I enjoyed Justice League Heroes. It's a solid game that I can still enjoy even after beating it countless times. While Marvel is on the brink of releasing its sequel to their Marvel teams game Ultimate Alliance, I thought it would be apt if I put forth my thoughts on if a sequel to the DC game should be made and what can be done to make the game even better than its predecessor.
The first thing is to make the game longer. I can and have beaten the game repeatedly in one sitting in under three hours. The game's counterpart, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, takes about 20. While the game does have quite a bit of replay value, it would be nice if they managed to make each game count a bit more.
You can accomplish the first item by using this second item, and that is to put more villains in. There were only seven major baddies to fight in the game. UA had a plethora of villains going from A to C list from the rogues gallery of a bunch of the heroes. Justice League Heroes had only a handful and many of them were from Superman's rogues gallery. What about Joker or Ra's al Ghul? Cheetah or Ares? Sinestro or Zoom? Ok, Zoom appeared in the GBA version but still, I want to see him in action as I have heard great things about the character.
With more villains comes more levels. Please just let me choose my own characters for a majority of them. I get wanting to give each hero some time and in the early levels I don't mind having the characters selected for me, but good grief I only got to choose in about a third of them. That isn't acceptable.
The leveling up system was fine. However, I think making the max level higher than 20 would be nice. 99 is the max on most games and it would be nice to amp the heroes up to insane levels like that. Also, putting more boosts out would be helpful. They don't come up too often and I've found myself replaying the game repeatedly just to get more boosts since that's the only way to power up my characters. Conversely, shields are everywhere. In one of the games I have saved, I've bought every available item for purchase and have played so much that I have over 1,000 stocked up. If a sequel is made, give us more items to purchase, they don't even have to be one time things. Just making boosts available would be enough as I would have a reason to keep collecting them even after I've acquired all the characters and alternate costumes.
In the last game, John Stewart was the default Green Lantern. You could, however, buy Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner as playable characters too. Where's Guy Gardner? He deserves some respect too, add him to the list, maybe G'nort too as everybody wants to play as G'nort...OK maybe that's just me. Also, all three Green Lanterns had the same abilities. One of the cool things about the ring is that while it's power is essentially the same, each wielder uses it differently. Kyle Rayner, being an artist, constructed elaborate constructs while Hal was more straight forward. I'm fine with all the GL's having a basic laser and shield, but the others should be individual and unique to each Lantern so that I have a reason to pick one over the other besides the simple fact that he's my favorite or he needs to level up to catch up with the rest of the heroes. Hal's trademark was always the giant boxing glove, that should be one of his attacks.
I really don't get why the game was released on the original Xbox. The 360 had been out for some time so that was just bizarre. Definitely release the sequel on the current generation consoles. That way, 360 owners can get some 4 player action and it would be awesome times. Doing that would also give you a better processor for better graphics as well as the ability to release downloadable content later on down the line for purchase on any of the online services that the three major consoles offer.
Justice League Heroes was a good game. I think the only problem was that they waited too long to release it. It didn't compare to UA which overshadowed it. It did establish a solid base from which to build upon. I hope they do make a sequel as there is potential for the franchise.
In a similar vein, here are 5 things I would do to make a possible sequel better than the first game.
1. Release it on the Xbox 360 to allow 4 player Co-Op
I'm not sure why they didn't do this with the first game. It's especially odd as the 360 had been out for some time, so there was no reason to release it on the original system. 2 player co-op was nice, but doubling that would be even better.
The more advanced system would also allow for better graphics and allow you to make achievements to add another level of enjoyment.
The more advanced system would also allow for better graphics and allow you to make achievements to add another level of enjoyment.
2. Give Green Lanterns Variety of Attacks
One of the great things about the Green Lantern ring is that every user wields it differently. In the first game, all three Green Lanterns had the exact same attacks. Giving all of them a basic bolt attack and a shield is fine, but each Lantern should have his own customized attacks. As it stands, playing as Hal or Kyle didn't really make any difference, it was just a skin change.
3. Make Boosts Purchasable items/Increase the Max out level
Characters got maxed out really quickly in the first game. 20 levels sounds fine, but because of the way the game was set up, some characters hit the maximum level long before others. This makes XP useless pretty quickly, forcing the player to rely on boosts. While there is a cheat code to give you more boosts, it still takes a long time to acquire the boosts you need to really power up your character.
Conversely, shields pile up quickly once you buy all the costumes and characters. Having boosts as an item you can buy ensures that you can keep using the shields as opposed to trying to avoid them. It will also help players who have maxed out their character and are just trying to fill in the empty slots.
Conversely, shields pile up quickly once you buy all the costumes and characters. Having boosts as an item you can buy ensures that you can keep using the shields as opposed to trying to avoid them. It will also help players who have maxed out their character and are just trying to fill in the empty slots.
4. More Villains
The first game was only about three hours long. Three hours! Even then, the story was pretty padded. Marvel Ultimate Alliance had you fight villains ranging from A to D list members of each of the Marvel heroes' rogues galleries. Justice League Heroes had you fight about 7, and most of them were Superman's villains. Up the count and add villains like Sinestro, Reverse Flash, Solomon Grundy, or Ares. This will give the game more variety so it doesn't feel so repetitive and give the players more time to enjoy the game.
This will also give you more freedom so that the designers don't feel the need to break one level up into three to make it feel longer.
This will also give you more freedom so that the designers don't feel the need to break one level up into three to make it feel longer.
5. Let Me Choose My Characters
The first game only allowed you to choose your character about a third of the time. That is ridiculous. Having one or two levels where the heroes are pre-selected is fine, but I should be able to play as the character I want. What good is a game that allows you to play as your favorite DC hero if you only get to play as them for two levels?
I know, they were going for a focus on story and wanted the cut scenes to sync up with the game play, but going back to UA, they had cut scenes with a pre-selected group of heroes and still let you play as any character you want. No one seemed all that bothered by it, and in fact, it made for a superior game.
I know, they were going for a focus on story and wanted the cut scenes to sync up with the game play, but going back to UA, they had cut scenes with a pre-selected group of heroes and still let you play as any character you want. No one seemed all that bothered by it, and in fact, it made for a superior game.
No comments:
Post a Comment