Where are the free superhero MMORPGs?
It’s a well-known fact that if you show a picture of a spandex clad, clean-cut man in a red cape with strangely overt underwear to every single person in the world they will know it’s Superman. Even a hermit who has lived in a hollowed out rock all his life intrinsically knows who the Man of Steel is. Superheroes have worked their way neatly into the pop culture lexicon over the years and their popularity has recently reached critical mass due to the success of the cinematic outings of Spiderman, Batman, and Iron Man along with a slew of other much loved-characters (some of those characters famously butchered by bad film-making and hammy acting. I‘m looking at you, Elektra).
There are dozens of generic fantasy MMORPGs like Last Chaos (above)
Code it and they will come
So it’s strange to look at the current MMORPG landscape and find only a scant few games in the superhero genre, namely Champions Online, City of Heroes / Villains and the upcoming and much anticipated DC Universe Online. There’s no doubt that Champions and City of Heroes are successful games with a cross-cultural reach and thriving player communities, but both require subscriptions which not every comic book-loving nerd, like myself, is prepared to splash out on. So then why are there no free-to-play superhero games to keep us more frugal gamers happy?
Think about it, how many people buy comic books? Millions. How many people go to see comic book movies? I’d wager more people than actually buy comic books. The audience is there for the taking. What’s more is that even those people who don’t frequent comic book stores every week, those who think that Jessica Alba is a member of the Fantastic Four and the Hulk’s real name is David Banner would still be interested if they knew they had nothing to lose.
Champions Online Screenshot. Looks Awesome, eh?
If I could be a superhero…
Furthermore, most people will have thought about what it would be like to be a superhero. Not everyone will have dreamt of being an elf running around the forest sticking arrows in people or a wolf-riding orc with uber-sweet plate armor, but many have daydreamed about flying through the air in tights, saving supermodels from burning buildings. Well, I never though about the tights part… very often. Supers are the myths of the modern world who people can relate to and aspire to be. With superhero MMORPGs they are free to act out these dreams whenever they log onto the computer. A free game that requires no monetary obligation and satisfies these fantasies would no doubt be a winner.
Alas, while we wait for some bright spark to make this dream a reality there is one free MMO that may scratch that itch, if only temporarily. Marvel Super Hero Squad Online is coming out soon as a free graphical browser game where you can take on the role of your favorite Marvel characters and join with others to complete missions. It may not allow you to create your own hero and explore a completely open environment but it’s a baby step towards a free-to-play superhero MMORPG. But until that day comes, I’ll be discussing All-Star Superman volume one with a stone-dwelling hermit.
By, Scott Malthouse
September 7, 2010
#
Interesting. I never really thought about this until now, but we definitely do need some free to play super-hero games. There are literally 100+ free to play generic “fantasy MMORPGs” but no free to play Super hero games.
September 7, 2010
#1
yeah i agree. i started down loading MMORPGS about a year ago and i still cant remember what mmorpg is??????? AT LEAST I PLAY IT
September 7, 2010
#2
out of topic….. but is there an MMO game that you have to survive on your own like you can have an alliance or just kill anyone alone??????
cause ive never seen a game like that ever
September 7, 2010
#3
I believe Taikodom most closely fit that description.
March 17, 2011
#4
massive multiplayer online role playing games
January 24, 2012
#5
I want no downloading,no unity web player,and NO membership at all!!!!
September 7, 2010
#6
Yes, we need more SuperHero MMOS. I don’t like how every game has elves.
September 7, 2010
#7
NO…We dont need more SuperHero MMOs.We want F2P SuperHero MMOs
September 7, 2010
#8
love the way you write an article dude…really nice
September 8, 2010
#9
Short, simple, and with passion lol I love it!!
September 7, 2010
#10
i dont know why people try to copy real things into games like FIFA i mean its the same everyday but when your a super hero you can change your outfit powers and battle with friends and solo so thats why i fgavor games that are well i guess creative i think thats the word
September 7, 2010
#11
Bleh, they have said in the early stages that DC universe online would be f2p but announced some months ago it wouldn’t. All my hopes are gone
September 7, 2010
#12
I played champions online ( yes i bought it ) but got bored of it when i got one to 40 ( max lvl ) which didnt took that long. maybe 2 weeks max.
September 7, 2010
#13
that would be badass but we need BETTER sci fi games!!
September 7, 2010
#14
I guess it’s sort of like… where the heck are the good free sci-fi mmorpgs!?
I wish there was an mmorpg sort of like the starwars… or maybe starwars… that you could go on a ship, get off a ship… fight in a ship in epic space battles! Go and fight on the land with lightsabers an such… but have 100′s of worlds you could fly to, all in a very nice 3d photo realistic graphics! And best of all, it’d be free to play!
One can dream right?
Or…. one can live the dream and make other’s dreams come true.
Which one will you pick?
September 8, 2010
#15
i wouldnt mind a SWG going free to play
but i would like a post-apocalyptic setting like boarderlands
September 8, 2010
#16
There is such a game coming out soon though.
Check out “DC Universe Online” here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7Nf-m6WGl4
Though I doubt it is free, it’s a shift or rather, a new form of genre in online MMO gameplay as we know it. It may very well be the start of a franchise of such a genre.
September 8, 2010
#17
Sorry, this trailer would be more relevant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hD4G8HlW8o
This one shows more of the actual gameplay. I must say it looks good though.
September 8, 2010
#18
The Superhero genre isn’t as popular in Asia as it is in the United States. Even in the United States there wasn’t very many choices. Perhaps some of these upcoming trademarked cape games will offer something but I am not holding my breath. Won’t everyone want to be Superman and not Aquaman?
September 10, 2010
#19
True. I guess that’s one reason why there aren’t ANY free to play Super Hero themed MMORPGs.
September 12, 2010
#20
@Kurpal: Right..that’s why there are tons of asian cosplayers dressing into superheroes.
We badly need at least one F2P superhero mmorpg. And as said above, some decent sci-fi mmo..not like the ones where you use axes and bows, but LASER axes and bows!! I’m thinking something the likes of what Jessica Biel was using in Blade Trinity.
November 11, 2010
#21
asian comics or manga as most of you ppl call them are the same as american comics
superhero doesnt necessarily have to be a guy in spandex and a mask, he just got to be a guy with super powers either by accident, experiment or his own training
kenshin, kenshiro or goku are all superheroes
a non superhero would be some guy in world of warcraft where it takes 40 people to take down one boss in this case ur classified more of a minion or cannofodder-not an important guy, not a hero.
September 8, 2010
#22
to bad that DC universe online , will be pay to play eh? ..
September 9, 2010
#23
Star Wars galaxies is pretty much the Sci-Fi mmorpg Samuel wants, just you know, without the 100s of worlds, and photo realistic graphics. The Old Republic has a rail shooter in the place of “epic space battles”.
But anyway, the thing is lots of Free to Play mmos tend to be copies of one or another. I remember playing my first Chinese fantasy game and thinking it was pretty original, then found like 20 others. Same for all the nautical games, and all the upcoming twitch based action rpgs. Someone just has to do it first I guess.
Also, there’s not much character customization in F2P mmos, and I think something with the variety of CoH would like, just blow people’s minds or something.
September 11, 2010
#24
There is one super hero mmorpg coming out sometime this month. It’ll be called skyknights. It will also be broswer based , but It’s better then nothing.
September 11, 2010
#25
Aquaman > All! End of story.
September 11, 2010
#26
Actually Artix Entertainement just announced the launch of a new Superhero game.
September 12, 2010
#27
For those of you who hate elves or Fantasy in general go play Global Agenda LOL.. Anyways we desperately need a Super Hero F2P MMO. I don’t even know why anyone didn’t think of that yet.. Damn they need new people with new ideas.. The companies should hire some gamers ask them what they want in a game and then develop it. That way we all win IMO.
September 13, 2010
#28
i was thinking a month ago about this topic, well written and i agree they should have a F2P mmo
September 14, 2010
#29
*Wispers* If you like web based MMOs…. and not those turn-based ones, but fully animated with real time combat, chat, and frequent updates… then I invite you to come play SuperHeroQuest in November. It is being made by the same team that creates AdventureQuest Worlds, DragonFable, MechQuest, and EpicDuel. It will be pretty wierd… and very free.
September 29, 2010
#30
It’s not exactly a Super Hero, but you can go Super Saiyan . Dragon Ball Online, or DBO, is gonna come stateside in like half a year. It’s going to be f2p! As a fan of the series, I’m very excited. Its lore is supposed to be a canonical continuation of the post DBZ story.
November 23, 2010
#31
Champions is planning on going F2P sometime next year, but the trade off is you lose the ability to create your own powersets unless your paying the “Gold membership” (aka subbing)
November 23, 2010
#32
Yeah =p. This was written before Champions announced F2P lol
November 27, 2010
#33
At least CO is going f2p…
February 25, 2011
#34
ok look there are only 3 super hero mmorpgs i can name and one of them isnt even out yet but, superhero mmorpgs take a long time to make, wich means not many people make them yet alon make them free.
June 12, 2011
#35
I have two games. 1 Is a marvel virtual world full screen. And it is a small download. For this program most people have. Also there is another called herotopia or something like that.
June 17, 2011
#36
MMORPGS are basically for LNPOTU..Isn’t it OBVIOUS?
July 22, 2011
#37
Maybe this would be great if the MMORPG will take dibs from different countries’ superhero cultures. Asia’s (particularly Japan) take of the superhero is much different compared to the western superhero culture.
August 3, 2011
#38
Yeah is a free to play hero game! Champions online ( must have steam for it )
August 21, 2011
#39
I really want a super hero and villain game that wont slow down my computer like Champs online did. I mean for real,i don’t wanna pay 14.00 a month to play city of heros,can’t these guys just make a completely free super hero game.
August 22, 2011
#40
champions online is not so good becas u neeed to pay tahat you can run fast,jump high,fly and tusends of other S*** to pay
November 24, 2011
#41
There is a superhero MMO called HeroSmash but it doesn’t have graphics like Champions Online. Its a web browser MMO.
November 26, 2011
#42
dc sucks it takes like 2 days to download the client is 17 gb… alot of freakin memory gone..,. champs online is f2p,small download, yet low level cap… get better ideas.. like im writing this and i already have great idea: NAME:SuperHeroCity
Description:all dc chars and marvel chars are in same universe… all villians team up and outnumber heros… It is up to you! lol cool huh? email me at Chad_R99@yahoo.com with comments lmao
February 17, 2012
#43
played city of heros wouldnt let me use a control pad
played dcuo for about a month did all the missions
could hack the endless grind towards tier armour
and champoins online …..hmmmm
April 8, 2012
#44
I have a great idea for an awesome game! send the idea to marvel and dc if u know their mailing address’s…
Name:Heroes + Villains
Description: In this game u would be able to create a hero and his cpu controlled side kick, and fight villains, or create a Villain and his henchman and try to take over the world, and nu would be able to create your Nemesis (good or bad depending on your aliegence) and his henchman or sidekick(again, depending on aliegence) This game would mix all our favorite characters in all their forms, like with Robin for example, there would be Robin batman’s sidekick, and Robin leader of teen Titans, and Robin of young justice (there are more versions of him too though, those are the well known ones) So, DC and Marvel, plus characters from Champions Online, and all other Super Hero MMOs. if u can, send this to marvel headcorders , and DC, and Champions Online.
Pretty good idea dont u think, well, send if u can!
April 21, 2012
#45
Well now DC universe, City of Heroes and Champions online have all gone free to play, to a point, so this thread is kind of redundant now eh?