City of Heroes marks 5 year anniversary with Issue 15 expansion pack

June 30, 10:32 AMGames ExaminerDaniel Nations

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It's hard to think that it has been 5 years since City of Heroes became the first major MMO title to explore the genre of superheroes. And while other games have faltered in that time, City of Heroes/Villains is still going strong, with their Issue #15, their 15th free expansion, now officially live.

Issue #15 bolsters the 5th Column villain group by adding 10 new action-packed missions including a Hero Task Force and a Villain Strike Force. Along with the missions are increased customization options including 20 new faces. The Architect system is also being enhanced to stamp out bugs and make the system even easier to use.

While City of Heroes has enjoyed an exclusive use of the superhero theme during it's 5 years, it will soon get stiff competition from Champions Online, being developed by the same people that brought us City of Heroes, and DC Universe Online, being developed by Sony Online Entertainment. Champions Online is on target for an August release while DC Universe Online should be released in late 2009 or early 2010.

Here's what Brian Clayton, general manager and executive producer of City of Heroes, had to say about the new free expansion:

"City of Heroes continues to reinvent itself with each Issue launch providing players with new content, developmental tools and exciting game play experiences they can't get anywhere else. Issue 15 is no different -- it brings players the revival of one of the most popular villain groups in the game, streamlined Mission Architect search and navigation, as well as enhanced character customization featuring even more costumes, faces and costume change animations which will all surprise and delight the community."

In addition to the free expansions being released on a regular basis, City of Heroes is working on its next major expansion, Going Rogue. In Going Rogue, superheroes and supervillians will blur the line between good and evil with a new alignment systems that allows heroes to become villains and vice versa.

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