions Revelations is a breath of fresh air to the game. Not like a super human massively powerful breath that blasts everything in sight but that satisfying breath that lets you realize you are content.  I have been playing Champions online since beta testing and have enjoyed the game but like many, I noticed the lack of content and game balancing issues as well as the lack of a need to group with others.

While the new expansion does not resolve everything it does add a great new high level Crisis zone and region to play in with Vibora Bay.

I still find no reason, other than for the fun of it, to group with others outside the public missions and I think the general balance issues were resolved some time ago.

The expansion does bring a lot though.

The story for this new addition to the Champions universe is great. The voice acting is better and less campy than the original, and the enemies you will face are enjoyable.

Vibora bay is much like New Orleans and as you run around you get the feel of a bayou gambling town. Cryptic did a good job of giving you the New Orleans blues town feeling while keeping to the comic book style art. Unlike New Orleans though, this city is alive with voodoo magic, Vampires, and Werewolves. Adding to that is an Apocalypse crazed half-angel, half-demon who is the arch nemesis to the new locale.

My favorite location prior to this was Monster Island. I have heard many other players say the same thing. While I thought Lemuria’s undersea location was interesting and large, it was hard to get around and even a little harder for a Martial Arts type character (Like my main hero, Captain Kanuk) to fight in. Vibora Bay is a GREAT alternative for those who are closing in on the level cap of 40 but are finding themselves not as interested in Lemuria.

The Crisis zone for this addition in itself is very large and there are even a few lead in missions in Millennium City. You can start the missions by visiting Jury Rig, a visiting hero hanging out in M City near Dr. Silverback (Renaissance Center Science building). I won’t spoil it for you but the story has a decent twist to it that eventually leads you to the Vibora Bay crisis. As I stated, there is lots to do in the Crisis zone before heading off to the regular areas of the Bay.

I won’t offer any spoilers about the Crisis but I can tell you that you will do dozens of missions there and meet lots of heroes, some the old familiar Champions like Defender and Ironclad, some new like Doctor Ka and The Black Mask.

I took my Martial Arts Super Spy character to this zone at 37^th level and went to 39^th already without hardly touching the many missions and story arcs of the zone. I have not gotten to the point where I am trying out the new powers offered here yet but will update my report when I do.

Cryptic originally planned to release this as a paid for expansion but after the outcry of existing subscribers for new content they made the wise decision to release it for free. They have added a bunch of new costume pieces in the store to buy but there was tons of content offered up to the current player base. It was just the shot in the arm the game needed.

Now that it has been released Cryptic needs to go and add more content for lower level Supers . my 2 cents is for them to add another lower or mid level crisis zone and zone expansion so that there is ample content to level multiple hero characters with a variety of powers. Having some choices in mission progression would be great for those who like to create a wild array of characters to play.

The new Vibora Bay zone was timely too. I was just at the end of my six month subscription when it released. I am sure that was no coincidence, but it kept me subbed for some time more as I truly am enjoying the game  with the additions and look forward to taking other heroes to the Bay.

If you have never tried Champions you can start a free trial/ demo at the site. It is well worth giving it a go if you like the thought of playing super hero characters with amazing powers.

If Cryptic continues to add content I will continue to subscribe, especially if the content is the quality of Vibora Bay.

Juryrig's place