Marvel Heroes Launch Date Revealed

The launch date for the free to play superhero based MMO Marvel Heroes has been announced. The game will officially launch on June 4th! However, if you purchase one of the founder packs you will gain early access, besides other cool in game unlockables such as alternate costumes. There are various levels of founder packs. Those who purchase the lowest level or Starter Pack will gain access to the game on June 2nd. The game will be accessible on May 31st for those who purchase a Premium Pack and Ultimate Pack buyers will receive access to the game a full week before it is officially released! That's right, Ultimate Pack founders can start playing May 28th.

It has also been announced that those founders who purchase or have purchased a Premium Pack will receive current closed beta access within 7 days. While the game is free to play, it is definitely worth checking out the founder packs. They have great deals and a number of incentives for early supporters of the game.

This blog will keep you updated on Marvel Heroes news as it continues to come out. There are also plans for reviews and discussions based on the game once we are able to get our hands on it either through the open beta testing phase or early game access, whichever one comes first. Please stay tuned for further news on what looks like one of the best superhero MMOs to date---Marvel Heroes!!

Marvel Avengers Alliance, Marvel Heroes, and Marvel XP... Oh My!!

Is Marvel Comics consuming your lives like it is mine? I hope so. Marvel Avengers Alliance is one of the best Flash based/browser/social networking (whatever you want to call it) games on the net. The RPG aspects, constant upgrades, ever expanding stable of characters, and fairly consistent updates makes for a very addictive, yet very satisfying game. The PVE aspects include interesting storylines featured throughout various chapters and missions, not to mention my personal favorite---Special Operations Events. In Spec Ops there are three missions, each with special weapon drops and a list of tasks. When these tasks are completed, you are rewarded with a new character! For those interested in PVP, there are regular PVP tournaments. However, there are several issues. These include---but are not limited to---a very frustrating AI controlled defense configuration that will cost you a massive loss in rating and drop in the ranks every time you are away from the computer. This is especially true in the last few crucial days of the tournament, but there is a silver lining, there are a handful of cool rewards for those who can endure. The top .5% also get access to a new character a month before the general populace. All in all, the game is definitely worth checking out, especially if you are a fan of comics.

The next game that will surely dominate my online time is going to be Marvel Heroes. I bought the Hulk founder pack on Valentines Day because they offered Cyclops and Jean Grey as bonuses. Since I was going to be playing the game anyway, that seemed like as good a time as any to purchase a character pack. Now I'm just waiting to be able to play the game. I'm not quite sure when it is going to officially launch, but I look forward to playing an online MMO where I can play as my favorite Marvel Heroes. What doesn't sound amazing about that?

The last thing I want to address is Marvel XP. Marvel XP is an online 'portal' which tracks rewards across various Marvel games. Currently it tracks Marvel Avengers Alliance and (Marvel) Avengers Initiative and it is supposed to give you rewards for completing various tasks. Notice I say supposed to, that is because it does a horrendous job at keeping track of achievements. I haven't received credit for a lot of my Marvel Avengers Alliance achievements, even though they should be easy to verify. I also had to contact customer support about some of the achievement rewards I spent a lot of time trying to unlock. The infamous Free as a Bird achievement for example. That specific achievement exists in Avengers Initiative, but it unlocks an awesome character in Avengers Alliance---Mockingbird. Customer support ending up unlocking her for me and it worked out, but I waited nearly a month for it to unlock before I contacted support. Anyways, I just wanted to give some thoughts on Marvel's domination of my current gaming habits and also vent my frustration for what could/should be a great achievement tracker and reward system, Marvel XP. Please fix it! Until next time, Make mine Marvel.