NCsoft has replaced the City of Villains teaser site with a bloated, slow-loading (but pretty!) site full of details
on the sequel for their popular City of Heroes MMORPG.
As the site FAQ handily explains, City of Villains is a "standalone" game in which players will be able to advance from low-level thugs to Lex Luthor types on the brink of world domination. Pictured above is a screenshot of the build-a-villain character creation screen, where the usual "skin color" options are presented in addition to "scales," "auras," and "capes."
The game will be released "this year", according to the site. With closed beta scheduled for July or August, it looks like they're aiming to have the game on shelves for the all-important holiday shopping season.
City of Heroes and City of Villains will share some game areas and many features in common, and one can also assume that gameplay will be very similar.
However, both games will have content areas that are available only to subscribers of their respective titles. (Will one need to subscribe twice or merely buy the CoV retail box in order to play both CoH and CoV?)
Despite the slick presentation, the site's got a couple of problems. First, even on our so-called broadband hotel connections, most sections of the site are taking 10 to 20 seconds to load the flash-based graphics. Second, it appears that some villainy is afoot with the hype machine: Warcry.com is quoted by NCsoft as saying that City of Villains is the "Best Expansion of the Year," yet closed beta hasn't begun and the game is still a good five months from launch.
