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german version

	Rating	Rating (1-10) excluding the Fantastic Four; Rating in brackets: including the F4
	Graphic presentation	9 (9)
	Rules	6 (6)
	Playability	8 (5)
	Replay value	8 (5)
	Overall Rating:	8 (6)

Marvel Heroes (english version) Review #1	written by: Denny Koch
Introduction	"Marvel Heroes" is a strategy board game based on the classic 616-Marvel Universe. Two to four superhero teams (X-Men, Marvel Knights, Avengers and the Fantastic Four) compete against each other while simultaneously fighting their respective Nemesis (Magneto, Kingpin, Red Scull and Dr. Doom) and other villains. The main task is to deal with threats appearing all over New York City; these threats are of different types and difficulty levels. Each team consists of four members with certain strengths, weaknesses, super powers and special areas of expertise. In addition, each team member can be used either as an active fighter or as a supporter, which has a strong impact on their special abilities and roles in combat. If you decide to fight a threat, you first try to lower the "Trouble Level" by using your different talents and abilities in the respective NYC district. Based on the final Trouble Level, a prominent lead villain from the Marvel Universe appears at the scene, often supported by other villains. Your task is to fight these villains by using your special powers against the villains' special powers and to beat them in the fields "attack", "defense", and "outwit". Some super hero miniatures (Spiderman, Dr. Strange, Cpt. America, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Storm and Cyclops) Sometimes, a "Mastermind" is behind a threat - i.e. the super villain and Nemesis of the respective team. He can boost his subordinates and give them more advantages. After finishing off his infantry, the superhero team has to face the Mastermind himself. Over the course of the game, these Masterminds try to achieve a "Master Plan" consisting of three parts, while the superhero teams try to amass victory points by solving threats. Each player controls a superhero team as well as the Archenemy of another team. Due to this mechanic, all players are permanently involved in the game and have many ways of influencing the events and developments on the map. The final victory condition depends on the current scenario. In most cases, the game ends when a team collects a certain number of victory points or after a fixed number of game rounds. Miniatures of the 4 Super-Villains: Red Skull, Dr. Doom, Magneto, Kingpin
Graphic presentation	The graphic presentation is of a very high quality - which is typical for games from Fantasy Flight Games. The designers (who are also the designers of War of the Ring), cooperated with Marvel artists who created the reference sheets and all other materials included in the game. The images on the villain and ally cards are directly taken from the comic books. Here you can find old "classic" comic material as well as pictures from modern "Graphic novels" from the 21st century. The hand-painted, detailed miniatures of the 16 super heroes and the 4 super villains are very close to their "real" counterparts. The colorful rulebook is full of superhero illustrations. A first glance at the dramatic cover of the game box provides for a very authentic comic feeling. The game board presents a comic-style map of New York City (mainly Manhattan, but also Queens and Brooklyn). The map is divided into color-coded districts. In these districts you can identify the most important famous and infamous places of interest from the Marvel Universe, such as the Baxter Building, Stark Tower, the Latverian Embassy, the Daily Bugle etc. These sights are irrelevant to gameplay but provide nice "chrome" for the dedicated Marvel fan. Despite the fact that many people criticize the game board as too simplistic and even "ugly", I cannot share this opinion. It's somewhat comic-like, with plain colors. By dividing the map into six color-coded areas the entire map becomes quite concise - a topographical-morphological representation of NYC would have made an odd impression on me. The map remains true to the comic book-game design and I don't have any problems with it. In addition, the map contains all relevant fields and info boxes for the different cards used in the course of the game (headlines, story cards, resource cards, villain cards), a victory point track where you advance the team icons, a game round and action round track - the map is very well arranged and you don't have to take any sidenotes on paper or remember anything. Due to the fact that the main action doesn't take place on the board (the figures aren't moved from area to area as in other board games), but that the map is merely supporting a card-driven game which takes place in the player's heads, the map is absolutely sufficient. The map (official promotional picture by Fantasy Flight Games) The only negative aspect is the poor quality of the board's backside. Due to production problems, some boards tend to "warp", i.e. they get out of shape because of the badly glued black paper on the backside. An email to Fantasy Flight Games solved the problem almost instantly - without any hesitation and arguing, they sent us a new game board from America to Germany. In the meanwhile, players discovered other solutions to this problem, for example by carefully removing the black paper on the backside which doesn't have any use anyway. The frontside of the board is sealed and of very high quality, you can even clean it with a wet cloth. Due to the fact that the game is somewhat expensive (it costs $59.59), this high quality can be expected. The counters included in the game are of very high quality and consist of very thick, strong paper. The teams are color-coded and have their own characteristic team icon which is used on the various markers and cards. The counter design makes a very coherent impression and perfectly fits into the comic theme. The "plot points" used to "pay" the different actions are designed as speech balloons. The glossy material used for the cards (for example the ally and villain cards) is top quality. May Parker, an ally card for the Marvel Knights (as indicated by the spider icon)  Sabretooth, a Villain card The eight red special dice show special icons which are somewhat difficult to distinguish when seen from a larger distance. They show one empty side, one side with an exclamation mark, two sides showing one hit, one side showing two hits and one side with a hit and a "boost" icon. The boost icon allows (or requires) to roll the die a second time, but the first result will be kept as well. Sometimes it's difficult to distinguish the "2 Hits" side from the "Hit & Boost" side, but this isn't very problematic. Unlike the dice in "Doom - The Boardgame" (Fantasy Flight Games) where the icons are only painted on the dice, the icons in Marvel Heroes are carved in. This protects the symbols from wearing off by permanent use - often a problem in Doom - The Boardgame. The graphic presentation is outstanding - besides the small problem with the warping board which was solved in a very fair manner. If you like Marvel comics, you won't be disappointed but can enjoy a very authentic design. You will be feeling at home almost instantly.
Rules	The Rulebook consists of 15 colored pages and are somewhat shorter than the War of the Ring rules. The layout is comic-like and graphically appealing. Despite the fact that the rules appear to be shorter and less complex than WotR, the game isn't as introductory and newbie-friendly as it appears on first glance. It's true that it isn't as complex as WotR but for the average boardgamer / Euro boardgamer it ranges quite high on the complexity scale - so don't be deceived by the comic book topic. Many reviews written by casual boardgamers complain that the rules are far too long, too full of exceptions and that there is too much to keep in mind during play. The average wargamer, who is accustomed to longer rulebooks, won't have any problems though. In interviews the designers, who see themselves as wargame designers, specifically recommend the game to wargamers - even hardcore wargamers - who don't have any fear of contact with the Marvel universe. This is a warning to all Euro boardgamers out there who are interested in the game! Marvel Heroes is not a simple boardgame or a funny in-between game; it demands some dedication and time to get familiarized with the rules before even starting to play. Learning it from an experienced player who can explain the rules to you will reduce these problems. For players with wargame experience - or even consim players - Marvel Heroes will be a nice and relaxing relief from more "serious" topics. Talking about the rules - unfortunately, they come with some problems. The main reason for the shorter rulebook (compared to other wargames) is that the rules contain many black holes. Some aspects (for example the critical timing problem of the special abilities) are dealt with in a much too lax and unspecifical fashion without dealing with the tons of exceptions and single cases. In some aspects the designers used a very sloppy wording which will annoy every wargamer. Some terms are used sometimes as synonyms, sometimes to describe different situations, while wargamers - especially consim players - are used to clearly defined terms describing a single aspect of a game. These wordings add to the confusion and result in a higher difficulty than necessary - as proven by many discussions in the relevant forums (for example at Boardgamegeek or Fantasy Flight Games). One example is the difference between "Cancelling" and "Removing" a KO - two appearently different abilities of some characters. This difference isn't addressed anywhere in the rulebook and there are no descriptions about how to apply these abilities. This results in the fact that some players don't even differentiate between these two abilities.Not do distinguish between these two abilities doesn't make much sense though - Wolverine for example has both abilities. He can "remove and/or cancel" a KO due to his regeneration ability, whereas Sabretooth can only "remove" his KO while Colossus can only "cancel" it. This automatically raises questions during gameplay when dealing with a 2nd KO and the question whether to remove it (and when) and if the battle is over or if one of the abilities can be applied. There is no consensus in forums about this aspect, so I sent the question to Fantasy Flight Games some months ago. Alas, I didn't get an answer so far. Many aspects are scattered throughout the rulebook, so that you have to search for all points dealing with a specific topic. The rulebook doesn't contain an table of contents. The overall layout of the rulebook follows the Sequence of Play, but some topics are mentioned in different chapters. This adds to the confusion due to the synonymous use of different terms (for example when dealing with the story track). This leads to error-prone first games. These errors can only be avoided by considering the errata and clarifications in the official FAQ (vital for avoiding some mistakes in dealing with aspects not mentioned in the rules) or by forum discussions because the problems cannot be solved (or even be recognized) by just reading the rules. This complicates the - actually quite simple - basic game concept and is a barrier especially for unexperienced players. In addition, these inexperienced players, especially boardgamers who bought the game in a shop without doing research on the internet, don't know that they are actually playing some aspects wrong - which were later corrected by the errata in the official FAQ later. If you are not a regular visitor in the relevant forums or if you don't download the FAQ, you will get some points wrong without knowing. (You can download the official FAQ with errata and clarifications here (pdf, 211 KB). Many issues not mentioned in the rulebook are not resolved yet - despite the fact that they were posted multiple times in the official forum or sent to the designers. Some problematic rules were modified by them (for example Dormammu's and the Invisible Woman's Special Abilities) and these rules changes were published in the official FAQ. Not knowing about these rules changes will lead to serious balance problems for players who don't look out for FAQs but who play the game "out of the box". I don't want to sound too negative; the rules have some positive aspects as well. The main elements of the gameplay - for example, the different card types - are described in a very comprehensive manner, supported by illustrations. There are extensive examples for all actions taken during the Sequence of Play (but some of these examples are wrong, so take care!), and the layout is clearly arranged. After some game rounds, the Sequence of Play is internalized and you don't have to consult the rulebook any more. In addition, each player gets his/her own reference card with an abbreviated Sequence of Play and rules summary, nicely and individually designed for each team. Regrettably the cards don't contain all relevant aspects - for example the subdivisions of the single phases are missing. It would have been nice if the Villain reference card had included the different Scheming Options a villain player can take during his scheming phase. As long as you don't memorize them, you are forced to consult the rulebook each time you are scheming. A Reference Card with rules summary (Marvel Knights) On the internet (for example at Boardgamegeek), you can find comprehensive flow charts for the Sequence of Play, which can be quite helpful during your first games. They will help you to get an overview of all options available for your team and your super villain. All things considered, the rules are okay and allow for a good introduction into the game; it is strongly recommended to download the FAQ from the official website and to visit the forums to learn about the details not mentioned in the rules, or about the aspects which have been modified in the meantime or which are written in a very sloppy and confusing fashion - if you don't, you will be forced to use House Rules in order to balance the game or to fill in missing points. I'm not willing to invent House Rules because I think it's the designer's job to provide for playability and balance. The nicely done team specific back side of a reference card (here: X-Men)
Playability	Talking about playability... well, this is a two-sided sword. This skeptical view isn't based on the basic game system but on one single element of the game: The Fantastic Four. But I will discuss this aspect later. Basically, Marvel Heroes is a great game: it transports the atmosphere of the comics to the game board, the game concept is innovative and it offers an interesting strategic and tactical challenge. Some people complain that the game is too luck-based and dicey, but I cannot support this view. Quite the contrary - combat strongly depends on the participating team members you send in as active and supporting heroes as well as from a clever use of their special combat abilities. These abilities must be chosen carefully with a close look at the opponent's abilities. In addition, you should consider using allies to compensate your heroes' weaknesses. By considering all circumstances of a battle, you have a bunch of options to determine your personal strengths and weaknesses in the upcoming battle round and to guess which of his abilities your opponent will use to counter your own abilities. Eventually the battles will be fought with dice and this means you can make some very lucky or unlucky rolls - but you can always evaluate and minimize the risk of a given battle if you know how to play your team and how to use the single team members with their specific strengths and weaknesses. These considerations are very interesting and force the player into serious decision-making. The Backside of one of the super hero cards The basic game concept that one player controls a team of superheroes as well as the Nemesis of another team, is very interesting. It keeps you in the game - either by controlling your own team or by participating in the action as an opponent of one of the other teams. When you are playing with two players, the other player automatically becomes each villain appearing at the scene. In a multiplayer game, all players can participate in a combat and add villains from their hand if they like to. A game takes (depending on the scenario) a given number of game rounds, the average game takes 4 rounds, each round consisting of 5 action phases. Some scenarios end automatically once a player has reached a certain number of Victory Points (at least 15). The game contains 10 scenarios which are based upon comic storylines (for example "Galactus is Coming"). Most of these scenarios introduce special rules (for example that team power-ups cost 2 instead of 3 story cards, or that the difficulty level ("threat level") of all "crime" headlines is raised by 1). Some scenarios include a "Master Headline" which can be solved at game end and which provides additional victory points. With good timing, a second or even third place team could outrun the number one team in the final seconds of the game. During the game, "Headlines" appear in the districts of New York City. In a two player game, Queens and Brooklyn are out of play, the play area is limited to the four Manhattan areas. In one of the four districts of each area appears a "Headline" which could be a threat, a crime or a riddle. These headlines tell the "storyline" of the game and are taken from the various comics. The picture shows a "Mystery" Headline, other types are "Danger" and "Crime". In addition, each headline demands for a talent which helps a team in solving the hadline (here: Protection). Each superhero has one or two of these talents. If you send a hero into a district who has the corresponding talent to solve the headline, he can ignore "Dice Boosting" when determining the final Trouble Level. The higher the trouble level, the stronger the villains who appear in the area. To ignore Dice Boosting (which is obligatory for other heroes) means that dice showing a "Boost" icon won't be rolled again. This increases the chances of getting a lower final trouble level than a hero without the corresponding talents. The left number determines the "Threat Level", i.e. the difficulty level of a scenario. 3 is the lowest, 8 the highest level. If there are thunderbolts besides a number, a "Mastermind" is possibly behind the events. If a player decides to solve the headline, his opponent can choose if he wants to send the supervillain into the district. The right number shows the number of victory points a player gets for solving the headline. A Mastermind Headline At the start of a game round, teams get "Plot Points" which are the currency used to pay for actions. To get a character ready for action costs a number of plot points corresponding to his level. Some characters - such as Jean Grey and Dr. Strange - are very expensive in the beginning. They are level 3 characters, but players only get 4 Plot Points at the start of the game. This means that sending them into battle right away prevents players from taking other, often necessary, actions. To send a character into "support" and to use their specific support ability costs 1 Plot Point regardless of the Hero's level. In addition, you can add some "Allies" to your superhero team. You draw your allies from the resource deck. Allies which belong to your own team (depending on the backstory in the comics) are cheaper than allies belonging to another team. The special abilities of these allies can be used any time, for example to support combats. However, they don't stay in your team forever but will be "spent" if you use them. Once you've distributed your Plot Points, the next game round begins. In this round, all players can take 5 alternating actions. Here they have different options: "Movement" allows a player to move one active super hero and his supporter in one of the districts where he wants so solve a headline, or to move from one district to another. "Healing Action" allows a player to heal a wounded hero currently in "Recovery" status. A "Story Action" manipulates the story track (consisting of 4 parts). The story track symbolizes the teams' publicity and public acceptance, as told by newspaper headlines. The last story card will be pushed off the track and given to the player of the team which is discussed in the latest newspaper article. This means, this team made it on page 1! Three story cards can be used to buy a Team Power Up which is very important for upgrading your team. Alternatively, you can move one of your own story cards on the track to the front position, thus banishing another team from the Daily Bugle's Front page. A "Support Action" allows characters currently in support to do one support action - if they possess a support action ability. Examples of these actions are "Cerebro" by Jean Grey, "Weapon X" by Wolverine, "Sanctum of the Sorcerer Supreme" by Dr. Strange or "Peter Parker" by Spider Man. These actions generate Plot Points, Resource cards or manipulate the story track. Not all heroes possess support action abilities; some have support abilities which assist in solving a headline or have impact on combat. The final option is "Troubleshooting" - the attempt to solve a headline. Heroes must be in the corresponding district to choose this action.They then determine the final Trouble Level, taking their talents into account, and fight against the villains appearing at the scene. If they succeed in defeating the lead villain, they score the victory points of the headline. If the villain wins, the beaten superheroes must return to their headquarters and are sent into recovery. They must be healed from their wounds before they can be sent back into combat in the coming game rounds. Some villains show a special icon - they become a "Most Wanted Villain" if they win a battle. All players can choose them instead of choosing a villain from their hand when they have to fight a team of superheroes. (A report about the Juggernaut running amok as a Most Wanted Villain in our test game AAR X-Men vs. Marvel Knights (available in German only) The questions of which action to take in your precious 5 action rounds, when to do them (timing is a crucial aspect of the game), which characters to activate with your few plot points - or if you should save your Plot Points and spend an entire game round with support actions only - and what to do with whom in which combination in which district - are very important and guarantee very suspenseful and interesting gameplay. Once you have answered these questions for yourself during your planning phase, you have to deal with the combats where you will be forced to make some hard decisions, again. Which of the three superhero abilities will be used against which villain? The answer to this question often depends on the initiative, i.e. who strikes first in battle. In addition, it's possible for both sides (with the help of some certain actions and abilities) to switch initiative - so sometimes abilities which are quite risky because they are very one-sided, can prove fatal when used with the wrong timing. The super hero's abilities (here: Captain America) With three of the teams - the X-Men, Marvel Knights and Avengers - the playability is great. The composition of these teams is quite tricky, they have strengths and weaknesses which differ strongly from the strengths and weaknesses of the other teams. You need some experience to use each of these teams and their individual members in an optimal fashion. It requires some skill to play them and they show very specific differences in their reactions to Headlines. A good recommendation for new players is to concentrate on one team first and to play some scenarios with them in order to find out which member and which combination of members is suited best for a given job. The Avengers for example have two team members who can take 3 KOs (Hulk and Thor); a third member, Iron Man, can be "upgraded" to taking 3 KOs by using a team power-up. This means they are the physically strongest superheroes in the game, while other teams - such as the X-Men or Marvel Knights - don't have any members with 3 KOs at all. Physically, the Marvel Knights are the weakest team because Daredevil and Elektra will leave the scene after their first KO. The downside of the Avenger's strength is that it's quite expensive to activate their heroes, while the Marvel Knights can generate Plot Points with the help of Dr. Strange - thus enhancing their flexibility and options. In addition, the X-Men and Marvel Knights can manipulate the story track which is vital for gaining team power-ups (thanks to Cerebro and Peter Parker), while the Avengers are forced to take regular Story Actions to get hold of "their" cards. X-Men and Marvel Knights both have only one character whose activiation is expensive (Jean Grey and Dr. Strange both cost 3 Plot Points), while the X-Men's combination of talents (Mystic, Danger, Rescue, Protection, Investigation, Fight) is the most disadvantageous. There are even some headlines for which they don't have any talents. Cyclops, who can also take only 1 KO, has very difficult and problematic special abilities regarding his optical beam. All of his abilities show weaknesses in two of the three aspects "Attack", "Defense" and "Outwit". Marvel Knight's Elektra has a very weak defense regardless of her special abilitiy used. Which characters to use as active fighters and which to use for the (much cheaper) support, must be learned by experience. The four supervillains are very different, too. It is a hot topic in most forums whether there are stronger and weaker supervillains - in fact, all of them have their own specific strengths and weaknesses and it depends on how you play them. They all become quite dangerous once they start to realize their master plans because this enhances their abilities and options. We didn't discover any extremely powerful or extremely weak supervillain; they require some skill and experience to use them and some are harder to master than others. A Supervillain's special abilities (here: Dr. Doom) Gameplay with all three teams is a very unique experience because they differ much according to their individual strengths and weaknesses. They all demand heavy thinking and decision-making - especially because of the limited resources -, but they are all very interesting to play. During playtesting, we sent them into the race against each other in all combinations and all games were very well-balanced. Often the last action in the last game turn decided who won the game. During gameplay the teams outran each other various times and they were head-to-head in victory points. Playing Marvel Heroes with 2-3 players and only these three teams, the game provides for a exciting challenge and the strategic aspects are surprisingly demanding. Unfortunately, all this isn't true for the fourth team in Marvel Heroes - the Fantastic Four. And this is the most devastating downside of the game. For 2-3 players, Marvel Heroes can be recommended as a funny, interesting and challenging game which will even entertain a consim player (if he doesn't fear contact with the Marvel Universe). But I would strongly advise against playing Marvel Heroes as a 4-player game - because the Fantastic Four destroy play balance and spoil the basic game mechanics (the need for decision-making and resource point plotting). This team definitely is broken. Besides this, it's interesting neither to play them nor to compete against them. This is based on a very simple reason: The active combat ability of Mr. Fantastic in combination with the Invisible Woman's Support Ability is absurdly powerful. They are so overpowered that even the strongest villains in the game (Juggernaut, Sentinels or Dormammu) don't stand a chance against them. Their Nemesis, Dr. Doom (aka "Dr. Doomed"), is absolutely helpless against them and has serious problems to even accomplish the first step of his Masterplan. Of course you could limit yourself and only use Human Torch and The Thing, voluntarily ignoring Mr. and Mrs. Fantastic's "Unstoppables" combination. But this would be a weak move regarding victory strategies. Why should a player be forced to refrain from his most powerful combination just to offer himself and the other players some more variety and tension or to avoid frustrating the opponents? Currently (May 2007) the F4 are the main focus of discussions in the entire Marvel Heroes gamer scene. Even discussions with the designers didn't solve the problems; in fact, they confirmed the option of playing this combination in an ensuing clarification. Most players hoped that the unstoppable combination was the result of a misunderstanding of the card texts, but this wasn't the case. The designers themselves don't see any need for action (despite the fact that they announced to "keep an eye on the problem"), they are of the opinion that this combination is far too expensive to be powered in an effective fashion. We examined this question in the HFC test lab and came to a different conclusion. If you aim your gameplay at using the "Unstoppables" combination, you can fuel it after two warming-up rounds and use it until the end of the game. The main argument that fueling the combination with Plot Points takes too long and that the other teams could score headlines in the mean time is irrelevant. They can, but that's pointless. There is not even a guarantee that the F4 will win the scenario by using their powerful combination - they don't. Fact is, they can solve any headline by using this combination, regardless of the difficulty level, regardless of possessing the required talents, and regardless of the headline type. The Trouble Level is of no importance either; the F4 will defeat each villain they will face (except with very, very bad dice or in one of the rare instances where the opponent possesses a Scrull-Warriors or Agents card which forbids the use of the super heroe's special abilities, but to rely on these instances isn't a strategy). Even Dr. Doom is worthless against them - which led to the unjustified accusation he is a weak and sucking super villain. He isn't, we tested him in "Acts of Vengeance" against the other teams. He is everything but a weak opponent, especially when realizing his Master Plan. It's the F4 who render him pointless. The backside of one of the four super villain cards My main allegation isn't that the F4 win each game (they don't), but they win each combat with this combination. The other two team members get a very raw deal here - and that's sad because they have very cool special abilities, too. The team is an absolute "no-brainer", it doesn't even matter which of Mr. Fantastic's three special abilities are chosen (during the test games, I mostly resorted to the "yellow" ability, the rubber ball). They don't depend on allies because they can negate all negative dice results without spending precious plot points on expensive allies. With the other teams, you are forced to make decisions in each new combat round, to evaluate your opponent, to consider your and his strengths and weaknesses - you don't have to do this with the Unstoppables. You don't have to think at all, all you need is a nice and comfortable pool of resource cards (which you will get due to Mr. Fantastic's Support ability during the first two rounds in plentiful lots) - and then you can win all combats with a bored yawn. Mr. Fantastic does remove all of the opponent's dice showing two hit icons, Mrs. Fantastic removes all dice with a boost icon. You don't even have to use both powers most of the time (thus saving resource cards). It's sufficient to destroy your opponent's dice results. It isn't a single bit challenging or demanding to play this team and it virtually hurts to spend your Plot Points on these two guys while leaving the other two in the Baxter Building. But it's pointless to activate the weaker team members and risk being defeated while knowing that you have the chance of solving even the biggest, most dangerous headline without resistance. Currently, players discuss this topic very emotionally - this leads to curious advice such as "it's good sportsmanship to abstain from using this combination" - but this cannot be the key to save the game. Would a sportsman use poorer equipment or slow himself down just to ensure his opponents enjoy the competition? Many players resorted to House Rules, for example allowing the F4 combination only once per combat round or ignore the Invisible Woman-clarification in the official FAQ (as well as many other FAQ clarifications) and play her in a wrong fashion voluntarily. The "Unstoppables" aka "The Fantastic 2" in action In addition, the F4's opponents can forget all strategies developed and established versus the other teams - they are forced to accumulate as much victory points as possible - and fast! They have a small time window while the F4 are fueling their resource cards. This means, they are forced to take higher risks, to take chances they won't take during a "normal" game. It has become a saying: "In combat, all fight against the villains. The rest of the time, all fight against the Fantastic Four". This cannot be the whole purpose of the game - and it destroys any tension and strategy. Besides this, no player in a multiplayer game will voluntarily sacrifice a strong lead villain (for example the Juggernaut) against the F4, because he knows this villain will be eaten for breakfast. He will save him for fighting one of the other teams where he could do at least some damage. This will eventually lead to the fact that the F4 will be waved through the headlines because no one opts to confront them. This problem absolutely needs some fixing because the F4 ruin an otherwise great game! To leave them out of the game and to concentrate on the other 3 - well balanced - teams cannot be a solution (and it definitely isn't for all the F4 fans out there!). I still hope that the designers will eventually react to the criticism and completely overhaul the F4. Besides this very, very big problem and the sloppy rules, there is nothing I can say against the playability. The gameplay is fast, dynamic and interesting and challenging. Because of the great variety of options, no two games are alike. An average game takes about 3-4 hours and can be played in an afternoon.
Replay Value	High (except with the F4; you should play them once for informational purpose, but then you will leave them in the box anyway). To concern yourself with the three other teams, to find out their abilities and specialties, to combine them, to decide how to use them and how to manage their resources will not become boring for a long, long time. In addition, the headlines are chosen randomly and the scenarios sometimes add some special rules. It's possible that there will be expansions to the game somewhere in the future (the designer's didn't deny the rumors), so there will be enough replay value and long time motivation. One more criticism, though. The ten scenarios included in the game could be somewhat more innovative. They differ in the title, but the overall victory conditions are much too similar to each other to allow for much variety. While "Born Again" could be considered as the introductory scenario, the rulebook promises "more complex and deeper game experiences" with the other scenarios. As a matter of fact, most of the victory conditions are: "Get a number of victory points" (about 15) or "Play a number of game turns" (about 4) and then solve a master headline. Sometimes the Threat Level of one Headline type is raised by 1. Some scenarios, such as "House of M" or "The Brood" indicate that there was a chance to introduce many more special rules for each scenario, for example in order to come closer to the comic storylines and re-tell them. Instead of using this chance, most of the scenarios use standard victory conditions which isn't very innovative. For me, it's very dissatisfying that players are not forced to solve the "Master Headline" - it's completely voluntary and in reality they don't play any role. More innovative, different scenarios with individual special rules and much better story telling would be quite helpful in enhancing the replay value. Last but not least, I want to mention that the rules don't answer some questions raised in the "House of M" scenario. At the end of the scenario, each team appoints two super heros to face Magneto. Neither the scenario description nor the rulebook specify the two superhero's "jobs" - whether they both are "ready" or whether one is going into support. This has a very heavy impact on balance and gameplay between the different teams and would demand employing very different strategies. In addition, it's not clear what to do if two teams have the same amount of victory points at the end of the scenario when the "boss fight" is triggered (this happened in one of our test games). This is quite typical for the entire game - small details and sloppy wording impair the good overall impression of the game; one small sentence would have been sufficient to solve these questions.
Creativity	The game concept appears fresh and innovative. It strongly differs from War of the Ring which means the designers didn't copy themselves. There is strategic depth combined with an appropriate amount of rules, due to the combination of the special abilities, the differences between the teams, the resource management and the planning- and action sequences. The comic design is very attractive. I don't know another game using the same or similar basic mechanics, but I'm a consim player, not a regular boardgamer and don't have much experiences with lighter boardgames. I don't know whether the game consists of genuine new ideas or if the designers adjusted some older or popular boardgame elements.
Simulation	Low. The game is defined as a fun wargame and it's main focus is on transporting an authentic comic book atmosphere instead of creating an accurate simulation. All heroes possess their typical abilities (Cpt. America can throw his shield, Cyclops has his optic beam, Storm manipulates the weather, Thor throws his hammer...) and each character is very unique and easily recognized by the fan. The same is true for the villains which are abstracted by cards. They all have their typical abilities already known from the comic books. All characters are presented in a very authentic way, but the entire game system is far too abstract and the level not complex enough to be considered a true simulation.
Solitaire factor	Not recommended. Marvel Heroes is intended as a multiplayer game and definitely not as a solitaire game. It's a fun wargame with a main focus on evaluating your own abilities versus your opponent's abilities - and by playing a kind of poker game with them. Combat is fought by hidden determination of your current combat strategy each round. Both players reveal their strategy simultaneously. This won't work if you already know what your opponent will do in combat.
Can be compared to...	A common factor the game shares with War of the Ring is that many characters from their respective universes are included in the game by an abstract card system - both on the heroes' and on the villains' sides. The basic game gameplay remotely reminds me of Doom - the Boardgame. In contrast to Doom, the board isn't used as an actual game board where you move your figures from space to space.
Short Review	As you may have already guessed, my opinion about Marvel Heroes is somewhat ambivalent. It would be a perfect game - if the F4 were playable and well-balanced. Until then, the game is definitely on of the best 3-player Mavel strategy game, with the minor problem that it is sold as a 4-player game. I won't repeat my arguments here, but I want to appeal to the designers to do something about the F4! They should fix them (there are a lot of suggestions about how to deal with the problem all over the internet), so that the F4 become an interesting, well-balanced team you want to solve headlines with and which will have to face the same hard decisions as any other team. As long as the team isn't fixed, I can only recommend the game for 2-3 players, but if you are a Marvel Fan, you should really consider playing it! The game requires some fantasy and imagination because many events are abstracted. Many people complain that they don't unterstand some elements of the game, for example the story track. The main game happens inside your head and not on the board - and this is the main fun. The game invites you to cite famous superhero phrases or to make noises such as "SNIKT" or "BAMF" or do some prominent gestures while using your hero's abilities. To play the X-Men, the Avengers and the Marvel Knights is fun and challenging. The strategic depth is astonishing - you don't realize it at first glance, but if you wholeheartedly play the game, you will realize that you can actually optimize your team and minimize the luck factor. Regrettably, the scenarios lack some variety. Graphically, the game is great. The graphic design is true to the comic books. The sloppy rules can be understood when studied with some dedication, but you should prepare for the fact that not all questions are answered in a satisfactory fashion. If you are an inexperienced or casual boardgamer, Marvel Heroes could be (as well as War of the Ring) somewhat too complex - we repeatedly realized this by reading the tons of questions asked in the forums and the huge number of wrongly played rules as well as by the complaints about the long time people need to learn the game and about the amount of stuff and exceptions players must memorize. An experienced wargamer won't have any problems once the rules are internalized and the black holes are filled. I recommend the game to each wargamer with an interest in the Marvel universe, experience with games of the Axis & Allies level will suffice. War of the Ring or consim players won't have any problems at all and actually think the game to be quite easy. All things considered, Marvel Heroes is a great game with a very, very big flaw.

Review Overview

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