ZAM takes aim at the upcoming super hero MMO from Gazillion.

The Raft itself is a fun excursion. As you fight your way through the basic enemies entertaining Easter eggs can be found all over, ones that I won’t spoil but let’s say you get to see at least one famous villain exploiting the mayhem in the background.

Medpacs which are used via the H key are not vital on the first mission but you will soon be making absolutely sure you have a few handy, particularly if adventuring alone. The mobs come thick and fast as you progress beyond the first mission and you will find yourself taking trips back to the nearby store just to empty your quickly filling inventory.

The armor and weapon drops are allocated for particular heroes, so you will want to keep some in your stash back at Avengers Tower for when you unlock that particular character. It’s unfortunate that the drops don’t inherently change your toon’s appearance, that is completely handled by the store and costume building system, but, as this is a free to play game, it’s also understandable why Gazillion has gone this particular route.

Marvel Heroes is incredibly easy to get into, which is both its strength and weakness. The assortment of abilities is ample but not exhaustive for each character, this means the meta game and customization isn’t massive, but you have all you need to quickly get smashing into the opposition without being overwhelmed with options.

Everything is designed to get you into the action and throw lots of it at you. At one point I was hacking and slashing my way through Hell’s Kitchen – it didn’t take long for me to decide to unlock Wolverine, you know it makes sense – when a warning with a counter alongside it reading "0/100" appeared indicating that the ninjas of the Hand needed taking care of.

Quickly I was surrounded by puffs of smoke and a swarm of crimson ninja, fodder for my arcing claw attacks. It didn’t take long before I was leaving behind a neat pile of the Hand’s best before hitting my required total.

Solo, the game is a lot of fun, geekgasm moments aside, though the big open streets can get a little tough on the hands when you’ve dropped your 200^th Molotov wielding thug, but that was mainly due to the paucity of partners available for me in the brief test time I had. The relatively small beta – it's very early on in this development stage – meant there were not many other players to fight the good fight with.

With a gang of friends, the droves of enemies should prove to be a real blast as you come together to overcome the swarming villains. The thugs of Hell’s Kitchen aren’t entirely stupid either, the melee forces will quickly surround you, blocking your movement to allow the ranged AOE damage dealers to more effectively cause havoc. This is particularly problematic when a boss gets in on the action, in this case Electro turning up flinging lightning bolts and laying down AOE.

I had my backside handed to me when trying to go toe-to-toe with Electro but eventually a few other heroes turned up -- one of them being another Wolverine which was only fleetingly odd -- and we subdued the electrified crook.

Overall, Marvel Heroes looks to be a great pick up and put down game with more of a hint of addictiveness about it. The frenetic action and streamlined combat makes it a lot of fun with just about enough variety to keep you hooked. I can’t really give a lot of feedback regarding the MMO aspect of the game as I just didn’t get enough time interacting with others, but I can see it being very popular as a pastime among a group of friends who want to just barrel through a fun evening.

If you are looking for an MMO with a lot of depth and complexity, you might be disappointed, but if you want a game that’s high on action and exhilaration with a pleasingly authentic comic book environment, Marvel Heroes is shaping up nicely.

Scott "Jarimor" Hawkes, Editor in Chief