My hypochondriac of a mother would let me stay home if I was 'feeling out of it,' a state of mind I still haven't left behind.Įgyptian Scarab and Robo-Shredder were quickly joined by a host of other characters, including my sister's main, Miss Mischief.

I spent just as much with my hound dog, skipping school to do special missions called Strike Forces that could take upwards of eight hours to play. Mine was Robo-Shredder, a mechanical werewolf who could control robot underlings and shoot dark miasma. The only remaining photo I have of him is this Christmas skin I would wear on gentile holidays.Īfter a few months, City of Villains was released, allowing players a chance to try a dastardly persona. My fingers froze earning badges, collecting new costumes, slaying alien Rikti and hitting the level cap of 50. Instead, I got home before my mother and played with the heaviest jacket I could find. My parents tried moving the computer to the unheated basement in an attempt to limit my play to an hour a day. I spent every free moment I had with Egyptian Scarab over the next year. His backstory involved an evil Nazi group called the Fifth Column experimenting on his DNA, causing him to be able to speed up or slow down molecules. Egyptian Scarab (a name I still don't understand) was an ice-wielding, energy blaster who wore a bright turquoise Pharaoh headdress and tights. After downloading, updating and patching CoH on my rust bucket of a Dell, I made my first hero. My dad wasn't excited about the idea of spending 15 bucks a month on a game subscription, but eventually he caved.

Heading down to the local GameStop, I found a CD copy of City of Heroes. All I ever wanted to be was a hero able to fly away or teleport away from my small town and be something great. 'Have you heard of this game where you get to be a superhero, City of something?' said one while playing Snake on his Palm Pilot. One cold afternoon, while waiting for the bus, I overheard a conversation between two kids from my class. 'Don't Cha' by the Puss圜at Dolls blasted out of fluorescent iPods and North Face jackets filled the cubbies of my Long Island middle school. Since the game's closure, heroes of Paragon City and villains of the Rogue Isles have gathered in forums and Facebook groups to discuss the world they once inhabited. Fans of NCSoft's superhero MMO were surprised, shocked and hurt that their favorite game was available - if you knew the right people. In early April, a secret fan-made server for City of Heroes was unearthed by a YouTuber after getting shut down in 2012.

Want to play city of heroes