Software:Marvel Super Hero Squad Online

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Marvel Super Hero Squad Online
Marvel Super Hero Squad Online - Promotional Comic.jpg
Promotional comic distributed as free handout during E3 2010.[1]
Cover motif is a pastiche on Secret Wars #1.
EngineUnity
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
ReleaseApril 29, 2011 (US Beta)[2]
November 4, 2011 (Europe Beta)
November 1, 2012 (server merge)
Genre(s)Massively multiplayer online role-playing game

Marvel Super Hero Squad Online was a massively multiplayer free-to-play online game for younger audiences based on the Marvel Super Hero Squad, developed by American video game companies the Amazing Society and Gazillion Entertainment. The open beta version of the game was released on April 29, 2011[2] (although a closed beta was released in early 2011).[3] It was a freemium in-browser game that offered two types of microtransactions: To purchase in-game currency, or a monthly subscription that gave the player additional perks.

Players collected heroes to form their own Squad. They were able to choose a hero from their Squad to play in a number of games and activities. As they played, the heroes increased not only their power in combat, but unlocked animated emotes[4] for use in the social game world zones. Many characters from the Marvel Universe appeared in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online in a traditional Super Hero Squad "super-deformed" style.

Marvel Super Hero Squad Online was the first MMO game developed in Gazillion's and Marvel's 10-year exclusive game publishing agreement. The second was Marvel Heroes.

Marvel Super Hero Squad Online was shut down on January 11, 2017.[5] Gazillion Entertainment itself shut down on November 22, 2017.[6]

Gameplay

Marvel Super Hero Squad Online had alternate controls, in which with one click the player could move from one place to another, or use the arrow keys or the traditional WASD keys on a keyboard. When the player creates an account and enters the game, they're each given 4 playable heroes: Cyclops, Ms. Marvel, Falcon and Ben "the Thing" Grimm. The object of the game was unlock and collect other Marvel heroes so the player can form their own unique superhero team. As an MMORPG, the game is split into 5 primary types of gameplay:

  • Zones: These were the games main overworlds for the player to select what they choose to do next. Players may of emoted or have chosen text options to interact with other players in real time using the Marvel heroes as their avatars. The games zones included the Daily Bugle, the Baxter Building, and Asgard[7] which were associated with Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and Thor, respectively. A fourth zone named Villainville was also made available. Certain characters (such as Falcon and Ms. Marvel) could fly, by clicking on blue or green circles on the ground. If the character was unable to fly, that character could have a double jump or a high/long jump.[8][9]
  • Missions: The main form of gameplay that had players choosing a hero and entering a beat 'em up style where players had to defeat hoardes of enemies to reach the final boss. To attack, players clicked on the enemies or pressed a certain button to perform a special attack. Missions could of been completed solo or with other players, and were unlocked at the in-game shop.
  • Headquarters: Each player is given a virtual Headquarters, where they could watch their collected heroes interact with the environment or feed them. The player could of purchased things such as furniture.
  • Card Games: A collectible card game was made available to play in early August 2011. The object was to deplete one's opponent's card deck by attacking with their own cards. The opponent could of been either another player in real-time or an NPC. Each card had a uniquely designed illustration and affect, and upon drawing, was accompanied with an often humorous visual in an arena setting.[10]
  • Arcade: An arcade was developed where players could play as Deadpool, She-Hulk, Black Panther, Daredevil, Captain America, Thor, Doctor Strange and Jean Grey in selected mini-games. Two characters such as Deadpool and She-Hulk were featured in each mini-game.

The games in-game currency was separated into two compartments: Gold and fractals (originally, called "Silver"). Both gold and fractals could be used to buy other items heroes at the games in-game store, such as other Marvel heroes, the difference being that fractals could be earned over time or from in-game activities while gold had to be purchased with real money as microtransactions. The game made it an incentive to become a Junior SHIELD member, which was a monthly micropayment subscription that gave the player additional rewards.

An achievement system was released that allowed players to complete several challenges such as greeting other players, buying new heroes, beating missions or card game quests. Each challenge completed awarded the player fractals, and a new hero.

The game was released in Europe on November 4, 2011. On November 1, 2012, the European server was merged with the North American server and expanded to encompass more European countries.

Characters

There were 197 playable characters before January 11, 2017.

Playable Characters
  • Abomination
  • Agent Coulsonf
  • Agent Venoma
  • American Dreamg
  • Angel
    • Archangel
    • X-Force Archangel
  • Annihilusa
  • Anti-Venom
  • Arachne
  • Beast
  • Beta Ray Billf
  • Black Cat
  • Black Panther
  • Black Widow
    • Avengers Black Widowa
  • Blade
  • Cable
  • Captain America
    • Avengers Captain Americaa
    • Captain America, Stealth Suit
    • Captain America, Super-Soldierg
  • Captain Marvel
  • Carnage
  • Colossusg
  • Cyclops
    • Astonishing Cyclopsg
    • First Appearance Cyclops
  • Daredevilg
    • Armored Daredevil
    • Classic Daredevil
    • Shadowland Daredevil
  • Deadpoola
  • Destroyere
  • Dr. Doomg
    • Future Foundation Dr. Dooma
  • Dr. Octopusf
  • Dr. Strange
  • Dracula
  • Drax
  • Electro
  • Elektrag
    • Pure Elektrag
  • Emma Frostg
  • Enchantress
  • Falcon
    • Falcon Exo-7
  • Firestarg
  • Frankenstein
  • Gambit
  • Gamora
  • Ghost Rider
    • Classic Ghost Rider
  • Goliath
  • Green Goblinf
    • Dark Iron Patriot
  • Groot
  • Guardiana
  • Hank Pym
    • Ant-Man
    • Giant-Man
  • Havok
  • Hawkeye
    • Avengers Hawkeyea
  • Hope Summersg
  • Hulk
    • Avengers Hulka
    • Gladiator Hulk
    • Indestructible Hulka
    • Mr. Fix-Itf
  • Human Torch
  • Iceman
  • Impossible Man
  • Invisible Womang
    • Future Foundation Invisible Woman
  • Iron Fist
  • Iron Man
    • Arctic Armor Iron Mang
    • Avengers Iron Mana
    • Hulkbuster Iron Mana
    • Iron Man 2020
    • Iron Man Midas
    • Iron Man MK Ia
    • Iron Man MK II
    • Iron Man MK XLII
    • Iron Man Silver Centurion
    • Stealth Armor Iron Mang
  • Iron Monger
  • Iron Patriot
  • Jean Grey
    • Dark Phoenix
    • Phoenix
    • White Phoenixa
  • Juggernautf
  • Lizard
  • Lokia
    • Avengers Loki
  • Luke Cageg
  • Magneto
  • MODOKd
  • Monkey King
  • Moon Knight
  • Morbius
  • Mr. Fantastic
    • Future Foundation Mr. Fantastic
  • Ms. Marvel
  • Mysterioa
  • Mystique
  • Nick Fury
    • Avengers Nick Furya
  • Nightcrawler
    • Swashbuckler Nightcrawler
  • Nighthawk
  • Nova
    • Nova (Sam Alexander)
  • Onslaught
  • Psylocke
    • X-Force Psylocke
  • Punisherg
    • Thunderbolts Punisher
  • Quicksilvera
  • Red Hulk
  • Red She-Hulk
  • Reptil
  • Rescue
  • Rocket Raccoonf
  • Rogueg
    • Avenging Rogue
  • Ronan the Accuser
  • Sabretoothf
  • Sasquatch
  • Sandman
  • Scarlet Spiderg
    • Spider-Man Ben Reilly
  • Scarlet Witchg
  • Sentryg
  • Shadowcata
  • She-Hulk
  • Silver Surfer
    • Dark Surfer
  • SP//DR
  • Spider-Girlg
    • Black Suit Spider-Girl
  • Spider-Hamg
  • Spider-Man
    • Armored Spider-Mang
    • Big Time Spider-Man
    • Black Suit Spider-Mana
    • Bombastic Bag-Mang
    • Spider-Man Earth-8351
    • Ends of the Earth Spider-Mana
    • First Appearance Spider-Man
    • Future Foundation Spider-Mang
    • Iron Spiderb
    • Spider-Man Noirg
  • Spider-Man 2099
  • Spider-Womang
  • Spider-Woman (Gwen Stacy)
  • Squirrel Girl
  • Star-Lorda
  • Storm
    • Mohawk Stormg
  • Super-Skrulla
  • Superior Spider-Man
  • Taskmaster
  • Thanosf
  • Thing
    • Future Foundation Thing
    • Tuxedo Thinga
  • Thorg
    • Avengers Thora
    • Battle Armor Thor
    • Classic Thorg
    • Ultimate Thor
  • Tigra
  • Titanium Manf
  • Ultimate Comics Spider-Mang
  • Ultronf
    • AU Ultronc
  • Valkyrieg
  • Venomf
  • Vision
  • War Machinea
    • War Machine MK IIe
  • Waspg
  • Werewolfg
  • Winter Soldierf
    • Bucky Cap
  • Wolverine
    • Avenging Wolverinea
    • Classic Wolverineg
    • Samurai Wolverine
    • Street Clothes Wolverineg
    • X-Force Wolverine
  • Wonder Man
Mission Bosses
  • Abomination
  • Annihilus
  • Bullseye
  • Dark Surfer
  • Doctor Doom
  • Doctor Octopus
  • Dormammu
  • Dracula
  • Enchantress
  • Fin Fang Foom
  • Green Goblin
  • Impossible Man
  • Juggernaut
  • Kingpin
  • Lizard
  • Loki
    • Avengers Loki
  • Magneto
  • Malekith
  • MODOK
  • Mole Man
  • Mysterio
  • Mystique
  • Onslaught
  • Red Skull
  • Sabretooth
  • Super-Skrull
  • Surtur
  • Titanium Man
  • Ultron
  • Venom
  • Wendigo
  • Winter Soldier
  • Ymir
*^a Only available to monthly subscribers.
  • ^b Only available after purchasing a one-year subscription.
  • ^c Only available after purchasing the $95.95 gold bundle.
  • ^d Only available through the in-game achievement system.
  • ^e Only available through the in-game crafting system.
  • ^f Only available through an in-game Mystery Box purchase.
  • ^g Rotation character. Only available periodically for a limited time.

Reception

Commercially and critically, the game underperformed. Erik Dekker of the Dutch gaming website XGN gave the game a negative review, criticizing the frequent coercion of microtransactions, "puppet show" combat areas, and lack of depth to the overall gameplay.[11] Other critics praised the presentation and voice acting, but noted that it lacked appeal outside of young children who were fans of the show.[12]

References

  1. Marvel Super Hero Squad Online. Marvel Comics. 2010. http://marvel.com/news/story/12789/e3_2010_super. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Marvel Super Hero Squad Online". http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/marvel-super-hero-squad-online/index.html?tag=result%3Btitle%3B0. 
  3. "Super Hero Squad Online fires up closed beta". http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/02/28/super-hero-squad-online-fires-up-closed-beta/. 
  4. "Marvel and Gazillion launch Super Hero Squad Online". Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110930004911/http://theblackboxoffice.com/2011/05/marvel-and-gazillion-launch-super-hero-squad-online/. 
  5. Faylor, Chris (13 May 2010). "Marvel Super Hero Squad Online Unveiled". https://www.shacknews.com/article/63788/marvel-super-hero-squad-online. 
  6. O'Brien, Lucy (22 November 2017). "Marvel Heroes Developer Gazillion Reportedly Shut Down, Game to Close Early: Employees are currently saying they've been laid off without Severance pay or PTO". IGN. https://www.ign.com/articles/2017/11/23/marvel-heroes-developer-gazillion-reportedly-shut-down-game-to-close-early. 
  7. "Marvel's Super Hero Squad Online Adds Thor & Asgard World". May 13, 2011. https://www.cbr.com/marvels-super-hero-squad-online-adds-thor-asgard-world/. 
  8. Lefebvre, Eliot (23 August 2011). "Super Hero Squad Online teasing Villainville". http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/23/super-hero-squad-online-teasing-villainville/. 
  9. "GDN: Marvel Super Hero Squad Expands into Villianville Where Players Can Be Dark Heroes". Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111001124751/http://www.gamersdailynews.com/story-25004-Marvel-Super-Hero-Squad-Expands-into-Villianville-Where-Players-Can-Be-Dark-Heroes.html. 
  10. Watch the Super Hero Squad Online Card Game Trailer
  11. "Marvel Super Hero Squad Online critic reviews". https://www.metacritic.com/game/marvel-super-hero-squad-online/critic-reviews/?platform=pc. 
  12. "Marvel Super Hero Squad Online user reviews". https://www.metacritic.com/game/marvel-super-hero-squad-online/user-reviews/?platform=pc. 

External links