Back in August, we were granted exclusive access to preview the highly anticipated MMORPG, Ship of Heroes. As a superhero-themed online adventure, this game promises to blend classic MMORPG mechanics with a fresh, heroic twist. After dedicating countless hours to exploring its vast universe, we’re excited to share our initial impressions. Bear in mind, this was an early build, so expect a few bumps along the way. Join us as we dive into the world of Ship of Heroes and uncover what sets it apart in the crowded landscape of MMORPGs.
Ship of Heroes is developed and published by Heroic Games Corporation. The game was first announced in November 2016.
A Heroic Promise: Customisation and Creativity
Ship of Heroes makes a lot of promises, and one of the most exciting is its expansive character creator. This feature allows you to craft a truly unique superhero, with a myriad of options available for customising your costume. If you’re familiar with the genre, City of Heroes and DC Universe Online might come to mind as comparisons, and indeed, Ship of Heroes draws inspiration from these classics.
The depth of customisation available empowers you to tell a story with your character. Whether you enjoy tinkering with every detail over time or prefer to create a detailed bio describing your hero’s abilities, catchphrase, and backstory, the game caters to all levels of creativity. With 1,023 characters at your disposal for crafting a backstory, even those who aren’t as creative with visual customisation can still bring their hero to life with a rich narrative.
Ship of Heroes offers five archetypes and over 250 powers, providing a vast array of options for creating new and unique playstyles. Whether you want to lock your enemies in stasis, cripple them with debuffs, or unleash powerful attacks, the possibilities are nearly endless. The game also includes crafted augments, allowing you to combine powers in innovative ways.
Create multiple avatars to experiment with different builds and strategies. The game’s flexibility encourages you to think your way to victory, adapting your approach based on the challenges you face. Fight, level up, and crush your enemies as you progress through this dynamic and engaging MMORPG. Ship of Heroes is shaping up to be a standout title in the genre, offering both depth and creativity for players eager to become the next great superhero.
Let’s Dive into the Preview
When I first leapt into Ship of Heroes, the sheer promise of endless customisation options was somewhat overwhelming. Typically, I’m the type of player who prefers to jump straight into the action, but this game’s extensive customisation forced me to pay more attention to the choices I was making. Initially, this level of detail felt empowering. As I meticulously crafted my character, I felt a sense of ownership and anticipation. I knew exactly what I was getting into as I prepared to embark on my superhero journey.
Despite the vast amount of customisation options, I found myself somewhat disappointed by the lack of quality. While the promise of near-infinite possibilities was enticing, the reality was that many of the options felt superficial. I ended up creating a character who looked like an average person, just with blue skin. The initial excitement of crafting a unique hero quickly faded as I realised that the customisation lacked the depth needed to create a truly distinct and impressive character.
Jumping into the game for the first time, I encountered a crash right after the introduction. This is somewhat expected for such an early insight into a new MMORPG, so I wasn’t too disheartened. However, once I was let loose in the city, I quickly discovered some significant issues that impacted my initial experience.
One of the first problems I encountered was with the game’s traversal powers. I found that I could break some of the abilities. With both super speed and flight enabled, I couldn’t disable these traversal powers, which led to a frustrating experience. Combat didn’t affect these powers, so I ended up in a bizarre situation where I was constantly zooming around the map. This made it challenging to find and engage enemies effectively. Often, I would edge myself closer to a target, only to propel myself miles away unintentionally.
Despite these early hiccups, there’s an undeniable charm to Ship of Heroes. The game shows immense potential, even though my first impressions were marred by technical issues and a lacklustre character creation experience. These early challenges are not uncommon in the development of MMORPGs, and there is hope that these issues will be ironed out as the game progresses.
Nostalgia vs. Modernisation
Ship of Heroes is a love letter to City of Heroes, the superhero MMORPG developed by Cryptic Studios and released in 2004. However, it feels like they’re trying to play it too safe. While I hope my dissatisfaction with the UI is merely because these are placeholders, the game currently feels like it’s trapped in that early era of MMORPGs.
Ship of Heroes needs to expand upon what made City of Heroes a unique game, and it needs to modernise some of it’s design decisions to be relevant and taken seriously in 2024.
The foundations of a unique and engaging superhero experience are there, and I am keen to see how Ship of Heroes evolves as it continues to develop. I have a feeling that this is going to become a cult classic within the MMORPG genre, and if you’re able to support it for the long run – it’ll grow to be unique.
The steam page is available here, if you’ve got a craving for MMORPGs. Add the game to your wishlist and watch it grow.