Marvel Heroes has been in the wild for quite some time, but June 4 marked the official launch for the any interested gamer. Gazillion’s dungeon crawling Marvel title saw a mini-series focusing on the rise of Doctor Doom. This four-part motion comic was not part of the opening cinematic. Nope. Players beginning their adventure were meet with a completely different production.

Presented as an animated short, the trailer introduces players to numerous Marvel mainstays, from Iron Man to the Hulk, and a quick synopsis of their origins. However, the main reason to watch is the discussion of The Watcher and how it ties into the aforementioned motion comic mini series.

“For over three years we’ve been building Marvel Heroes to be an exciting, free-to-play massively multiplayer action game, and we are ecstatic to finally put it in the hands of Marvel fans and gamers alike,” said David Brevik, President and COO of Gazillion Entertainment. “The creation of Marvel Heroes has been a labor of love.  As a die-hard Marvel fan, it’s an honor to give players the chance to take on the roles of their favorite Marvel Super Hero in an epic adventure.”

Hit the jump for the latest trailer and screenshot dump.

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This review of the World of Warcraft: Dawn of the Aspects: Part 4 novel by Richard Knaak is of the spoiler-free variety. Check out the entire Blizzard catalog in our Extensive Extended Universe post.

Before diving into the review proper, it’s important to note that Blizzard is releasing this book in a new fashion. Knaak’s latest work in the World of Warcraft universe will trickle out over the next few months in five installments. Each ringing up at $1.99, effectively costing more for those that purchase the full set. The serialized eBook is currently scheduled to wrap up in mid June. As such, this review will be concise.

Review of Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.

Action packed, it’s simply the most concise way to articulate Part 4 of this eBook experiment. Knaak has been saving his combat chops for this stretch of the five-part novel. It’s been an agonizing wait till this point, but the plot and related subplots finally drive forward with reckless abandon. Kalecgos hidden in the mind of Malygos, and the rest of the future Aspects and other sentient proto dragons set out to confront the behemoth Father of Dragons known as Galakrond. Regardless of his immense size and mutation, the evolving proto dragons understand that his hunger and growing undead army will bring about their extinction in short order.

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Just hours ahead of the launch of Marvel Heroes, Gazillion Entertainment has released the final installment of the motion comic. Doctor Doom’s epic rise to power culminates with the fourth and final installment. The tale, penned by Brian Michael Bendis, wraps as Gazillion prepares for tomorrow’s full launch.

The Chronicles of Doom mini series develops the beginning lore for the dungeon crawling MMORPG designed by David Brevik, a co-creator of Diablo. The premise of Doom’s capabilities are based on the Cosmic Cube, a device originally capable of turning any wish into a reality.

Marvel Heroes allows players to experience unique leveling experiences for each of the superheroes as they explore locations throughout the Marvel universe. Previous closed beta players will be happy to see numerous changes to the user interface, a customization system and overall polish.

Marvel Heroes unlocks to the F2P world tomorrow, June 4, 2013. Hit the jump for the full trailer.

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Like the theory of evolution, two major players in the free-to-play market have announced independently created plans to create unified platforms for their respective titles. The two publishers in question are strategy expert Wargaming.net, of World of Tanks fame, and Perfect World Entertainment, most recently in the headlines for the action-oriented Dungeons and Dragons MMORPG Neverwinter.

A constant query for WarGaming.net is whether the trio of MMOG from the developer will ever meet on the field of battle. Routinely labeled as a long-term goal, the merger of the premium accounts is a start. Long and short is that the company is going to introduce a single premium account system for its PC anthology. Premium on World of Tanks? Then you’ll receive the same treatment in World of Warplanes and the more-distant release of World of Warships.

On the flip side is Perfect World Entertainment, which, when you factor in the Chinese parent corporation Perfect World Company, houses over a dozen games. The company announced today that its titles will be managed by the upcoming Arc system. In short, the digital platform will be a mini Steam focused on the growing offerings of Perfect World. Account, game and forum management all in one place, an in-game overlay akin to Steam and social capabilities will spread across its realm.

What’s that mean for us western gamers? Why, harassing your friends in Torchlight II while you’re playing Star Trek Online of course! Hit the cut for early images of the Arc system. Read more…