Champions Online

 PC
User Score
6.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 256 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 126 out of 256
  2. Mixed: 44 out of 256
  3. Negative: 86 out of 256
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  1. gabriot
    May 19, 2014
    4
    This game is in every way shape and form a step back from a game that already came out 10 years ago - City of Heroes. Why they decided to continue Champions Online and completely shut down CoH completely baffles me, I guess the microtransaction model was already in place for Champions so it seemed more profitable. Regardless, I've lost all respect for the company for selling out likeThis game is in every way shape and form a step back from a game that already came out 10 years ago - City of Heroes. Why they decided to continue Champions Online and completely shut down CoH completely baffles me, I guess the microtransaction model was already in place for Champions so it seemed more profitable. Regardless, I've lost all respect for the company for selling out like that.

    Basically the game is your standard free to play microtransaction bullcrap that plagues the market today. Some of the ploys they use to get money are laughable. For instance, when you build your first character, there will be items included in things such as a Halloween pack and a dryad pack that allow you to select them without having an indicator by their name that you have to purchase them (even though there are other items that are selectable such as Ancient Armor cosmetics, which clearly state they must be purchased) - so basically it tricks you into thinking those items are selectable and available for your character, then once you are done finishing your character it pops up a dialogue saying you have items that must be purchased otherwise they will not show in game, because it turns out (shock) that you have to pay for things like the halloween pack and dryad pack... what an absolutely scummy way of trying to trick users into paying. On top of that the character creation is just a huge step down from CoH, half the items when you put in certain combos and certain scalings (common ones I might add) have awful looking graphical glitches like a shoulder pad having your shoulder pop right through it and show visibly from the outside. On top of that, when you get into the actual game, it's cell shaded (even though the character creation screen WAS NOT) and you basically get a character that doesn't even look like what you created.

    In general the cel shaded graphics look like ass, and it is also a huge step backward from the already gorgeous game with 10 year old graphics - CoH.

    There are also less than half the choices for unique and cool skill sets that CoH had, which is ridiculous. The only melee classes are weapon classes, so forget the cool things such as claws and spikes.

    Combat is awful, and leveling up is dumbed down, basically they made this game for people that don't want to worry about building a character rpg style, and just want to play some mindless arcade-like game.

    The game has half the character and passion the original game had, it's really sad to see this is what is left of the once glorious CoH.

    If you want to play a free-to-play mmo with superheros (or any mmo with superheros for that matter) the DC Online game is the only way to go. It's not perfect, but it's better in every way shape and form than this lackluster game "Champions Online" is.

    Don't waste your time with this game, it's trash.    … Expand
  2. CaitiVoltaire
    May 4, 2012
    1
    I feel I should qualify this review. I am a lifetime subscriber to CO. Had you asked me to review the game prior to the On Alert update, I couldn't've recommended it enough.

    But the On Alert update has come and gone since then, and there's no sugarcoating it: it is terrible. Where before you had a game in the vein of City of Heroes ( no surprise there, Cryptic developed CoH as well    I feel I should qualify this review. I am a lifetime subscriber to CO. Had you asked me to review the game prior to the On Alert update, I couldn't've recommended it enough.

    But the On Alert update has come and gone since then, and there's no sugarcoating it: it is terrible.

    Where before you had a game in the vein of City of Heroes ( no surprise there, Cryptic developed CoH as well before moving on to the Champions IP ) which was full of flavour, interesting stories and characters, it's all been either clawed back, removed entirely, or rewritten into something bland, samey, and uninteresting.

    So what changed in On Alert?

    Before, when you started the game, you had a lot of story options as to how to progress in the game, because there were two hubs you could participate in: the "Millenium City" missions in its gang-themed "Westside" - sort of a much wackier Batman area - or the more "realistic" stuff in Canada whose beginning game content centers around the occult release of a powerful spirit (and then perplexingly has you fighting terrorists after this crisis arc with no given way that the two arcs tie together)

    Now you can't touch Canada's missions at all until you're level 15 (of 40). You have a good several hours worth of grind in West Side (or the Alerts) at the beginning of the game, and even at that, a lot of the content in West Side has been cut down or otherwise trimmed down.

    Speaking of things that were trimmed down in the On Alert update, the crafting system is no more. Where before you had a system that had a lot of wacky, zany, and generally-interesting items each with a little bit of flavour text usually pertaining to the game world, now every item in the world follows the same template. No, you didn't misread, every item in the world uses the same sterile six templates. It gets very old very fast and both greatly reduces immersion in the game world and the sense of reward you get from these items.

    Where before the grind was passable because it was guised with interesting stories with often interesting bad guys, they have all been watered down lately. The series' front page supervillain Doctor Destroyer, for example, gets sidelined by the games other - usually much less interesting - bad guys. Without spoiling anything - the two main 'end game' confrontations don't even give him a nod.

    The Alerts are the focus of the update of course, it being named On Alert and all ... and they are a mess. Some of them are fine if extremely repetitive - but others are balanced about as well as plate on a stick in the middle of an earthquake in a windstorm, which is to say, not very much. To give one example, some of the alerts have you fighting series whipping-boy "Kevin Poe" - who is now anything but a whipping boy. Even with a high damage team, you're going to struggle to even put a dent in him by the time the two minutes you're given are up, because he has a classic example of the Computer Cheating: he has a power called Personal Force Field, which in the PC iteration is a little annoying but not overpowered, but because of how ridiculously Cryptic amps up the Supervillain stats and such to present a challenge since their AI is so terrible, there is almost no way you're going to take down that superviallins shield in the given time, let alone his health. Don't get me started on Draconis, who combines this shield with powerful crowd control abilities, which are also amped up.

    Even if the game was otherwise perfect, this removing of the game's story and flavour has effectively ruined it for me. But it's also bugged to tomorrow and back with the update. Bad guys constantly clip out of the level geometry during alerts, preventing you from succeeding during them. And also in the old content, such as the Demonflame adventure pack - again preventing you from succeeding in it. The game constantly drops my keybindings. The game will often wait until after you're dead to apply healing items - consuming the item but doing you no good, being dead and all. The voiceovers added by the review, when they added the update are terrible - but only when they work, which isn't often.

    On Alert is a mess. Don't get this game. Don't support it with c-store purchases, which will be made a waste of money by them being made available freely in the game anyways (the 90s superhero set for example was available in the c-store for 320 cryptic points, and is now freely available in game). Don't support it with subscriptions, which they won't respect anyways. Wait until they fix it - but don't hold your breath.    … Expand
  3. Simox
    Jun 20, 2011
    2
    Poor graphics, poor playability, irritating combat gameplay even for an rpg, the initial tutorial was enough for me to delete the game from my Steam library, worst rpg I have played in while.
  4. elfoxy
    Jul 8, 2011
    2
    I do not like this game, I don't know what it is that I mostly dislike, The visuals are terrible, and the story just gets boring very very quickly.I do not like this game, I don't know what it is that I mostly dislike, The visuals are terrible, and the story just gets boring very very quickly.

    Derp.    … Expand
  5. dans
    Oct 12, 2009
    0
    I can only begin to tell you how terrible this game is! If you like farming 60,000+ low level mobs just to get costume unlocks this game is for you though. If you care to play a concept character you WILL be feeble compared to a character who only picked powers based on usefulness: ie my level 10 TK blades could kill foes my level 18 Martial arts character would die to. Melee is far I can only begin to tell you how terrible this game is! If you like farming 60,000+ low level mobs just to get costume unlocks this game is for you though. If you care to play a concept character you WILL be feeble compared to a character who only picked powers based on usefulness: ie my level 10 TK blades could kill foes my level 18 Martial arts character would die to. Melee is far inferior in every way compared to ranged to the point it should have been called "Blasters Online-also with some ignorant melee." Whole power sets are nearly useless in PvP AND PvE! The character creator everyone keeps praising is a step backwards from the one in City of Heroes, often times you pick a costume piece only to have an error message appear. I only visited 3 zones in the time i played(out of 5) and those zones seems very sloppy and piece-meal. There isn't a single landmark or interesting location in the whole dang game that i know of, and the novelty of cowboy robots wears off after about 5 seconds... Another fault I found was that unless you have graphic settings turned to MAX at character creation you don't actually have any idea what you like like as certain textures and layers of pattern only appear at max settings! I could go on and on people(travel power balance, developer responses, horrible trade skills, auction house, bank,customer service and outright thievery of money) it would be hard to find a positive thing about this game. Avoid at all costs, and if you must play don't give them your credit card info!… Expand
  6. XxDdgaMerxX
    Jul 31, 2011
    4
    Not the best MMO i have played but it was average and needs alot of improvements. My main concern is the camera angles they just didn't work especially the MMO camera setting, the only one with a half descent camera setting was the Fantasy one, but even with that setting it was still hard to control. It does have MMO/RPG elements but was not as good as other Cryptic games like Star TrekNot the best MMO i have played but it was average and needs alot of improvements. My main concern is the camera angles they just didn't work especially the MMO camera setting, the only one with a half descent camera setting was the Fantasy one, but even with that setting it was still hard to control. It does have MMO/RPG elements but was not as good as other Cryptic games like Star Trek Online even with its repetitiveness. Another problem was that it took long amounts of time to load and I have high quality internet and very good PC yet it still took long to load. If the game had better camera angle settings and quicker loading times it may be a better game.… Expand
  7. Barua124
    Oct 17, 2012
    2
    17OCT2012 - I've played this game since it first came out. When the game was purchased by Perfect World Entertainment, it really started to go down hill. They didn't really make anything new. They mostly locked off everything and tried to sell us back what we originally already had. Forced character deletions, repurchasing powers and costumes we already owned, and an ever restricting17OCT2012 - I've played this game since it first came out. When the game was purchased by Perfect World Entertainment, it really started to go down hill. They didn't really make anything new. They mostly locked off everything and tried to sell us back what we originally already had. Forced character deletions, repurchasing powers and costumes we already owned, and an ever restricting character creation for new accounts. New accounts are left with barely 10% of the costume options they once used to have and its still shrinking. I understand the model behind Free-2-Play, but this is just overkill and the customers suffer. I hate to say it, but let this turd die to teach them a lesson.… Expand
  8. RavenB
    Sep 9, 2009
    2
    I'm so disappointed at this game. They took a great concept and beautiful gameplay (experienced during beta and headstart) and remade it into a boring grindfeast, I recommend you stay away, because this isn't a fun game anymore. Its a chore. And an tedious one at that.
  9. ChrisM
    Jan 6, 2010
    4
    This game has the potential to be a great game. The only problem is it crashes all the time and gives me BSOD. No other games I play give me the amount of problems this game does. When I can play and its not stuck on the launcher is trying to update box its a fun game. The crashing problems are a "driver problem" witch is what the creators of this game want me to think when in fact This game has the potential to be a great game. The only problem is it crashes all the time and gives me BSOD. No other games I play give me the amount of problems this game does. When I can play and its not stuck on the launcher is trying to update box its a fun game. The crashing problems are a "driver problem" witch is what the creators of this game want me to think when in fact it's their crappy coding work that has a problem with my drivers not the other way around. I know an MMO does not work the same as other single player games. I have played plenty of MMOs on this Rig and none of them have given me any problems. So this game gets a 4.… Expand
  10. KeithG.
    Nov 20, 2009
    3
    Very good character creator but seriously lacking any content for an mmo. You should not be able to "beat" an mmo and I have beaten this game 3 times now. Snore.
  11. MartinB.
    Oct 3, 2009
    2
    Wow. I bought this game after stalking it for months with high hopes, and i ended up with crushed dreams. Character creation and PvP are the only reason i even gave this blasted game a 2. I am level 20 and since i took time to read perks of abilities, i can take on mobs of level 27 at ease. I rarely to never die when I'm in PvP, and the mission are ridiculous. Mobs are over-powered Wow. I bought this game after stalking it for months with high hopes, and i ended up with crushed dreams. Character creation and PvP are the only reason i even gave this blasted game a 2. I am level 20 and since i took time to read perks of abilities, i can take on mobs of level 27 at ease. I rarely to never die when I'm in PvP, and the mission are ridiculous. Mobs are over-powered in every way, before i grabbed regeneration i could barely take on a mob of 4, if that. This game either needs serious patches, or just take off the monthly fees. Don't waste you money. I would NEVER recommend this game to anybody.… Expand
  12. JulieS
    Sep 13, 2009
    2
    Tedious really is the watchword. There are a grand total of 5 zones, and you absolutely HAVE to do every single quest in them if you want to get to level 40. There is absolutely ZERO replayability. Game lacks any semblance of balance and you will die constantly if you don't take Regeneration.
  13. SteveK
    Sep 14, 2009
    4
    I wanted to like this game, I even preordered, but it is just bad. There are a lot of liftetime subscribers who bought this game on hype alone, so take people's comments with a grain of salt as they are financially invested in this game succeeding. Three huge faults with this game: 1. The develpoers make it a habit to jerk their community around. Just do a few searches on champions I wanted to like this game, I even preordered, but it is just bad. There are a lot of liftetime subscribers who bought this game on hype alone, so take people's comments with a grain of salt as they are financially invested in this game succeeding. Three huge faults with this game: 1. The develpoers make it a habit to jerk their community around. Just do a few searches on champions online and you will see what i'm talking about. never seen a developer botch a game this bad with such shady dealings. it's a debacle and unacceptable. 2. the powers are extremely unbalanced. the game promises limitless customizablity, but its too bad that many of the powers are terrible and its really difficult to decypher how the stats work with a given power. this wouldnt be so bad if the devs didn't make it so hard to re-spec and allowed for people to experiment a little. 3. it's just not that fun. hardly anyone ever groups together. the community is flooded with elitist lifetime subscribers who are now forever biased cryptic suck-ups because they are so invested in this product's success even though it is undeniably bad. There is some good to it, hence the 4 rating, but not enough to recommend. Spend your hard-earned money elsewhere. This one is a disaster waiting to happen.… Expand
  14. DaveT
    Sep 22, 2009
    3
    Unfortunately for die hard comic fans like myself, Champions Online has not brought anything new to the Hero gaming genre. In fact the developers at Cryptic brag about innovation and freedom of design. As an Ultima Online player 13 years ago I found more diversity and innovation in that old relic. I left WoW to get away from grinding and that feeling that I wasn't playing as much as Unfortunately for die hard comic fans like myself, Champions Online has not brought anything new to the Hero gaming genre. In fact the developers at Cryptic brag about innovation and freedom of design. As an Ultima Online player 13 years ago I found more diversity and innovation in that old relic. I left WoW to get away from grinding and that feeling that I wasn't playing as much as working. Champions Online sold itself as a hop on and play at your own pace type of game. I pre-ordered and played in the beta and headstart. The game was laid back and just let you have fun. Release day came and a game changing patch was dropped, it seems Cryptic wanted to be taken seriously by 'hardcore' MMO's and so they ramped up the difficulty and nerfed every character. Day 1 - the grind begins. Agonizing. It's Sept 22/09 as I am writing this and I have decided to cancel my subscription and wait for either a full turn around in game direction or for something new to catch my eye. Here's where the most troubling issues begin. I click my account page and click on the link to cancel my subscription. I get a '404' type page saying that the page doesn't exist and that an evil villian must have taken it. So I check out the forum and find a developer post stating that anyone experiencing this problem should PM him(which is very odd because his signature says his PM box is broken and to twitter him. yes they use twitter for game updates) I send the gentleman a message stating that I am unable to unsubscribe because the link is invalid. 10 minutes later I refresh the forum to see if I had a reply... I now have a message saying that I am banned from the forum and that the ban will expire... get this... at 6PM on the day that my credit card will be charged for a 6 month subscription. There must be a mistake, right? I go to the champions mainpage and find that I am also banned there. I cannot access my account page at all. This is nonsense. I call the 800 number and speak with a rep only saying that I would like to cancel my subscription. I am told she cannot process that request because I was banned. The rep informed me that the ToS states that refunds will not be given to anyone who is banned for whatever reason. Flabbergasted.… Expand
  15. AliceT
    Sep 23, 2009
    2
    Started off well but the development team at Cryptic are on drugs. They and or/their puppetmaster seem determined to ruin their own game, through ignoring test server feedback, an endless stream of nerfs and buggy patch after buggy patch - none of which have any playtesting before making it live. Fail.
  16. LewisR
    Sep 27, 2009
    4
    The game itself is fun. With fast combat, pretty graphics, and enough to do to keep players who like solo play entertained until well into the later levels. it's a pretty good game considering it just came online. What's screwed this game around (not to mention it players), is Cryptic. Simply put, they're idiots. Banning entirely unoffensive names and words, abusing their The game itself is fun. With fast combat, pretty graphics, and enough to do to keep players who like solo play entertained until well into the later levels. it's a pretty good game considering it just came online. What's screwed this game around (not to mention it players), is Cryptic. Simply put, they're idiots. Banning entirely unoffensive names and words, abusing their ToS to get the most money out of people and replying to help requests with arrogant crap. If they even reply at all that is. The constant nerfs and imbalanced powers sets means that themed characters are gimps, and either you have specific powers, or you're going to have a LOT of trouble. I really wanted to like this game, a newer and better City of Heroes was what I was hoping for here. But it's more like WoW, minus the content, balance, customer service and PvP worth doing. Seriously suggest that people don't play this, not because the game is bad, but because when people with qualms about abusing bans to get the most of you money have your credit card details... Problems arise.… Expand
  17. AlexL
    Sep 3, 2009
    0
    Horrible controls, crappy story, corny/crappy music & voice-overs, ultra-boring grindfest, teaming is beyond broken, way too many costume parts need to be unlocked & can only be unlocked per char & not account-wide, atari & cryptic want to drain your wallet through microtransactions on top of a subscription. graphics also get old fast & are tiresome to look at when the new game hype disappears.
  18. ChrisW
    Sep 5, 2009
    2
    If you're not a hardcore MMORPG gamer, then don't waste your money on this title. It comes with little guidance beyond "insert disc, press play". The improved character creation and travel powers don't make up for missions that are tedious, boring and ridiculously easy; for a lack of a world to explore (just a few small zones - nothing comparable to other MMORPG's); If you're not a hardcore MMORPG gamer, then don't waste your money on this title. It comes with little guidance beyond "insert disc, press play". The improved character creation and travel powers don't make up for missions that are tedious, boring and ridiculously easy; for a lack of a world to explore (just a few small zones - nothing comparable to other MMORPG's); and for one "cutesy/little kid" add-on after another. For the love of God, don't get an "action figure" or you'll have to suffer a 2-ft tall pet following you everywhere that does nothing except cast your sexual orientation in doubt. (the Wal-mart edition gives you one of these things for free, making their insufferable presence unavoidable) What a waste of money.… Expand
  19. FernandoF.
    Sep 8, 2009
    4
    brilliant.
  20. JohnR
    Sep 9, 2009
    4
    The Good.... Character creation is amazing. The Bad.... Awful controls that feel very slow at times, lack of quest/content so expect to grind alot to level up, underpowered skills so expect to die alot over and over on quests 2-4 levels higher than your character due to lack of quests, weird crafting system that dosent show you the stats on items so its pot luck. And the Ugly Insane The Good.... Character creation is amazing. The Bad.... Awful controls that feel very slow at times, lack of quest/content so expect to grind alot to level up, underpowered skills so expect to die alot over and over on quests 2-4 levels higher than your character due to lack of quests, weird crafting system that dosent show you the stats on items so its pot luck. And the Ugly Insane respec system so expect to be poor all the time as correcting a skill choice from 1 or 2 levels previous will empty your pockets fast. Broken public quests and random rewards from the ones that do work. Huge lack of world content with only 4 large zones. Zero replay value as when you level up a second character you will do everything exactly the same as with your first character.… Expand
  21. MaxDestruct
    Oct 20, 2009
    0
    The game was fun during Closeb Beta, the XP rate was fast, the mobs fell quickly and even the retcon was affordable, even if it did only allow you ten steps back.

    Since then however game balance has taken a nose dive in terms of heroics, in place characters now feel bland, toned down heavily and unable to solo effectively unless ceertain defensive passive powers are taken and slotted    The game was fun during Closeb Beta, the XP rate was fast, the mobs fell quickly and even the retcon was affordable, even if it did only allow you ten steps back.

    Since then however game balance has taken a nose dive in terms of heroics, in place characters now feel bland, toned down heavily and unable to solo effectively unless ceertain defensive passive powers are taken and slotted (used).
    Good luck if you planned on being an offensive character while leveling up!

    The other issue that just arose and which made me cancel my sub and un-install, was when it dawned on me that Cryptic is capitalizing on subscribers to the fullest degree by making in-game balance of re-specs cost a fortune (would take months to save for one respec), yet they give you the option to pay just over a months game subscription fee on 1000 cryptic points to buy 1 full respec which would normally cost 850G (alot of resources atm), in-game.

    The result is that they devalue their players in-games efforts, the real life subscription and initial game purchases by putting in vital micro transactions.

    Do not bother with this MMO, its really not worth it.    … Expand
  22. BenB
    Oct 26, 2009
    2
    I think I'm seeing a pattern here. I've read through most of the reviews, and while the low scores often mention City of Heroes, the high scores don't. It's all about expectations. I, along with many others, played City of Heroes for years. Five years, myself, only stopping when Champions was nearly out. I waited over a year to play Champions, hoping for the equivalent I think I'm seeing a pattern here. I've read through most of the reviews, and while the low scores often mention City of Heroes, the high scores don't. It's all about expectations. I, along with many others, played City of Heroes for years. Five years, myself, only stopping when Champions was nearly out. I waited over a year to play Champions, hoping for the equivalent to a sequel to City of Heroes, only to be extremely disappointed. While City of Heroes relied heavily on grouping, forming teams or even Task Forces to accomplish great things with other players over the course of hours, Champions made teaming almost pointless, so no one did it. It probably comes all the way down to character building, since in Heroes you needed one of each archetype for a solid team. Here, however, people choose any powers they want, making a team just a random group of characters just as effective (if not less) than one solo hero. The game itself was horrendously linear. In Heroes, you meet one contact, then another and another, choosing most yourself, then learning about Task Forces and other challenges later. In Champions, each zone was a completely linear experience, grinding through the same few contacts until you accomplish what you're there to do, then you leave for the next zone. There is almost no variety, no choices at all. For a MMO, linear game play with one month's worth of content is unthinkable. Plus no point in teaming, because characters are not broken into categories like Healer, Tank, or Blaster to give each person a role in combat. If you are familiar with City of Heroes and enjoyed it, this will be a crushing disappointment. If you have never tried a superhero MMO before and have no expectations, you might like this. It seems like everyone either loves it or hates it, separated only be expectations from what I've seen.… Expand
  23. JohnJ
    Sep 22, 2009
    3
    Wild imbalances in the game systems mean you either do your research before hand or you're going to be left with a gimped character. The poorly concieved retcon (respec) system means if you did make a mistake with your character you probably won't be able to reverse it, so you'll need to re-roll. This leads to the content, which isn't horrible at all but it's the Wild imbalances in the game systems mean you either do your research before hand or you're going to be left with a gimped character. The poorly concieved retcon (respec) system means if you did make a mistake with your character you probably won't be able to reverse it, so you'll need to re-roll. This leads to the content, which isn't horrible at all but it's the same uninspired fare we've been seeing for the past five years. Unfortunately, there isn't enough of it so you'll reach dead spots. Given that mobs reward tiny amounts of XP, you're in for some grindy hell levels if you want to see 40. So even if you manage to choose the "right" powers, you're still up against a brick wall. If there were three weeks worth of real entertainment in this game it might be worth a buy but honestly, there's not even that. Maybe it'll be better in a year but I would not recommend it right now.… Expand
  24. willtehthrill
    Sep 23, 2009
    2
    Game kinda sucks for many reasons. Character creation is awesome, then i just goes down hill from there. the skills and abilities are few and meaningless. i got to lvl 10 spamming the same two abilities. All you can do is quest, and the PVP is meaningless. The actual instanced areas are repetitive and at that point you are forced to group and there is no real strategy besides rage and Game kinda sucks for many reasons. Character creation is awesome, then i just goes down hill from there. the skills and abilities are few and meaningless. i got to lvl 10 spamming the same two abilities. All you can do is quest, and the PVP is meaningless. The actual instanced areas are repetitive and at that point you are forced to group and there is no real strategy besides rage and spam kill everything. IT looks nice, visually appealing, but the game play is mindless, repetitive, and altogether uninteresting. I would never recommend this game.… Expand
  25. EmmaG
    Sep 23, 2009
    4
    It's not an awful game, not nearly as awful as some reviewers would have you believe, but neither is it a terribly good game at the moment. Due a poor launch characterized by constant changing, nerfing and re-nerfing (and, on occasion, re-re-nerfing) the game is not in what you would call a stable state. Documentation is laughably out of date, omitting entire classes of powersets. It's not an awful game, not nearly as awful as some reviewers would have you believe, but neither is it a terribly good game at the moment. Due a poor launch characterized by constant changing, nerfing and re-nerfing (and, on occasion, re-re-nerfing) the game is not in what you would call a stable state. Documentation is laughably out of date, omitting entire classes of powersets. Even the tooltips for powers are frequently incorrect. Content-wise, there is very little content; there are only five zones which become overly-familiar and boring as you crisscross them in search of enough content to level. Sadly, this search will often be in vain during the last ten levels of the game. Now add to this mess extreme overmoderation of the playerbase. Various inoffensive words are bannable for uttering (a note to the cautious: do not abbreviate the word "roleplayer" if you value your account!) and certain intentionally repeatable content is bannable for repeating. This is a game that needs much love, balancing, and content to be worth the time or money. There is a kernel of a good game here, let's hope they nurture it.… Expand
  26. JimC
    Sep 28, 2009
    1
    This game has too many issues to make it worth 15 dollars a month. First of all, The quality is Beta. This game has obviously been pushed out the door and it shows everywhere. Public quests not working, NPC's stuck in walls, AI problems, unbalanced powers, graphical artifacts, auction house not working properly, LFG tool, while basic, still not functional. Its horrible. Also the game This game has too many issues to make it worth 15 dollars a month. First of all, The quality is Beta. This game has obviously been pushed out the door and it shows everywhere. Public quests not working, NPC's stuck in walls, AI problems, unbalanced powers, graphical artifacts, auction house not working properly, LFG tool, while basic, still not functional. Its horrible. Also the game claims to have reinvented the combat system, it has not. In CO defense though, combat does feel fast and more like an action game than typical MMO turn based combat. The downside is that it is incredibly repetitive, combine that with the most boring quests you can come up with and a handful of (mostly bugged) extremely small instances and you have a game that is not going to last long. Also, this company, Cryptic, has no problems changing their game without even notifying their own fanbase. On day one for example, they completely overhauled the game for the worse, making characters weak, not having enough content to even get to max level etc. And when you hit 40, there is little endgame. you can get a few dailies etc but nothing feels epic. the only epic thing i experienced at endgame was that i picked up a level 42 item, while the cap is 40, so i must be good at it somehow. Anyway, spend your money elsewhere, as this game is nothing more than a hollow, bugged, empty Beta product, with very little content. (a single player game like oblivion has more).… Expand
  27. RobertUy
    Sep 12, 2009
    1
    So slow so bad. no support from support lines. superjump can get you killed if you use it. Tunnel power is cheap but one of the coolest powers. Any land based travel power will get you killed running around.emergency maintence can happen at any time during the day. Lifetime membership is for the monthly fee. You still need to buy the game from a retailer so you end up paying 250 dollars.
  28. anaxanaxanaxa
    Sep 12, 2009
    3
    Fun character creation system...but that's where the fun ends. There are many more "wrong choices" for your power selections than right ones -- meaning you can gimp your hero severely by choosing powers/stats that aren't a documented easy-mode combo. Feeling adventurous or want to make a themed hero? Go for it. Once you get in your 20s-30s (out of 40 levels...so call it 10 hours Fun character creation system...but that's where the fun ends. There are many more "wrong choices" for your power selections than right ones -- meaning you can gimp your hero severely by choosing powers/stats that aren't a documented easy-mode combo. Feeling adventurous or want to make a themed hero? Go for it. Once you get in your 20s-30s (out of 40 levels...so call it 10 hours or so), you'll see. Want to feel SUPER? This isn't the game for you. I feel like much more of a superhero as a Hunter in WoW. Also, you have to subscribe to even get your 30 free days...you can cancel your subscription after activation, though -- and you won't be charged. Hopefully, they keep doing major patches & balances every few days like they have been doing -- that way, in a few months, it'll be playable.… Expand
  29. DaveN
    Sep 13, 2009
    4
    Avoid this game. Misleading at launch, lack of content: nerf bats swinging in every direction, server is persistently going offline. Expensive, no sense of teamplay, incredibly difficult gameplay since an unannounced patch nerfed everything. Lack of customer support. Has already had thousands of subscribers cancel including myself.
  30. KW
    Sep 23, 2009
    1
    Powers are seriosuly imbalanced. Multiple content gaps at various level brackets. Many broken missions. Economy is virtually non existant. In game grouping and socialization is also virtually non existant. Reports of bugs or game breaking issues are being ignored on the test server and patches going live and then requiring multiple mini patches to fix after complaints pour in on thePowers are seriosuly imbalanced. Multiple content gaps at various level brackets. Many broken missions. Economy is virtually non existant. In game grouping and socialization is also virtually non existant. Reports of bugs or game breaking issues are being ignored on the test server and patches going live and then requiring multiple mini patches to fix after complaints pour in on the servers. Developer responses to players in patch notes and other forms are patronizing, arrogant, or worst of all ignorant to the mechnics and statistics of their own game. Advertised product is not what is actually presented in game. And the list goes on. If you want a sandbox to make pretty characters and piddle around for a few hours with some mix matching of powers to mess around with then this will keep you happy for a few hours to a month. If you're looking for an MMO, this game is more of a beta single player shallow action rpg than anything. Cryptic didnt learn from their mistakes with City of Heroes/Villains, their fiasco with the original version of Champions under the titling of Marvel Universe Online(which Microsoft and Marvel ditched due to Cryptic incompetence prompting Cryptic to sell city of heroes/villains so they could stay afloat etc etc. Give this game an unfortunate wide berth. Im sorely disappointed and regretting I bought it.… Expand
  31. darknothing
    Sep 4, 2010
    3
    What pisses me off is what your paying for.
    19$ for the game + 16$ a month.....THEN more money for the C store for more items/costumes.... the c store should be currency you earn from in-game.... not real money... its just a cheap way to gouge players even more...

    with a monthly fee everything else should be free........
  32. digitalbeachbum
    Nov 18, 2014
    0
    I played Champions RPG in high school and was really looking forward to this game. The PnP version was one of my favorite RPG's ever so when I got a chance to join in I was ready to sell every thing I owned just to get involved in the development of the game.

    I happened to get in on the Alpha and thought things were looking really awesome for the game. I had played City of Heroes from    I played Champions RPG in high school and was really looking forward to this game. The PnP version was one of my favorite RPG's ever so when I got a chance to join in I was ready to sell every thing I owned just to get involved in the development of the game.

    I happened to get in on the Alpha and thought things were looking really awesome for the game. I had played City of Heroes from beta to close also and thought things were going to be different. When the beta was done I convinced seven of my friends from CoH to join CO, which we all bought the lifetime membership.

    We played it for a few months and as nerf after nerf came about we all started to fade from playing. They had completely ruined a good game and it never came to be as good as CoH. In fact, it wasn't even half as good as CoH, even with all the problems CoH had until the end.

    CO became a kiddie game. It was a game where people worried about getting a special set of wings or a special aura and maybe a rare vanity pet (which did nothing to help you in battle).

    The monetary system never worked and was actually better in the beginning but now was absolutely worthless. Crafting was ridiculous and ended up being worse the WoW leaving you to kill thousands of one mob just to get enough of one drop to make an item which was actually worthless.

    The game play itself went down hill and powers became weaker, convoluted and misplaced. It no longer felt like being a hero but more like a store mannequin, with how good did you look today? They threw in vehicles and other crap which just brought the game down more.

    The worst MMORPG I've ever played.    … Expand
  33. TheGrindeR
    Jul 13, 2012
    2
    Hard to tell any good thing about this game, maybe the graphics witch looks like than a comic strip style. The sounds are horrible and the quests are very booring. Not really have players. The Non-playable characters movement are abnormal. The cars are scripted and just driving round and round in the city. I found an invisible wall in the city and i couldn't move to the another place ofHard to tell any good thing about this game, maybe the graphics witch looks like than a comic strip style. The sounds are horrible and the quests are very booring. Not really have players. The Non-playable characters movement are abnormal. The cars are scripted and just driving round and round in the city. I found an invisible wall in the city and i couldn't move to the another place of it. I think not really need invisible wall any MMORPG games. And this game have an absulutely horrible controlling. If you like the super heroes i think you try the DC Universe Online that game much better and skip the Chapions Online.… Expand
  34. WildFire15
    May 5, 2015
    2
    Champions Online is a great example of a game that was fantastic on paper, but a mess in execution. The potential still exists, but isn't utilised as the game has moved more towards themed archetypes (which in reality are just a list pre-chosen powers). The world and characters aren't follow the golden age design without ever having any of the personality beyond 'I am heroically good!' andChampions Online is a great example of a game that was fantastic on paper, but a mess in execution. The potential still exists, but isn't utilised as the game has moved more towards themed archetypes (which in reality are just a list pre-chosen powers). The world and characters aren't follow the golden age design without ever having any of the personality beyond 'I am heroically good!' and 'I'm evil, mwahaha!' while the gameplay itself doesn't seem to know what it's trying to be.
    Worst of all, the game's a balance mess. Jack Emmert's complete inability to balance player and enemy abilities is in full effect here, leaving only a small handful of workable powers and others which are next to useless in comparison.
    Champions Online's character creator is still a fantastically powerful tool that can allow you to create almost anything (though you can't really escape the goofy feeling of the art design), but beyond that there's nothing to recommend, besides an example of what not to do.    … Expand
  35. BernardTheBeast
    Feb 3, 2020
    4
    It was good. It was worthy of maybe 7/10 in the past. But today it's been entirely taken over by a company that doesn't much care about the source material, and has converted the game into a Lootbox Simulator overflowing with microtransactions, lootbox keys, currency conversion, obsessive grinding (for in-game currencies), and pretty much everything else that is horrendously manipulativeIt was good. It was worthy of maybe 7/10 in the past. But today it's been entirely taken over by a company that doesn't much care about the source material, and has converted the game into a Lootbox Simulator overflowing with microtransactions, lootbox keys, currency conversion, obsessive grinding (for in-game currencies), and pretty much everything else that is horrendously manipulative and exploitative.

    It's a nightmare to see a game where creativity was the core game mechanic, turned into this disgusting excuse for catering to people who can be manipulated to buy bytes and pixels for cash.

    Give it a try if you want, it has probably the best character creator of any 3D game developed, ever, and being able to select your own superpowers has its pleasures. But steel yourself in preparation for artificial barriers that will continue popping up, encouraging you to hand over more of your time and money than this game deserves.

    Do I recommend this game? I hate answering "No". I really do. This game was my life for years. The people, the community, they've stayed with me. But the game has fallen behind, dragged down by the weight of its new, corrupt, cash-grabbing nature. Such a heart-rending a shame.    … Expand
  36. KaienShiba
    May 10, 2015
    4
    This game almost requires you to team up, especially for melee characters, the story line which I think it does have one, seems to meander and goes off track now and then.
  37. Nanostar
    Aug 10, 2017
    4
    The successor to City of Heroes yet it does nearly everything worse than CoH. Yes it has more costume options and in some ways more power variation.. but that doesn't compensate for the childish gameplay boss ninja-ing and constant re-spawning that makes careful planned preparation that some CoH/CoV builds allowed. It also fell away from the CoH instancing model which also detracts. IThe successor to City of Heroes yet it does nearly everything worse than CoH. Yes it has more costume options and in some ways more power variation.. but that doesn't compensate for the childish gameplay boss ninja-ing and constant re-spawning that makes careful planned preparation that some CoH/CoV builds allowed. It also fell away from the CoH instancing model which also detracts. I bought a lifetime subs to this hoping to see an updated improved version of CoH.. but alas got a childish click fest instead. a waste of my money.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

99
#99 Best PC Game of 2009
29
#29 Most Discussed PC Game of 2009
72
#72 Most Shared PC Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 40 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 40
  3. Negative: 1 out of 40
  1. PC Gamer
    Apr 14, 2011
    70
    Free-to-play limits player choice and hurts the game's longevity, but Champions remains a pretty, if passable MMO.
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  2. Ten Ton Hammer
    Feb 25, 2011
    81
    Champions Online : Free For All is a fantastic F2P option if you've never tried the basic Champions Online.
    Read full review
  3. Gamers.at
    86
    Champions Online might not rise to supreme MMO-excellency, but it's a damn good game nonetheless. If you're waiting for DC Universe to come around, the least you can do is go and kill some time with Champions Online.
    Read full review
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