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Marvel Heroes

Marvel Heroes is a 3D action RPG set in the Marvel universe. Chose from a wide range of iconic super heroes and fight your way through hordes of enemies in fast-paced, Diablo-inspired gameplay. Unlock access to new heroes, collect powerful equipment, and join other players for large raids in Marvel Heroes 2015!

Publisher: Gazillion Entertainment
Playerbase: High
Type: MMORPG
PvP: Fire and Ice MOBA mode
Release Date: June 4, 2013
Shut Down Date: November 24, 2017
Pros: +Dozens of superheroes and villains to play. +Well-written storyline to follow. +Supports large parties for raids. +NPC companions, crafting, and other features.
Cons: -Limited appearance customization. -Repetitive gameplay. -Unlocking new characters requires a lot of farming.

Overview

Marvel Heroes Overview

Marvel Heroes 2015 includes over 40 playable heroes and villains from the expansive Marvel Comics universe. Created by some of the biggest names behind the original Diablo series, Marvel Heroes offers a great mix of atmosphere and fast-paced combat. The main hubs in Marvel Heroes serve as centers for players to meet, shop, and form groups while the mission zones where the actual gameplay takes place are instanced. The game has seen massive improvements during its first year and now includes additional equipment slots, team-up heroes (NPC companions), crafting, and many more costumes.

Each character has three skill trees and one super skill to learn. Players are free to switch between the available starter heroes until they reach Level 10, at which point they must chose which to keep and continue leveling. Marvel Heroes shut down on November 24th, 2017 after Disney pulled the Marvel license from Gazillion.

Marvel Heroes Key Features:

  • Play as a Classic Legend – from Captain America to Spiderman, Marvel Heroes has many familiar and popular options for you to pick.
  • Raid Parties – tackle dungeons with four others, battling together, struggling together, and reaping rewards together.
  • Great Story – the writing does not disappoint for the game boasting the name of Marvel!
  • MOBA Game Mode – while not quite on par with League of Legends, the MOBA mode is still entertaining.
  • Awesome Dev Team – got something to say? The Dev Team is listening. The game developers really work hard to listen and respond to players' concerns and needs.

Marvel Heroes Screenshots

Marvel Heroes Featured Video

Marvel Heroes 2015 - Official Launch Trailer

Full Review

Marvel Heroes Review

By Dimitri Jordan

Initially, Cryptic Studios was set to design the game Marvel Universe Online in 2007. This project was canceled on February 11, 2008. It fell to Gazillion Entertainment in March, 2009, and they began working on the Marvel Universe title, renaming it Marvel Heroes. They made it an MMO focused more on action than roleplaying. Marvel Heroes was released June 4, 2013, and after major revamps to the game throughout the year, was re-released as Marvel Heroes 2015 on June 4, 2014. It is available as a standalone client and is also available to download through Valve’s gaming service, Steam.

Similar to the Diablo series, players choose characters instead of classes. Instead of a persistent open world, the game is made of hubs that lead to instanced dungeons throughout the map. Thus, players and parties are able to enter any dungeon at any time without overcrowding. This is similar to games like Guild Wars, Vindictus, and Dragon Nest, where hubs are persistent and everything else is instanced.

Starting Up

Marvel Heroes offers a roster of eleven heroes to begin with. Players can freely switch between any of the starter heroes and reach Level 10, before unlocking that hero. Once unlocked, that hero can be leveled above 10, while the other heroes become locked. Starter heroes are Daredevil, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Storm, Thing, Captain America, Punisher, Black Panther, Colossus, Black Widow, Human Torch, and Luke Cage. This "starter" system gives players a chance to try out a few different play styles, and pick which one is right for them. While heroes cannot be customized, there are additional costumes available to distinguish them from others playing the same hero. Because players play as such iconic superheroes, it’s odd to see multiple Spidermans (Spidermen?) on screen at the same time. Even equipment makes no change to character appearance, so the lack of customization outside of predefined costumes is certainly a downside to the game.

The First Few Levels

Players move by clicking the ground, and attack by using skills assigned by default to both mouse buttons as well as A-H on the keyboard. Players are able to rebind the keys to their preference, but this set up works surprisingly well for those who may find it more comfortable than reaching for the higher number keys.

Instead of having a large, open world, players operate out of bases before heading to quest hub areas. In the bases, players are able to craft items, sell drops, and otherwise prepare for the next set of quests. In the hubs, players are able to travel around small areas, entering into instanced dungeons, allowing for multiple players and groups to complete the quest without crowding the area.

Once players unlock a hero by reaching Level 10 and choosing them, they are able to pass Level 10. They can then level that character up to Level 60. As players level, they gain skill points and unlock new abilities. At Level 30, players gain a strong Signature skill, and at Level 52 players unlock their Ultimate ability, a super powerful skill or buff that can completely destroy most enemies. Skills, including the Signature and Ultimate, can be leveled to a maximum 20, but can reach up to 40 through mixing and matching equipment. This is actually identical to the skill system in Diablo 2. Having played Diablo 2 for years, Marvel Heroes 2015 definitely draws much of its inspiration from Blizzard's classic action MMORPG.

Players are also able to change the difficulty of the mission hubs between Normal, Heroic, and Super Heroic. This will increase the difficulty of the enemies, as well as who is available to group with. Players are only able to group with those playing on the same difficulty. Like Diablo 2, enemies defeated in higher difficulty settings drop better rewards. The best gear can be found on the Super Heroic difficulty.

Story

The story is particularly exciting for those who are already comic book fans. Written by Brian Michael Bendis, author of Ultimate Spider-Man, New Avengers, Secret Invasion, Avengers vs. X-Men and more, the story revolves around Dr. Doom attempting to use the Cosmic Cube to reshape the world in his own image. Classic villains from the Marvel franchise aid Doom and are featured as bosses, while the players assume the personas of superheroes in order to stop Doom and the others. The story is told episodically, with each chapter containing a set of quests for a particular location.

PvP

In a strange twist, PvP differs from most other MMOs. Instead of 1v1 duels and PvP arenas, PvP in Marvel Heroes 2015 takes the form of a MOBA mode called Fire and Ice. Players in teams of five, along with their AI minions, pushed against the other team to destroy towers and ultimately destroy their base. It is an interesting break in the gameplay, but may not satisfy those with a more traditional view of what PvP is. Since Marvel Heroes 2015 isn’t a dedicated MOBA, players don’t get the same in-depth experience as they would from games like League of Legends or DotA 2.

Other Modes

In addition to the story quests and PvP, Marvel Heroes 2015 includes Terminals and Challenges. There are four types of Terminals. Green, Red, and Cosmic Terminals all play similarly, as dungeons from the story mode where the players must defeat a boss. The only difference between them is difficulty, with Green being easiest and Cosmic being the most difficult. They can only be played once a day for greater rewards, and replaying them would yield the usual rewards of the story mode. In addition to these are One Shots, which are short story missions that take place outside of, or expand, the main story.

The Challenges included are S.H.I.E.L.D. Holo-Sim, X-Defense, and Midtown Patrol. These are survival-type game modes. Midtown Patrol and the Holo-Sim are built for one or two characters, while X-Defense is for teams of five. These game modes help to round out the lackluster PvP options to increase end-game content.

Cash Shop

The cash shop of Marvel Heroes 2015 is extensive, to say the least. With 43 characters, each having up to twelve different costumes, players can easily break the bank on paying for new characters alone. This increases with Team Ups, which are additional AI characters that can fight alongside players. They can also be unlocked in the same manner as heroes, with Eternity Splinters, but farming enough Eternity Splinters to unlock everything can take an incredibly long time. There are also fortune cards that give players a random, rare equipment piece, and there are buff items available that raise the rate of experience, special item drop, and rare item drop. The fact that the game sells random gear through the cash shop is a rather big negative. Like most gamers, I’m okay with pay for convenience or cosmetic items, but being able to buy gear seems unfair.

Final Verdict – Good

Overall, players will get as much out of Marvel Heroes 2015 as they put in. Some may find the grind to earn more Eternity Splinters tedious, others will relish the opportunity to work to unlock all of the heroes, and some will just drop a bit of cash to play their favorite heroes quickly. The story is solid and will surely be appreciated by any Marvel comic fan, and the developers are working constantly to both add to the game as well as improve it. Their continued dedication to improving the game alone is a reason to try it out, and based on Steam reviews, this is a game that can keep players entertained for hundreds, even thousands, of hours.

Screenshots

Marvel Heroes Screenshots

Videos

Marvel Heroes Videos

Playlist: Marvel Heroes

System Requirements

Marvel Heroes System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:

Operating System: Windows Vista / 7 / 8 / OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.1 GHz / AMD Athlon X2 2.1 GHz
Video Card: Nvidia Geforce 8800 series / ATI HD3800 series / Intel HD 3000
RAM: 2 GB
Hard Disk Space: 30 GB

Recommended Requirements:

Operating System: Windows 7 / 8 / OSX 10.9 Mavericks
CPU: Intel Quad Core i5 or i7 / AMD FX series or better
Video Card: Nvidia GTX 600 or 700 series / AMD R9 or HD7900 series or better
RAM: 8 GB or more
Hard Disk Space: 30 GB

Marvel Heroes is Mac compatible

Music

Marvel Heroes Music & Soundtrack

Coming soon...

Additional Info

Marvel Heroes Additional Information

Developer: Gazillion Entertainment, Secret Identity Studios
Lead Designer: David Brevik
Lead Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Engine: Unreal Engine 3, Havok (physics)
Open Beta Date: May 10, 2013 - May 13, 2013
Steam Release: June 4, 2013

Shut Down Date: November 28, 2017

Development Background

Marvel Heroes was originally titled Marvel Universe Online and was under development by Cryptic Studios. On February 11, 2008 the game's publisher, Microsoft Game Studios, announced that the project would be scrapped. Soon after, Cryptic Studios decided to go with a different IP and changed the name of their project to Champions Online.

Gazillion Entertainment signed a 10-year deal with Marvel Entertainment on March 17, 2009 to produce games based on the Marvel brand. Their first title was Marvel Super Hero Squad Online, which was based on the Unity 3D engine and aimed at a younger audience. Their next project was refashioning the unreleased Marvel Universe from a MMORPG into an action RPG in the Diablo mold. The new game was titled Marvel Heroes and launched on June 4, 2013. Marvel Heroes received poor reviews upon launch, but vast amounts of new content and other improvements were made in the first year. The game was renamed Marvel Heroes 2015 on June 4, 2014 to celebrate the improved state of the game.

Gazillion Entertainment had an internal team of 75 people working on Marvel Heroes for three and a half years. The company raised $80 million for the game's development.

Marvel Heroes shut down on November 24th, 2017 after Disney pulled the Marvel license from Gazillion Entertainment. The game actually shut down a month earlier than expected.