Recent official word from NCsoft says that City of Heroes "Issue: 11: A Stitch in Time" is out and ready for grabs. Free to all subscribers, the expansion is packed full with features such as weapon customization, two new power sets, enhancements to the inventions system and, check this: the ability to travel back in time to participate in world-altering missions.

Can a free expansion get any better? According to the renowned developer and publisher of online games, the headline feature of Issue 11 is the ability to "flashback" in time, take on events from the history of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. More than that, both heroes and villains will be able to use this feature to play or replay missions from earlier in the game.

And, as if the features list couldn't get any better, players will even set mission parameters to earn special badges, while the participants' levels will be set appropriately to ensure that the challenge of each story-arc remains constant.

"Flashback" is an innovation that gives players the opportunity to participate in huge story-lines and opens up missions they enjoyed previously," said Matt Miller, NCsoft's lead designer for City of Heroes and City of Villains. "This gives the game greater depth and many more challenges."

As far as other features are concerned, Issue 11 also adds two new power sets, Dual Blades and Willpower. They will be available to the melee Archetypes: Tankers, Scrappers, Brutes and Stalkers. Willpower on the other hand works as a defensive set, offering a strong mix of resistance, defense and regeneration powers, allowing you to forget about the damage you took and just carry on with whatever it is that you have to do. There's a new combo system to be discovered with the use of the Dual Blades set, allowing you to hold blunt or bladed weapons in each hand.

Click here for more info on the new expansion, or, if you're a newcomer to the franchise, to see how you can get your hands on City of Heroes "Good Versus Evil Edition," containing the new game and a bunch of extras.