city-of-heroes posts

City of Heroes has been live since 2004 but so far the super hero MMO from developer Paragon Studios and publisher NCsoft has had mostly human or human-like player characters to choose from. That all changes soon as the game will introduce the Animal Pack to its subscribers.

The pack, which will be priced at $9.99, will add over 60 new costume parts to the game's character creator that will allow players to make super-powered beings that look like humanoid tigers, wolves, eagles (like you see above) and others. It also adds six new emotes, two new auras and a new travel power called Beast Run. Yes, it's just like it sounds; you will be able to move more like a wild animal than a human. The Animal Pack will be released on February 23. You can check out a trailer showing off some of the animal options after the jump:

There's a bunch of new PC games being released this week but there's also some new free content coming to two major MMO games today. One of them is for City of Heroes. The long running super hero MMO from developer Paragon Studios and publisher NCsoft has just launched "Issue 19: Alpha Strike" to its subscribers. It includes, among many other things, a way to unlock the "Alpha Slot" which will give high level characters access to new powers. You can check out the full patch notes at the game's web site.

The other free content update is actually the first of three planned for EVE Online. The space-based MMO from developer CCP Games has pushed the first part of the Incursion expansion to subscribers It adds a new salvage ship and lots of other new features and improvements. The second part of Incursion is due out in December and the final part in January.

Yet another busy day is finally over. Tomorrow Activision reveals its quarterly financial numbers and on Friday we get a reveal of the next Battlefield game. And you never know what else is coming up in the wings:

• City of Heroes has released its new Origins Pack with 10 character auras and five caps for $9.99.
• Sony Online's free-to-play MMO Free Realms is now available on the Mac.
• Steam has a new Team Fortress 2 bug fix update.
• EA's full version of FIFA Manager 11 is now available to download and purchase from several sites like Steam and Impulse
• Steam has the Front Mission Evolved Wanzer Pack 2 with two "wanzers" available for download for $3.99.
• OnLive has added Dark Void and the Borderlands DLC content to the streaming PC game service

Looking to add some snap to your character? Some pizazz? NCsoft wants you to know that they have a set of new capes for those that play City of Heroes. There are five capes in total, each of which corresponding to the five possible origins: nature, technology, science, mutant, and magic. This trailer shows off these new capes for those curious. Our favorite is the science cape. It just pops more than the rest.

Download HD City of Heroes 'Origins' Booster Pack Trailer
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City of Heroes has had many free weekends, include ones where players get derelict accounts reactivated. The latest one, which is going on right now, commemorates the successful launch of Going Rogue and gives players a chance to try out all the new power sets, zones, and costumes available. This includes all accounts, including ones that are currently active, so if you haven't bought the expansion yet, here's your teaser! There's nothing else to say. The free minion-bashing gameplay stops at 11:59 PM PST on Sunday, and started this morning, so you can get to your cape-covered flying and brawling as soon as you want to. After this weekend, City of Heroes will once again require a purchase and subscription as usual. So go get your hero on!

With the commercial expansion for City of Heroes, Going Rogue, now available to purchase, the development team at Paragon Studios is already hip deep in making its next free expansion for the long running super hero MMO. This week the game's official web site announced the first details of "Issue 19".

The expansion is officially titled Alpha Strike and will let players of the game try to unlock the "Alpha Slot" which will give high level characters access to new powers as the first phase of the game's Incarnate system. The expansion will also add two new task forces, new in-game events, new animations, improvements to the game's Mission Architect tools and more. And don't forget the free City of Heroes weekend should be live right now and continue through October 10.

Last month, developer Paragon Studios and publisher NCsoft released Going Rogue, the first commercial expansion pack in many years for its super hero MMO City of Heroes. But some subscribers of the game have yet to check out the new expansion pack.

That's why NCsoft is launching an upcoming free play weekend for City of Heroes that will allow new, current and former subscribers to try out the new content in the Going Rogue expansion. The free play begins at 11 am Eastern time on Thursday October 7 and ends at 2:59 am Eastern time on Monday, October 11. In related news next weekend's New York Comic-Con will have a City of Heroes panel. NCsoft is also holding a meet-and-greet event on October 8 at the Hudson Hotel in New York City where City of Heroes players can get a code for an exclusive in-game costume (the Rikti Mentalist).

Today marks the launch of City of Heroes: Going Rogue, the second expansion for the City of Heroes MMORPG. In it, players are introduced to new powers and an all new city called Praetoria, which is a alternate dimension mirror version of Paragon City. Players will have the opportunity to switch sides and back between heroic, neutral or villainous alignments.

Download HD City of Heroes: Going Rogue Launch Trailer (78 MB)
Check out all City of Heroes: Going Rogue downloads

After a fairly slow couple of weeks in new PC game releases, this week brings two major titles to retail stores. One of the is a sequel to a controversial third person shooter while the other is a expansion pack to a long running MMO title.

Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days: Even though the original game didn't get the best reviews, developer Io Interactive and publisher Square Enix have decided to release this sequel to the 2008 third person shooter with the somewhat nuts duo of Kane and Lynch doing what they do best: killing people. The game features online co-op for the campaign and the multiplayer Fragile Alliance mode returns for the sequel.

The City of Heroes: Going Rogue expansion is expected to release shortly, and players can expect to explore the all-new area of Praetoria when it does. Praetoria is a mirror universe where versions of the game's signature heroes conquered the world and established a utopia with a very strict sense of peace. Beneath the shimmering city is an underground where the resistance gathers its forces. The developer video above discusses all the sights players can expect, highlighted with the recent 'Ultra-mode' graphics overhaul the game recently received. Continue after the jump to watch a flythrough video featuring the Neutopolis and Imperial City areas.

City of Heroes: Going Rogue is scheduled to go live on August 17th. Players can pre-purchase the game from the NCsoft store to gain early access to the new powers and abilities.

Download HD City of Heroes: Going Rogue Developer Video #4 (474 MB)
Download HD City of Heroes: Going Rogue 'Neutopolis and Imperial City' Flythrough Video (184 MB)
Check out all City of Heroes: Going Rogue downloads