There's more than one reason to don a cape, some devil horns, and terrorize the neighborhood this Halloween. The sequel/expansion to the massively multiplayer online role-playing game City of Heroes, City of Villains, is now up and running.
The game, which does not require City of Heroes to run, lets would-be evildoers try out the other side of justice as a superpowered villain. After creating a baddie with the variety of swatches and palettes, players can tackle the evil-flavored missions alone or with fellow nefarious cohorts, or venture to special player-versus-player areas and show Captain America clones why it feels so good to be so bad.
No league of villains should be without a central supersecret hideout, and City of Villains has a new mechanic for building fortresses of evil. In between kidnappings, heists, and other malicious deeds, supervillains will need to keep an eye on their bases to keep pesky superheroes from raiding their stash of stat-bolstering power crystals.
Cryptic Studios, from Los Gatos, California, developed the game and its predecessor. City of Villains is rated T for Teen and retails for $49.99. A subscription rate of $14.99 per month covers dues for both City of Heroes and City of Villains. For more information on the game, check back soon for GameSpot's review, or take a look at last week's Q&A with Cryptic's creative director Jack Emmert.