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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome Back, Jaded Gamers: This Is Your Future!, June 10, 2002
Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars
What could possibly pull a jaded, 20-something gamer, fed up with the money-and-arms race that is Magic and disgusted at Wizards of the Coast and their attempt to turn every RPG into a simplistic, corporate clone, back from the depths of gaming despair?In a word: HeroClix. From WizKids, the folks who merged the collectability of Magic with the strategy of miniature gaming like Warhammer in their popular Mage Knight, without the insane price and rules that take years to learn, comes HeroClix, a tabletop strategy/collectable figure game featuring super heroes from the Marvel comics. Each figure has a certain point value, and you build your team based on a set number of maximum points, and then score yourself at the end based on how many figures you have left and how many of your opponents' characters you have KOed. Your "force" can be comprised of over 150 super heroes and super-villains from the Marvel universe, including Spider-Man, Professor X, The Hulk, Ultron, members of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Skrull warriors, to name a few. Want Magneto to fight Juggernaut, assisted by Cyclops? Go for it. Can Kingpin take down Annihilus? Maybe! The "Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations" factor is just one of the things that makes HeroClix so fun. The rules, which are deceptively simple (yet confusing at times), are easy to pick up - you can start playing in about a half-hour. For disputes, WizKids offers a major rules errata section on their website. Strategy takes a little longer to develop than the rules of the game, but after a few games a player should be able to come up with some killer combinations and be kicking tail with the best of `em. The super-powers can be a little confusing (thankfully, they are all color-coded and a standup card is included as a guide), but those who are familiar with the characters from the comics should have no problem figuring out who does what. The Infinity Challenge set is a great start to a great game. Sure, there are some major character omissions - Beast, Storm, and the Fantastic Four to name a few - but WizKids are already talking expansions. The next set, which will probably be the same size (150 characters), is going to be from the D.C. universe, and will feature The Joker, Batman, and Harley Quinn, among others (those are the figures whose pictures are featured on the website). After that, there will be a smaller "Fantastic Four" expansion, which might have a few more missing Marvel people in it, too. There are also packs of objects to litter around the map (and throw at people), and a gigantic Sentinel enemy to defeat, coming in the next few weeks. Will HeroClix become a game like Magic and Pokemon? Maybe. Most of the players are, like myself, jaded 20-somethings who are familiar with the comics - and maybe that's not such a bad thing. It will keep it from becoming another psychotic arms race for the most expensive characters, and hopefully keep it grounded in the fun, happy-go-lucky spirit of the game, instead of becoming a rules-fest where people cheat and bend rules to win (a la Mage Knight). The only complaints are that the figures are sometimes bent, the paint jobs sometimes shabby, and they are sometimes very difficult to move (you can actually tear legs off if you aren't careful). Otherwise, great game, and it looks like it's going to get better. Grades:
Fun Factor: A+ (NEVER a dull moment!)
Educational Value: C+ (Strategy) Durability: C (depends on the figure)
Final Grade: B+
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