Cryptic Studios and NCsoft have removed the barrier for the many heroes and villains who populate Paragon City or the Rogue Isles and now allow a hero to fall or villain to rise. City of Heroes: Going Rogue adds a new dimension to a world that may be growing stale for some.

Released in 2004, City of Heroes took on a new niche in the MMO world by giving us the powers and abilities of some of our favorite comic book superheroes. In 2005 villains entered the scene with City of Villains, unleashing the wrath of evil and the Rogue Isles on the world, also introducing PvP zones instead of limiting it to the Arena like the heroes demanded. At first both games had to be purchased separately till July of 2008 when NCsoft merged the games. Going Rogue creates a mirror world where Emperor Cole, a hero turned villain named The Statesman from the original game, rules a borderline totalitarian state.

Character creation is really part of the fun, the amount of choices and customization options give each character a special feel. Imagination and experimentation alone keep a lot of people in this stage for a while before a final form is chosen. Your first glimpse is of Praetoria, a dystopian world controlled by Emperor Cole, where his word is law and that law is enforced ruthlessly. Any history lesson will teach us that the harder dictators squeeze the more slip through their grasp and this is how you encounter the new alignment system. The choice between supporting the Emperor or a resistance movement that has sprung up from under his thumb warm you up to the choices ahead, to the decisions that will lead ultimately to the Hero or Villain path. Going Rogue gives two more choices, paths that lead between the extremes, vigilantes are heroes on the slippery path to corruption while rogues are villains trying to find a way out of darkness. (Questions: So which side is prevailing? Have more heroes crossed into the dark side or have more villains found the light? Answer at the end, keep reading.) 

No matter the choices you make the setting is Praetoria, a mirror world introducing 4 new zones and 4 new power sets. Nova Praetoria, Imperial City, and Neutropolis, and the Underground make up this alternate dimension. The graphics for all of the new content are being designed for the new ultra settings, allowing those with a better computer to put a new sheen on a world that might be getting old 6 years after release. (Yes, that means the ultra setting makes the old zones look better too) The new power sets bring some nice variety to the mix, dual pistols giving an almost gun-kata like feel, kinetic melee where focus resides in knocking foes down and pummeling them, electric control gives the power to debilitate foes before taking their lives, and demon summoning which does just what it sounds like in summoning demons and even granting some flaming whip attacks. They work in previously used concepts, but dress them up nicely and add a little spice to an aging set of powers.