14 DAY TRIAL // Cryptic Studios is sending word that Champions Online, its super hero-oriented MMO, is set to be released on the PC on July 14. The game should arrive at the same date in both North America and in Europe and Cryptic is apparently still struggling to launch an Xbox 360 version of the MMO, which was planned ever since the time when Cryptic was being supported by publisher Take Two. Unfortunately, the developer is not saying when the Xbox 360 version of the videogame is launched.
Champions Online is a direct result of the failed cooperation between Microsoft and Cryptic Studios on a MMO that was supposed to be based on the Marvel Universe comic book super hero line up.
When Microsoft pulled the plug on the collaboration, in February 2008, Cryptic was left with a MMO engine that was pretty much done, but it did not have the financial power to get the Marvel license on its own.
So, the company decided to have its new project based on an older pen and paper super hero game, called Champions. Hero Games, which owned the rights to it, was interested in the project, and Champions Online was born.
The MMO is heavily based on the player’s choices. The hero creation tools are some of the most complex seen in videogames, with every aspect of the super hero, from power source to color of the suit, being up to the choice of the gamer.
The number of combinations is huge and each of the characters will take on the roles described in the pen and paper experience to the game’s world. Each of the characters that will enter the MMO will also have a super villain and specific story arcs and new content will be regularly introduced by Cryptic, which is now owned by Atari.