Keen and I both picked up early backer packages for Marvel Heroes well before the game came out. I had high hopes going in when it launched but my hopes were dashed by my crappy computer. Every 15 to 20 minutes the game would just crash from memory errors or something. It kept happening even on the lowest settings and I got tired of it and stopped playing very shortly into the experience. Now that I have a “new” computer I finally got around to giving the game another shot. It seems like I picked a really good time to check back in since they are in the middle of their anniversary event. If you have a level 30 hero before the end of it you get a crap-load of gift boxes full of all sorts of boosts and other rare stuff.
Picking a Hero
I already had Hulk from the pack I bought but I wasn’t really feeling like playing him, especially since he was already level 14 or something. I still had the 2000 G shop money that came with my hero pack so I used it to pick up a couple of the new heroes. I picked up Gambit and Loki but ended up playing the latter choice. Loki is a pretty cool hero but somewhat more complicated than I’m comfortable with. I may end up trying somebody else later on but he will do for now. He has some pretty awesome abilities where he makes duplicates of himself and he also has some nifty frost and magic attacks.
Playing Through
At first I didn’t know how long I would be playing Marvel Heroes again so I pretty much skipped every cutscene and read nothing. Oddly enough I still ended up playing through all of the current available acts and I’m actually almost done with them AGAIN on the next difficulty. I still have no idea what is going on but I’m having a lot of fun. It actually reminds me a lot of when I played Diablo 1&2 since I played through those games many times before I actually went through and paid attention to the story. Then when Diablo III came out I did pay attention to the story and immediately regretted that decision.
From what I’ve played so far I would say that Marvel Heroes is immensely more fun than Diablo 3, even with the expansion. I know a lot of people seem to be saying that they “fixed” Diablo 3 but it still feels like the same monotonous experience and I’d rather gouge out my eyes than play through another nephilim(sp?) rift. I haven’t even experienced the full extent of the additional content in Marvel Heroes, some of which seems to be locked until higher levels, but I find the dailies to be fun and interesting. Also some of the enemies you fight are just straight up more interesting. I mean, who doesn’t like seeing a sentinel descend from the sky?
Free to Play?
I’m generally not a fan of F2P games since I think the model, along with copies amounts of overpriced DLC, is destroying gaming. What’s really interesting though is that from what I can tell Marvel Heroes seems to be completely free. None of the content seems to be locked behind pay walls so you can experience everything. I’m not sure what the starter heroes are but I think they give you a decent selection. From what I can tell you are also able to get most of the stuff they sell in the shop through drops. I personally haven’t found any costumes yet but supposedly they do drop; maybe it’s a high level thing. Every now and then you also get eternity shards which you can save up and redeem for a specific hero. Or if you are feeling lucky get a random hero for a cheaper price. Basically it seems like you can get the majority of the experience without paying a dime and if there is some hero you really feel like you must have then you can buy it for a pretty reasonable price considering the rest of the game is free.
Wrapping things up…
I’m not sure how long I will stick with Marvel Heroes but after 27 hours I’m still very much enjoying the experience and looking forward to what is available at higher levels. Also hopefully I’ll get some costume drops. Right now I’m fighting the urge to snag Silver Surfer on pre-sale and I think I’m about to lose.
Interesting. I may give this a look! Thanks!
Don’t hold your hopes out for costumes. They very rarely (if ever) drop. I think I have seen one in a year. There are ways to get costumes for free, but they are very random and require a lot of work. For example, you can relevel a hero from level 1 after you get to level 60, and they will give you a dupe costume, since the one you are wearing at level 60 probably requires a higher level to wear. You can exchange three costumes at the crafter (if he is leveled up enough) and get one completely random costume out of it. But that costume is truly random and may even be for a hero you don’t own.
Since costumes are a purely cosmetic item, I don’t mind them being behind a pay wall. I am still having a ton of fun in the game. If you haven’t yet, make sure you check out the following modes: X-Defense (endless waves of defending the X-men mansion), Shield Holo-Sim (basically the same thing but for 1-2 players), the One-Shot terminal, and Midtown Manhattan. The last mode is my favorite since it is a zone of about 10 players where groups of 3-4 supervillains pop up every five minutes or so.
Yeah I love Midtown Madness. It’s so hectic and there are so many mobs everywhere. Lots of Sentinels too and that’s awesome.
MH has really done a great job of expanding the game over the last year and keeping things interesting and fresh. I took a break for a few months and just came back about a month ago and am having more fun than ever. You will level up faster through shared quests like midtown than anything else since you will be fighting along side other players and you can blow through 1000 enemies in no time. The amount of loot that drops from those dailies is pretty crazy too… I like to do 1 or 2 of the dailies and get the regular chests and the first time completion chests and open them all at once. Massive loot explosion!
I think MH has the fairest and more balanced F2P model out there. No content is locked behind any pay walls and you can play as long as you like without the store being in your face, once at log in is very fair in my mind. I bought an avengers pack back at launch and over the last year by keeping an eye on the reddit group I have gotten about 3000 gs from promotions as well as two free random heroes. I use the gs on things like inventory tabs which is the best way to get me to spend money in the long run. Give me a fun game with all content and then throw so much damn loot at me that I almost have to buy new tabs or vendor everything constantly! I have 3 general inv tabs that are full of artifacts, costume cores, splinters and medals. It is crazy. Hero drops and costume drops are super rare but I will get on average about 4-6 splinters in an hour of play… usually the first will drop within 5 minutes of logging in.
It really does feel more now like D2 than it ever has and more than anything I have played since those days. I will fire it up while having my coffee in the morning and just farm mobs in Midtown for 20 minutes.
costumes and heroes dont drop anymore. in fact costumes are the only thing that you only can get with money. sometimes there are promotions where you can get Fortune cards 1-6 for free and you can find costumes on these cards.
at lvl 60 you can do raids and until then you can do X-defense, midtown madness, holo defense, get legendary items, etc…
with the last patch they added shared quests and omega points.
the problem with raids is: “do you remember in WoW when only a 2% of the players raided black temple?” it happens the same in MH because PUGS cant kill any boss.
btw get a few promo codes for free (you can redeem in your profile page in marvelheroes.com)
CAK3
for 10 free Cake Slices.
2015
for three Fortune Cards!
INSTITUTE
To get a “Taskmaster’s Mystery Box” containing several boosts!
@TheCrow Well that would explain why I have not seen any hero or costume drops since I started playing again! I just assumed the rate was as low as it ever was… but now I know and as G.I.Joe says knowing is half the battle!