Wondering if A game like this even exists

[Dragero]

Recently I've become a little tired of all my current games, and have decided that I want to play an RPG or Action or RTS or Whatever genre game with huge amounts of character customization, though not fantasy themed. After thinking for a while, superhero games came to mind, complete with creating your own hero, choosing your own skills/powers, and beating things up a fair bit. The only problem is that I can't seem to find a single game like this thats NOT AM MMO. DC Universe, Champions online, City of Heroes/Villains are all basically what I'm looking for, just without the "$15 a month" or "$15 for new pants" business model.

Most genres are fine, and most systems are fine (PC is preferred), so, does anybody know of a singleplayer superhero (Or genre with large amounts of customization) game? (Other than freedom force and spore, I already have those)

[Blayze]

Well, in Prototype you can customise your powers--and said powers are as awesome as those of any superhero...

[Deth Muncher]

Well, in Prototype you can customise your powers--and said powers are as awesome as those of any superhero...

To a certain extent, anyway.

Actually, in the vein of "quasi-customizable powers," the Marvel Ultimate Alliance Series (and the X-Men Legends series it's based off of) do this with pre-existing heroes - basically, each hero comes with one or two of their signature powers, and as you play through the game earning experience, you can go and buy their other powers in whatever order you choose. And actually, you don't even have to buy all of them if you don't want to - you can use those points to get other people upgraded too (if I'm remembering right).

[Ganheim]

If you're looking for games in any genre, if you don't mind slightly simulation-oriented ones then I'd fully recommend Warship Gunner 2. You could even think of it as an action-simulator, because it's a lot more flexible than most naval games.

You have to pay for research before you can get some of the real goodies, and more than a few things have to be unlocked through special actions like destroying a secret research base and hijacking the crate from it, but you're allowed complete customization with any equipment you have access to. Once you move up the ranks you can build bimaran battleships with multiple 44mm gattling turrets, or load up on vertical-launch tubes and an AEGIS targeting system to have your own Itano Circus (http://www.macross2.net/m3/messages/itano-circus.jpg), or use energy weapons for beam-spam.

I like the game even more because it's got divergent storylines that depend on which CO you pick up in the beginning of the game, allows you to play story missions in Free Mode, and has a "New Game+" that lets you bring all the goodies you've unlocked to try the story again from the beginning. The "extra" missions are also ridiculously zany (in a good way) - one of the secret bosses is a giant squid. That shoots a Wave Motion Gun (http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yamato_wave_motion_gun.jpg).

[Dragero]

To a certain extent, anyway.

Actually, in the vein of "quasi-customizable powers," the Marvel Ultimate Alliance Series (and the X-Men Legends series it's based off of) do this with pre-existing heroes - basically, each hero comes with one or two of their signature powers, and as you play through the game earning experience, you can go and buy their other powers in whatever order you choose. And actually, you don't even have to buy all of them if you don't want to - you can use those points to get other people upgraded too (if I'm remembering right).


I was looking for more of an open ended character creator, similar to the MMO's I listed in the OP, not quite so much "At level X I can give Spiderman Mega webs or Mega punch"


If you're looking for games in any genre, if you don't mind slightly simulation-oriented ones then I'd fully recommend Warship Gunner 2. You could even think of it as an action-simulator, because it's a lot more flexible than most naval games.

You have to pay for research before you can get some of the real goodies, and more than a few things have to be unlocked through special actions like destroying a secret research base and hijacking the crate from it, but you're allowed complete customization with any equipment you have access to. Once you move up the ranks you can build bimaran battleships with multiple 44mm gattling turrets, or load up on vertical-launch tubes and an AEGIS targeting system to have your own Itano Circus (http://www.macross2.net/m3/messages/itano-circus.jpg), or use energy weapons for beam-spam.

I like the game even more because it's got divergent storylines that depend on which CO you pick up in the beginning of the game, allows you to play story missions in Free Mode, and has a "New Game+" that lets you bring all the goodies you've unlocked to try the story again from the beginning. The "extra" missions are also ridiculously zany (in a good way) - one of the secret bosses is a giant squid. That shoots a Wave Motion Gun (http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yamato_wave_motion_gun.jpg).

Looks interesting, If I find I'll try to check it out.

[Blayze]

Well, Prototype lets you decide between such powers as "Declaring a random mook to be you, thus getting them killed their buddies", "Super Mega Awesome Glide", "Civilian Surfing", "Super Strength for Throwing Tanks Around", "Turn body into sword," "turn body into armour" and at least fifteen different ways of slaughtering both innocents and hostiles alike by warping your mass.

[Tome]

I've got an interest in the same sorts of games myself. Looking over my games shelf, the ones that stand out are:


Fallout: You've heard of these, I trust? Highly customisable character, post-apocalyptic setting.
Armoured Core: You can't get much more Sci-Fi than giant robots. The giant robots themselves (NEXTs in the current iteration of games) are customisable down to an incredible level of detail. The plot tends to be fairly sparse in the English language versions, though they're slowly getting better about translating more of it over. The other big downside is the high learning curve, due to there being very little in the way of instructions for a very complicated game. They're getting better about that too, and the games are incredibly fun once you get the hang of them.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: You've probably played these before. If not, do so.
Mass Effect: Another well known game, but I figure I'll note it none the less. Shepard (the main character) is fairly customisable in appearance, powers and personality, beyond the last name, and the games are really well made.
Phantasy Star Universe/Portable: Yeah, they're MMOs, but the offline modes are pretty fun and, at least for Portable 2, the online is free as well. The character customisation is fairly detailed, though it can feel a lot like a fantasy game with shinier swords at times.

[Cheesegear]

Well, I've always liked Hellgate: London. Contrary to popular belief, it was never meant to be MMO, it was only marketed that way. HG:L is a single player game, with the ability to Co-Op.

[GolemsVoice]

Well, why not try Freedom Force VS The Third Reich? It gloriously revels in all the 50s comic cliches, both in story and in the cast, while still remaining fun, funny and challenging. There's a lot of heroes to pick for each mission, with a core cast of "story" heroes who make up the most prominent members of the Freedom Force. For each mission, you chose your team (although sometimes you don't get to chose all), and earn XP, which you can spend on buying and upgrading different powers, which aren't all individual, but each hero gets some that only he has. The rest are picked fitting his theme. There's a lot in chosing the right specialization for heroes, because having someone around that has the right attack needed to counter a foe can really make your live easier (or, sometimes, can make the success of the mission possible in the first place)

[Dragero]

I've got an interest in the same sorts of games myself. Looking over my games shelf, the ones that stand out are:


Fallout: You've heard of these, I trust? Highly customisable character, post-apocalyptic setting.
Armoured Core: You can't get much more Sci-Fi than giant robots. The giant robots themselves (NEXTs in the current iteration of games) are customisable down to an incredible level of detail. The plot tends to be fairly sparse in the English language versions, though they're slowly getting better about translating more of it over. The other big downside is the high learning curve, due to there being very little in the way of instructions for a very complicated game. They're getting better about that too, and the games are incredibly fun once you get the hang of them.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: You've probably played these before. If not, do so.
Mass Effect: Another well known game, but I figure I'll note it none the less. Shepard (the main character) is fairly customisable in appearance, powers and personality, beyond the last name, and the games are really well made.
Phantasy Star Universe/Portable: Yeah, they're MMOs, but the offline modes are pretty fun and, at least for Portable 2, the online is free as well. The character customisation is fairly detailed, though it can feel a lot like a fantasy game with shinier swords at times.


Fallout: I own Fallout 2, been meaning to get to it

Armoured core: I've got Mechwarrior 4 to fill in my giant robot lust. If I ever see an armoured core I'll pick it up.

KOTOR: Own it, but it doesn't work on my computer. working on finding a copy of the Xbox version.

Mass Effect: Own it, but it doesn't run very well on my computer. I might reinstall some day and try again though.

Phantasy star: The portable version is out, due to my psp having a sticky button that ruins everything, and I don't have an Xbox 360/PS3 for online.

Hellgate: Huh, I thought it was an MMO. I've NEVER seen a copy in stores though, but if I do, I might check it out.

FFvTR: Been thinking of getting it for a while now.

Prototype: I played it at a friend's house. It's not quite what I'm looking for, and my PC could never run it. It is fun though :P

[olelia]

And you probably never will see a copy of hellgate in stores...it crashed and burned unfortunately which was sad seeing as the game had a lot of potential :smallfrown:.

[Mando Knight]

MechWarrior IV lets you customize the weapons loadout of various giant stompy robots...

[JeminiZero]

If you already have Freedom Force 1, and haven't tried the Strangers Campaign Mod, give it a whirl. Over the course of it you will NEED to recruit 3 custom heroes (possibly even 4 depending on your choices).

Note that the campaign does NOT prompt you to recruit all 3 customs until just before the penultimate big fight. And since recruiting early has the benefit of letting your heroes gain XP, you shouldn't wait until then. Instead, it would be better to recruit a couple of 8~10k characters as soon as you get the points.

[Spartacus]

MechWarrior IV lets you customize the weapons loadout of various giant stompy robots...

Considering he has mentioned he owns it, I suspect he knows this.

[Dragero]

Considering he has mentioned he owns it, I suspect he knows this.

Indeed I do. It`s been free for a while now.

I actualy had no idea that mods for freedom force even existed, I figured it just couldn`t be modded, so I never bothered looking.

It seems like singleplayer superhero games with character creator`s similar to the MMOs listed in the OP are just non-existant, other than FF. Weird, it`s a cool genre.

[JeminiZero]

I actualy had no idea that mods for freedom force even existed, I figured it just couldn`t be modded, so I never bothered looking.

The guy who modded it has done ALOT of work on customizing the FF engine. Check out his website (http://www.fundamentzero.com/) for the Strangers campaign and other stuff.

[Triaxx]

Force Unleashed is tons of fun if you take it as a beat-em-up with RPG elements, instead of something high value. (Seriously, I love the game, but it's not exactly deep.)

X3:Terran Conflict is obscenely deep, but has a horrendous learning curve. It's not so much character customization, as it is ship, and later empire customization.

You know what? Just play Deus Ex. That's exactly what you want. Plus it's awesome. Just remember to jump across to Maggie's from Jock's Balcony.

[chiasaur11]

Deus Ex really is aces, and it fits the whole superhero bit to an extent. Denton's looks are limitedly customizable, and the voice is always perfect deadpan, but the abilities really vary.

Mass Effect 2 fits even better than ME1, I suppose, and it usually runs smoother. In ME1, Shepard is a soldier, maybe one with an exceptional knack at a few things.

ME2?

You're a gorram superhero. Mind control, superspeed flying around a room, tossing heavy girders, turning invisible, slowing down time, tossing black holes. In one DLC

You fight another spectre flying around a room at a bajillion miles an hour like a game of human pinball, then beat the tar out of a fifteen foot alien in hand to hand combat.

[Dragero]

Deus Ex really is aces, and it fits the whole superhero bit to an extent. Denton's looks are limitedly customizable, and the voice is always perfect deadpan, but the abilities really vary.

Mass Effect 2 fits even better than ME1, I suppose, and it usually runs smoother. In ME1, Shepard is a soldier, maybe one with an exceptional knack at a few things.

ME2?

You're a gorram superhero. Mind control, superspeed flying around a room, tossing heavy girders, turning invisible, slowing down time, tossing black holes. In one DLC

You fight another spectre flying around a room at a bajillion miles an hour like a game of human pinball, then beat the tar out of a fifteen foot alien in hand to hand combat.

Played and beat Deus Ex to death, and my Pc could never run ME2.

The Beta for Darkspore is on steam now, I'll try that out. Looks like what I could be looking for, but I'm still cautious cause of the disappointment that was Spore

[Triaxx]

Well, they say the Nameless Mod is like Deus Ex but more. I never played it, because it didn't sound appealing to me, but you might want to give that a whirl.

Two Worlds has quite a bit of customization, but it's fantasy, and so out of your range of choices. It's still tons of fun though.

[chiasaur11]

Played and beat Deus Ex to death, and my Pc could never run ME2.

The Beta for Darkspore is on steam now, I'll try that out. Looks like what I could be looking for, but I'm still cautious cause of the disappointment that was Spore

If your PC can run ME1, it can run ME2. Surprisingly not horrible on the system, really.

Think there's some tweaking guides to shoving the specs down for running on a low level computer. Of course, you probably still couldn't run it decently, so scratch that plan. Bioshock has the customizable superhuman abilities, but no monkeying with looks, so that sounds out even if you could run it.

Tried Invisible War? Not as good as DEX, but it has some of the same superhero stuff going on.

Oh!

Ever tried Space Ranger? Not everyone's taste, but it's a go anywhere do anything build up your space ship and your custom abilities game. Huge customization, if I recall.

And Nameless Mod is said to be good, yeah. Ought to run it some time.

[Dragero]

If your PC can run ME1, it can run ME2. Surprisingly not horrible on the system, really.

Think there's some tweaking guides to shoving the specs down for running on a low level computer. Of course, you probably still couldn't run it decently, so scratch that plan. Bioshock has the customizable superhuman abilities, but no monkeying with looks, so that sounds out even if you could run it.

Tried Invisible War? Not as good as DEX, but it has some of the same superhero stuff going on.

Oh!

Ever tried Space Ranger? Not everyone's taste, but it's a go anywhere do anything build up your space ship and your custom abilities game. Huge customization, if I recall.

And Nameless Mod is said to be good, yeah. Ought to run it some time.

I keep forgetting to try out the nameless mod, been meaning to for a while now.

The problem with ME2 is that my computer can barely run ME1 at lowest settings, so there's no way I could run ME2, even with tweaking.

Bioshock is great, I practically beat it at a friend's house though.

I've been scared to getting Invisible war, due to it's terrible rep. I might try it some time though, if I can find it for cheap enough.

Can't say I've ever played Space Ranger. It's on steam, right? I'll try to pick it up some time. I loves me mah space sims.

[chiasaur11]

I keep forgetting to try out the nameless mod, been meaning to for a while now.

The problem with ME2 is that my computer can barely run ME1 at lowest settings, so there's no way I could run ME2, even with tweaking.

Bioshock is great, I practically beat it at a friend's house though.

I've been scared to getting Invisible war, due to it's terrible rep. I might try it some time though, if I can find it for cheap enough.

Can't say I've ever played Space Ranger. It's on steam, right? I'll try to pick it up some time. I loves me mah space sims.

Said what I said. On a lot of rigs, not all but surprisingly many, Mass Effect 2 works better than ME1.

Invisible war has been 2.50 on steam a time or two. Worth a look at that price. Gillen and Francis, the two game critics I most respect in the entire industry, both dig it. Definitely a step down, but...

And Space Ranger is on Steam.

[Dragero]

Said what I said. On a lot of rigs, not all but surprisingly many, Mass Effect 2 works better than ME1.

Invisible war has been 2.50 on steam a time or two. Worth a look at that price. Gillen and Francis, the two game critics I most respect in the entire industry, both dig it. Definitely a step down, but...

And Space Ranger is on Steam.

Well if I see ME2 on sale for around $5 anytime, I'll try to pick it up. Knowing steam sales though, that'll either be soon with arrival coming out, or Christmas/Thanksgiving/Maybe the summer sale if they have one.

[Cheesegear]

And you probably never will see a copy of hellgate in stores...it crashed and burned unfortunately which was sad seeing as the game had a lot of potential :smallfrown:.

Single player still works. And always will as far as I know.

[MrPig]

No one mentioned Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines? It runs on the source engine so you don't need a beefy PC.

[Triaxx]

Because it's fantasy, which he's said he doesn't want.

[psilontech]

Because it's fantasy, which he's said he doesn't want.

It's set in modern times, so... I dunno, would it technically be considered fantasy?

[Dragero]

Oh yeah, when I said fantasy, I meant generic medieval fantasy. Modern time fantasy is fine.

V:TM has always been something I've been looking at, but never really considered getting. To this day I still don't know why.

[chiasaur11]

Oh yeah, when I said fantasy, I meant generic medieval fantasy. Modern time fantasy is fine.

V:TM has always been something I've been looking at, but never really considered getting. To this day I still don't know why.

Because it's incredibly buggy, almost never goes on sale, and a good quarter to half the game is awful dungeon crawls rather than the juicy Deus Ex like goodness of the rest?

I mean, all I hear says it's a classic, just...

A classic to enter into with fair warning. Also all the patches.

[psilontech]

Rigged up with all of the official patches in conjunction with the latest fan patch, I've had little to no trouble with V:TM.

It's a fantastic game, very suiting to my love of Deus Ex / System Shock 2 types games, until you hit the dungeon crawl part of the game which screws over every build that isn't combat-centric.

First time I played the game, I made a social-heavy Ventrue (?) and had a blast up to the point of 'Flesh-Crafted Monsters Everywhere!'. At which point, I had to quit.

Second time, I was just a melee-heavy Malkavian. But the whole Malkavian thing made up for it. Not only do you get to have arguments with inanimate objects, but you get to convince someone that you are their long-lost pet turtle, Shelly.

[Triaxx]

That sounds thoroughly awesome, 'Flesh-crafted Monsters' aside.

[psilontech]

A vague potential for spoilers.
If you're planning on playing the game and running as malkavian, you might want to save it for a surprise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcYiSBhxLEM&feature=related