champions_online_profilelarge[1]If you’d have asked me in mid-August, when the beta for Champions Online was only days away, whether I’d play it or not, I’d have said “of course!”  The beta was fun, but took a bit of the wind out of my sails.  What really killed it, and spiked any real desire to pick up any MMO again, however, was discovering the joys of writing interactive fiction.  It’s pretty hard to force myself to play an MMO after working on (or playing) an interactive story.

After release CO seemed like a pretty solid, if unambitious game, but I just think the entire MMO format works against the immersion into the superhero genre, in a way it doesn’t in a fantasy or SF setting.  The level-grinding mechanic itself is questionable from the get-go, not to mention the fact that you need to take on higher-conning mobs to level maximally quickly.  If you’re getting killed by thugs of whatever level, you’re not going to feel very super.

Then there’s the MMO quest structure, where you’re either:

  1. Killing 10 rats
  2. Acting like a FedEx delivery truck, or
  3. Gathering fromitz boards

If you really want to play a game that makes you feel like a superhero, try Batman: Arkham Asylum.  I doubt I’m even a third of the way through the game so far, but the array of gadgets, gameplay modes, cutscenes and content are very impressive.  And since it’s a single-player game, your character can be powerful without fears of balance issues.  I’m very impressed — this is definitely one of the games that makes it over the new, higher post-IF bar.  I’ll have a full review when I’m done.