City of Heroes and Villains expansion released

NCSoft has announced that "Issue 7: Destiny Manifest", an expansion for City if Heroes and City of Villains has been released in North America and Europe.

"To celebrate this momentous occasion, any former player of City of Heroes or City of Villains can rejoin the game for an exclusive five-day game period, to experience for themselves all of the incredible new content that Issue 7: Destiny Manifest has to offer.

Issue 7 adds level 40 to level 50 content to City of Villains, including more than 300 new missions and a new PvE (player vs environment) zone, Grandville. Grandville contains Spider City, the vertically-built capital of Lord RecluseTM, the leader of the feared Arachnos villain group.

Highlighting the new mission sets are Mayhem Missions, which allow villains to enter instanced zones in Paragon CityTM. During these missions, a villain must create as much havoc in the zone as possible, reaping unique rewards and loot. The Mayhem Mission zones are destructible environments where villains can unlock multiple random events, harass citizens and battle the Paragon City Police.

A new feature to both City of Heroes and City of Villains is the unique level 40 to 50 PvP zone, Recluse's Victory. Recluse's Victory is twisted, alternate universe version of Paragon City's Atlas ParkTM, where villains and heroes battle for heavily armed (and armoured!) control points. As the battle rages, players will watch Recluse's Victory change before their eyes, as the balance of power shifts to one true 'good' or 'evil' version of the zone. Heroes and villains can command powerful mobile weapons platforms that can help turn the tide of battle, and better yet, powerful signature characters can also aid each side, allowing players to battle the likes of Lord Recluse or Statesman.

"This highly anticipated expansion makes villains meaner and introduces a PvP zone that has not been seen before in the online multiplayer market," said Matt Miller, Cryptic Studio'sTM lead designer for City of Heroes and City of Villains. "Players will have a blast exploring the new high-level content and causing endless destruction in the new Mayhem Missions, which take being a villain to a new low. This expansion will reinforce to players that the 'City of' franchise is the top comic-book based game on the market, because Issue 7 has something that will amaze everyone."

Issue 7 also introduces "Patron Powers" for players who reach level 40, allowing them to adopt a new set of abilities that enable players to command the same forces as the City of Villains signature villains: Ghost WidowTM, Captain MakoTM, SciroccoTM or Black ScorpionTM. And that's not all - Issue #7 also provides new base features, including storage items, empowerment stations, super group banners and base color tinting, and a brand new set of costume options. Sweeping art and graphics improvements have also been added to City of Heroes."