A Brand New Poll!

There's a new poll up now, look in the sidebar for it! :D

-- SHSOFan.

What a Relief! (Maybe)

I'm hoping that this sale means that the changed zones and loading screen will only be here for a day, and that we'll get an awesome new loading screen on the 1st of October, which is, by the way, just around the corner.

On second thought, though, the zones are probably here to stay. But there's no point in not hoping!

Anyway, about the sale! Hawkeye is not for sale but everyone else is. They are now 480 gold except Iron Man who is 960 gold.

Anyway, I'm crossing my fingers that we'll at least get new loading screens! I'd hate to have YET ANOTHER Avengers month with the same loading screen it's had for three months previously!

-- SHSOFan.

Hero Review - Astonishing Cyclopes

EXPLORATION

Astonishing Cyclopes has a standard exploration configuration, with no flying abilities and a single jump. But exploring as him is much more fun then you'd expect, thanks to his awesome first power emote. It's quick and it's cool, and it makes an "X" symbol in the ground.

I give his EXPLORATION a 3.5/5!

FIGHTING

I ran through Attack of the Iron Men with Cyclopes. He's a tiny bit slow and a bit weaker then I'd expect, but he has a stunning Hero Up! (geddit? It stuns the enemy?)

His first power attack is pretty decent too, giving a cool quick burst of lighting fast optic blasts.

I give his FIGHTING a 3.3/5!

COOL FACTOR

Astonishing Cyclopes looks better then his blue and yellow counterpart, and I like the muted colors.

I give his COOL FACTOR a 3/5!

OVERALL SCORE: A for Average

A fun hero to have, but his attacks could be more powerful and faster paced.

-- SHSOFan.

A New Release and An Old Release

As many of you now know, my "Tiny Prediction" was a "tiny" bit wrong. They released Astonishing Cyclopes early, which is to say late, because he was supposed to be out on Wednesday. They also put the Loki zones back. My best guess is that that's what they're using as the Halloween theme. I for one hope that isn't the case. I loved the previous Halloween themed zones and I wish they'd just bring those back with the Mysterio mission and a few Halloween themed heroes, like Man-Thing or Moon Knight.

Instead they're not only recycling the zones, but the loading screen! You'd think the least they'd do would be to make a new one, and it's about time, seeing as we've got nothing but old heroes on the loading screens these past months. It's sad. At least the new hero didn't disappoint! I'm happy to report that Astonishing Cyclopes doesn't just have a new paint job, but new attacks and animations, and anew voice work! I've split his review off from this post because it's really a separate feature, and I want the hero reviews to be easy to find. So... because they released AC today instead of on the first day of October means... ANOTHER PREDICTION!

First of all, let me remind you guys about the only completely confirmed heroes that are coming soon, Hope Summers and the Mark II Armor. Today's loading screen wallpaper, (Avengers attacking Loki), suggests that this month was the X-Men month of AvX. Think about it. First Avenging Wolverine, Astonishing Cyclopes (who was released late, probably due to technical problems), and then if they release Hope Summers sometime soon, like first day of October or the first Wednesday of October, or something like that, then it suggests to me that October will be the Avengers part of two AvX months. It would also mean that the Mark II will be the release after Hope Summers, and that there may be other Avengers coming our way.

OR... I'm completely wrong and this month is just Halloween month and they forgot to release Hope and the Mark II, or couldn't because they couldn't meet the deadline.

Anyway, here's hoping they have a proper Spiderman month soon, with a cool new Amazing Spiderman and Iron Spider and the Mysterio mission.

-- SHSOFan.

A Tiny Prediction

On their Facebook page SHSO hinted at Astonishing Cyclopes. However, today did not see his release, which surprised me because usually when a sale is released on Wednesday instead of a hero, they'll release the hero on Thursday. Also, the hero is usually released on the day after the hint.

But seeing as that isn't the case, my prediction is that the first hero of October that they release will be Cyclopes, meaning that this month was a sale month, which explains the non-theme loading screens, and it also means that October is their Avengers vs. X-Men month.

If that's the case, then I can also say with some certainty that we'll see the releases of Bishop and Professor X, who were both leaked thanks to a panel at some convention but have yet to appear. We may also get to see White Phoenix.  On the Avengers side we might get Arctic Armor Ironman or that female Black Panther, (or both)!

If they decide to have their Halloween themed month later instead of sneaking it into the AvX month, I expect that it will be November, and that we'll get the Mysterio Mission then, plus maybe more characters from Blade, (I don't know the comic so I'm not sure but vampires seem like a Halloween month type thing and if they ever release more Blade characters that's when it'll be), maybe even Squirrel Girl, (who was also hinted at).

And those are my predictions for next month and the month after. Of course, we have yet to see what happens. The fact that Avenging Wolverine was released early suggests that they have a lot of X-Men to release. Not to mention Cable. Both releases were not shown on the loading screen and were completely out of the blue. I hope that in the following months their loading screens will be like they were before, showing off cool new heroes early, which amps up the anticipation. With releases that come out of the blue however, there's no time to get properly excited. :P

-- SHSOFan.

Blade Is A Great Fighter

Today I tried to run through the Sabretooth mission with Blade. It didn't work out, thanks to my computer being a grade A lag, but what I was able to do was enough to get to use Blade's second power attack, where he uses a garlic launcher to KO enemies. And when I say KO I mean KO!

The garlic launcher is a wonderful power attack and I can't wait to see what else Blade has up his coat sleeves.

-- SHSOFan.

TOP TEN - SHSO Missions

In Super Hero Squad Online, missions come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Below are my personal TOP THREE TOUGHEST MISSIONS, TOP THREE EASIEST MISSIONS, TOP THREE MOST FUN MISSIONS, and my NUMBER ONE PERSONAL FAVORITE MISSION! Add it up and that's ten missions! (see what I did there?)

Ever heard anybody complain about a Magneto mission? "Awww man he got me with his magnetic trash!" Or a Doc Ock mission? "Man, I was instant K.Oed whoa!"

Well, you haven't seen anything yet. These missions are TOUGH. The bosses are unrelenting. You almost never get Adamantium on these. These are the missions that you have to play a gazillion, (ha? ha?) times before you learn the patterns and get it right.

3RD TOUGHEST!

Any mission with Super Skrull in it. The skrulls are at most annoying during the first one or two stages. It's true, they are pesky. But wait until the boss battle! Super Skrull took me ages to figure out. Whenever I would start a good way down the combo chain, he would disappear! Then, as I was looking for him, he'd pop up from behind and get you with his forcefield. Then, when you were stunned, he'd rock smash the ground and K.O. you. Ugh.

2ND TOUGHEST!

Dormammu LOOKS tough. Flaming heads = tough in my book. Well, it's true. I have NEVER, NOT ONCE gotten Adamantium on this mission. It's true I've only played it five or so times. But can you blame me for not wanting to get beaten again and again and again? I've played this alone and with people and there seems to be no difference. This mission is WAAAY tougher then a Magneto mission, at least for me.

1ST TOUGHEST!

Why is this mission so hard?! It's so weird. After all, he's Doctor Doom's crony! But with Mini-Modoks that get in your way, an annoying spin that keeps you from getting anywhere close, and a malicious head laser attack, this mission is really impossible.

What are your top three toughest missions? Tell me in the comments!

These missions are the easiest. They're the ones where you basically lay back and let your hero do the work. These missions go by fast, and you can usually do them several times. They're bosses are gone in a heartbeat. They're minions are finished within seconds. Here is my list of Top Three Easiest missions.

3RD EASIEST!

Yes, yes, Doc Ock has an Instant K.O. move. But if you avoid it, this mission goes by like a snap. With the additions of buttons that make it possible to stun multiple enemies with giant claws, (it used to K.O. them in the beta version but they fixed that), you can be surrounded by enemies, and then just walk over a button and suddenly you'll only be fighting one. These buttons also make the ending battle really easy. All you have to do is maneuver the Doc into position and walk over the button. It's all over so fast that the Doc's helper 'bot is barely noticeable.

2ND EASIEST!

I have churned through this mission more then 40 times, and the reason why is that it's so EASY! It's over before it begins. One minute you're on the rooftops of a city, the next, the boss is lying on the ground. This mission makes the mistake of putting a lot of enemies in one place, so if you have a hero with a wide ranged, big damage Hero Up, the enemies are gone before they start fighting you.

1ST EASIEST!

This mission takes the prize because it is so short. With only two rounds and only two Sentinels to break the tedium, this mission is really easy to churn through. In the old days, when we were rewarded 18 tickets for a solo Adamantium mission, I used to go through it three times in twenty minutes and get over 54 tickets in one day! Pretty neat, huh? Of course now, it's almost not worth it, with a pitiful 6 ticket turnout. Sigh.

What are your top three easiest missions? Tell me in the comments!

These missions make you feel great when they're completed. You feel like the coolest person in the world as you slash your way through waves of enemies in a second as Wolverine, or casually walk around a corner, toss a grenade, and walk out as they explode as Punisher.

3RD MOST FUN!

This game lets you beat up Iron Man... as Iron Man, (if you're playing as him that is)!

How cool is that?! The mission also throws several small annoying enemies your way that feel really good to smash through as Daredevil, or some other fast character.

And like I said before, if it makes playing as Hawkeye fun, it's gotta be good, right?!

2ND MOST FUN!

This was one of the first missions I played in the game and it is still just as fun to this day. I really felt cool when I waltzed on through as Hulk, and the two new blue robotic octopus henchmen add a level of toughness to the mission without making it unbearable.

1ST MOST FUN!

The bombs play a big part in making this mission the most fun. The way you can run away from ninjas while simultaneously triggering a bomb countdown and having it explode is really cool. Also, dodging Green Goblin during the boss fight is really fun, not to mention making one of his own bombs go off in his face.

What's your personal list of top three most fun missions? Tell me in the comments!

First of all, this mission is new, which means I haven't played it too often, and that's a good thing. Another is Ultron's awesome robotic voice. Maybe it's smashing rust bombs on enemies, or blasting less powerful wind-up Ultrons as Cable, but this mission remains a fun, fresh take on a previously seen villain.

What's your favorite mission? Tell me in the comments!

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Well, that wraps up my first Top Ten post! Tell me what you thought in the comments!

In the future, there will be more mission reviews and hero reviews!

-- SHSOFan.

The First Developer Blog Post is Here!

Yesterday an awesome developer post was posted onto the SHSO official site.

It lists the Mark II Iron Man armor, Astonishing Cyclopes and Hope Summers as the heroes that'll be coming into the game soon. It also says that this month's theme is "Avengers vs. X-Men", something that was rather unclear seeing as this month's loading screen images are rather vague and don't really show any new heroes. Aside from that, it also has a fascinating description of the process involved in making a hero. So, read it already!

---

In other news, I haven't been able to get into the game recently thanks to my horrible, horrible internet.

I'm hoping it will stop being such a pain soon. As far as my latest What-If goes, I haven't worked on it too much in the past months. Things are pretty busy for me so I'll have to wait until everything quiets down before I start working on it again.

-- SHSOFan.

Poll Results

The poll results are in! Awesome! Eight people voted on this poll, which is bit more then usual.

Anyway, thanks to you readers, I will now tailor my blog more to your specifications! Look for a few Top Ten lists coming your way, along with some codes I have found that STILL work, more of my theories about what's coming soon, more pictures AND longer posts, polls asking what What-If I should do next, an improved layout, special mission reviews of only the new missions, and more detailed hero reviews!!

To start off, I will now give you guys one of the best working codes for SHSO there currently is:

MJR07

This code can be found in any Spiderman comic on the stands nowadays and is pretty easy to find. In case you're wondering it gives you 250 gold! So if you needed the boost, you're welcome! :D

Right now the only news is that there's a sale, so that's why I haven't been posting too often, in case you're wondering.

-- SHSOFan.

Postscript: Once again, a big THANK YOU to my readers, who voted on this poll and helped make this blog even more awesome! If you have any ideas about how to make this blog more like the blog you wish you could read, please leave me a comment!

Neat Leveling Tip!

Blade is enjoying his pizza

So right now I've been trying to level up Black Widow. I have a ton of heroes to max, and it's taking way more time then it should. That's why I'm employing a trick I used when I got a whole bunch of heroes that I wanted to max, (from the challenges), at virtually the same time. Whenever there's a few heroes that I wouldn't mind skipping, I level up both the hero that I'm currently trying to max, and the one I don't want to max simultaneously. How do you do this? It's easier then it seems. Every day they reset the five hero tokens that you can find all over the city. I've counted, and the amount you get from all of them is roughly 500 xp, plus the 50 xps you can get from assorted robbers, Lokies, and dogs.
I've learned how to move anywhere in the Daily Bugle zone with a double jump character, and those are the most fun to collect Hero tokens with. Every day I log on and get as many hero tokens as I can on each character I want to max. They level up faster then you'd expect this way, because it normally takes only two days per level, seeing as most of the xp requirements are around 1000. So yeah, that's my neat leveling tip! I'm not the kind of guy who likes to level up heroes in one day, so I normally have to resort to this method. Its also a good way to keep from having to battle with a bad fighting character, like Black Panther or Samurai Wolverine. So I hope this tip helped you, and if it didn't, no need to worry, I may have a few more tips in the future! :D

Also, I've been busy, so sorry for not working much on the latest What-If. I may be able to do that later in the day.

-- SHSOFan.

A Little Blog Stat Report

I just wanted to write a little post to tell you guys that August was the highest amount of views in a month this blog has gotten so far, (1342), and that JUST yesterday, September 1st, this blog had more views then it did in it's first month! So, thank you for helping to reach this milestone! :D

-- SHSOFan.

The New Poll!

You may have noticed there's a new poll in the sidebar! :D

I've been thinking a lot about how to make this blog more geared to what you guys would like, so I made this poll to see what would be most interesting for you! I've enabled multiple answers, so you don't need to choose just one. Just choose the ones you'd most like to see. Using the highest voted answers, I'll try to base my writing style and post content on what you guys would like to see.

Here's a list that explains these answers more to help in your decision!

To bring back Mission Reviews!

This means I would bring back the mission reviews that I used to do, and review every mission in the game. Example!

More detailed Hero Reviews!

I would start reviewing new releases in more detailed ways, with more categories and less blabbing.

Example!

Greater emphasis on stats!

My posts would have more statistics, such as how much damage certain attacks dish out.

More codes and release previews!

The header of this blog reads "news and sneak peeks", but I haven't given out any sneak peeks in a while. If this option is highly voted on, I will not only show more pictures of heroes, I will post codes and others things that I have skirted around doing for the most part. Example!

Reader-chosen What-Ifs!

Instead of me choosing what I'd to make a What-If about, you, the reader of this blog, would have more say. I would give you a huge poll filled with options, like this one, and you would vote on the one you would like most. Example!

More theories about release dates and speculation!

I would make more posts with little calendars with my predictions for the month's releases and speculate even more about what the next month will bring. I've done this before on the blog, but not in moderation. Example!

More pictures!

My posts would contain a greater number of pictures.

Longer posts!

I would write longer posts and basically talk my head off as much as possible. While this means you would have more to read you would also have less to read, in a sense. However, just think about how comfortable it is to read a long post after breakfast. Example!

A new and improved layout for the blog!

I've been meaning to work a bit on this blog's layout for a time, but this would shift it to priority number one! I would widen the blog a bit, so that the pictures could be bigger, and I would make a new header and background, and add a few gadgets and perhaps a welcome video as well.

More "special" posts, like a Top Ten, or something like it!

These posts, like the ever popular What-Ifs, my old Mission Reviews, and my upcoming Ultimate Challenge Guide, would be more frequent. I would start making lists, like Top Ten Fighting Heroes, or Top Ten Missions, or Best Zone.

More "ranting" posts!

I would make more posts where I rant about something that annoys me in the game. I've done this in the past, but I would make an effort to do it more. Here's an example, and here's another example!

Okay, I think that covers it! Make sure to vote if you are reading this, and also don't forget to read the post below this, because I'm worried that this one will cover it up, which happens occasionally when I write two posts in one day. 

Bye for today!

-- SHSOFan.

New Releases & Improvements!

So today I logged on and discovered a nice new loading screen! It's pretty cool, but I'm dying for a "themed" month again. Anyway, they have several new releases and improvements today, so I'll start with improvements.

IMPROVEMENTS

Today Hawkeye, (not Avengers Hawkeye, just Hawkeye), got a few improvements, apparently. I say apparently because the only new thing I've noticed is that now he can double jump. I played the new mission with him, (see below), but I didn't notice anything new in his combo either.

NEW

I'll start with the big one: a new hero! Yup, it's a repaint of Wolverine. But I was interested enough to buy him, unlike the two other Wolverines in the store, which I have been passing over when I'm writing my want list. I played the daily mission with him and Jean Grey, and I had a lot more fun then I was expecting to have. 

Fighting as Avenging Wolverine sure makes you feel cool! :D

He has a new Hero Up, which is an "X-smash" that leaves a jagged Avengers logo in the ground. It's pretty cool, but when I was exploring as him in the zones for some reason there was no "kick" to the animation. I hope they fix that. I also encountered a glitch where I was stuck being invisible in the Daily Bugle zone and I could only get out of it when I played a mission. SPEAKING OF MISSIONS, there's a new mission with Magneto where you fight various versions of Iron Man's armor!

Classic Cyclopes, at least I think so!

Taking on the toasters. Hawkeye's sniper status makes this difficult.

I KOed the MK1!

Stealth Armor Iron Man sure wasn't being too stealthy with those fireballs!

So, are these new items worth getting? Definitely! If you're a fan of Wolverine, the Avengers, or if you just want to buy a Wolverine, then I would recommend Avenging Wolverine. Why him over the other guy? I've played on the Street Clothes version of the normal Wolverine, so even though I don't own the original I've experienced his combo, power attacks, and emotes. I had a lot more fun playing as this Wolverine. Plus, this guy doesn't drink half as much soda. As for the new mission, it's pretty fun and also rather easy for a Magneto mission, (I got Adamatium on my first run). Besides, if it makes fighting as Hawkeye fun, it's gotta be good, right? ;)

As a final note, I leveled up Hawkeye while testing out his new double jump!

-- SHSOFan.