At this year’s Fan Expo in Toronto there was a much larger gaming presence than there has ever been in the past. Nintendo, Microsoft, Warner Bros and more were there showing off their latest, with eyes-on or hands-on demos for their upcoming software. One group that was there was 2K Games, with their booth occupied by Los Gatos, California’s Cryptic Studios showing off their upcoming release Champions Online, an MMORPG where you take the role of your own superhero in order to save the world, fend off evil and generally do good for the (virtual) human race. We wrote a brief overview of some of our experiences with the game, but since we had a bit more time hands-on with one of the levels and some time talking to the developers, we wanted to provide a little more detail as to what this game is all about.

The game is the spiritual successor to the popular City of Heroes and City of Villains where you created your own hero/villain and were charged with saving/wrecking havoc on the world. The games creation mechanism was a very diverse and interesting way of making your character unique in the world, and allowed users to create a vision for who they wanted to be in the world. Once you where in the world, which had its own lore and super villains, you could either spend time battling evil in the open world, or jump into an instance where you could join up with others in order to gain experience, battle major storied villains and collect more items to use in the world.

Champions Online is set to take the same ideas that were presented in the City Of games and improve on them in major ways. The first difference we noticed was the look of the game. Where CoH/V had a very simple 3D aesthetic, taken from an animated comic-series palette and motif, Champions uses something called Comic Shading that gives the game a ripped-from-the-pages edge, while still showing off a lot of detailed textures and colours throughout all the environments and characters. While we did not get a chance to play through all the worlds, the trailer shows off a wide variety of levels all over the world, and based on our talks with lead designer Randy Mosiondz, there is a lot going to be the game right at launch. The level we looked at was a haunted cave, and being indoors it didn’t give us a good chance to see a lot of good lightning effects, it was still easy to see and the aesthetic and design for the level really worked well.

One of the most interesting aspects of the game is that it is being released for both the PC and Xbox 360, moving the console/PC barrier away right away, and it’s something that has been difficult or all together avoided for most MMOs. The game was set-up using PCs, but you were able to use the Xbox 360 controller and both played very well. The game is very action focused, so the console gamer was in mind when the combat of the game comes to mind. Attacking has a much higher level of strategy than most MMOs that we’ve had a chance to play. Instead of just clicking and an attack, and subsequently clicking on what you want to attack and letting it run, you are actively moving between attacks, trying to combo certain moves, as well as deciding when to block and defend yourself from the enemies. The enemies themselves are very diverse, both in design (which fit very well into each environment) and also in their attacks and combat techniques. Performing all these tasks were just as easy on the 360 controller as they were on the keyboard and mouse, which gives us a lot of hope that this could do well across both.

The character creation is also another thing that is being improved on. Cryptic wanted to take the work they’ve done with City Of and iterate on that, giving the users more control on the look of their character, more points that can be changed, and more things that can be added as time goes on. Another big change for this game is the fact that you are not locked into a class at any given time. You start off as a hero, and attach powers based on what you want to do. As time moves on, you build upon your powers, be it super-strength, sorcery, blasters, and you create the entire feel of your character as personal as the design. Any decisions can also be undone, taking the comic idea of “retconning” your hero, you can reset any power and start with a fresh one at any time. You also have a good amount of control over your own characters story by giving yourself your own arch-nemesis. An arch-nemesis is just that in the game, someone you design to be the thorn in your side, who will send minions after you during your battles and your exploration, and offer challenges. You can even face off against your own nemesis, and he can interfere with your instances and work with other players, giving the game a new level of immersion and player-driven content.

The curve of leveling has also been changed. One of the things that was stressed in our interview with Randy Mosiondz was the fact that City of Heroes was designed in “EQ Times” where the way that you rewarded gamers and the difficulty in achieving certain things had a certain level of acceptability that has changed a lot in the years since its release. They want players to constantly feel rewarded, and powerful, making gamers enjoy the experience of being a powerful hero and not have to worry about the constant grind as much. The action of the game certainly lends itself to that philosophy, making the user feel powerful from the combat and just the way the characters animate themselves into their moves.

The designers have repeatedly told us the focus of every decision that goes into making the game is about how much fun it really is, and it seems the ideas and work that has gone into it so far reflect that. Although we only saw an alpha built, it was easy to get the impression from what they’ve done that they’ve built a solid gameplay foundation, and added you into a persistent world where you’ll be drawn into the battle between comic villains and your peers, all bent on exploring the stories and environments that have been set out for them. We are very excited about this game and look forward to getting some more hands on time in the future. For more insight you can check out our interview with Randy Mosiondz tomorrow on the site, where we’ll learn what they’ve learned from their previous work, what sets Champions Online apart and just what there is to do on Canada Day in California.

A closed beta will be coming shortly, and the game should be arriving in Summer 2009 for the PC and Xbox 360.