There is nothing rogue about my Azure Wingman. He’s a bit darker than intended, but only in coloring.

The massive online multiplayer game City of Heroes, known as one of the most family-friendly in the pack, was after some years followed by its shadow, City of Villains. While some play one of them exclusively, others have characters on both sides of the divide. There was, as is good and proper, a great gap fastened between them, so that those on one side could not go over to the other, nor could those on the other side come over. There were a few combat zones where heroes and villains could fight each other, but this proved not to be popular. Most players far preferred to fight against computer-generated opponents rather than real humans.

Soon a couple cooperative zones were established where heroes and villains could fight against a common threat or just chill under a truce, but this was also rather limited. And the two worlds were still separate in essential ways, so that for instance enhancements crafted by heroes could not be sold on the black market in the Rogue Isles of the villains.

Lately, and I feel compelled to say unfortunately, a third expansion has been made. This week it went live, officially on Tuesday (though some could play it on Monday). This second paid expansion (there are 18 free ones) is called “Going Rogue”, but has nothing to do with Mama Grizzly as you Americans may think. Rather it contains an alternate Earth in which history took a different course, where the world’s greatest hero became a tyrant, and superheroes rule over the common people with an iron fist… for their own good, of course.

In this place, called Praetoria, you can create a new character based on either a hero or villain archetype. But their origin does not define them. It is up to the player, through his (or surprisingly often her) choices to define the alignment of the character. You may wholeheartedly join the ruling group, or work for the Resistance seeking to overthrow them, or work for both of them at a proportion of your own choosing.

By the security level of 20 (out of 50 possible) your goose is cooked in Praetoria, and you have to make it to either City of Heroes or City of Villains. But someone who started from a villain archetype may be “redeemed” to become a hero, and someone starting from a hero archetype may “fall from grace” (yes, the publisher uses this religious terminology).

Even after you arrive in Paragon City or the Rogue Isles, however, your future is not set in stone. The same applies to those who have been around before, and never visited Praetoria at all. They will find temptations in the form of “tips” from enemies they fight. These tips lead to missions where you may gradually change your alignment – or affirm it. There are rewards for staying with your original decision, and you may become slightly more powerful as a hero or villain. On the other hand, the opposite lets you cross over to the other side. In effect, villains can now become heroes, and heroes can become villains.

As a regular of the game, I was invited into the early Closed Beta testing. This is not my first time doing beta for them, but this time it did not last long. I found the moral ambiguity not interesting.

The expansion is not ALL about moral grayzoning, but almost. The upgrade to the graphics engine was included in the previous free expansion (and presumably the one before that again, when power coloring was introduced). There are a few new zones and enemy groups in the level 1-20 range, and the first hint at the new endgame content comes in the form of the first of ten “incarnate levels”. I will have to come back to those, if ever. I understand them not to be simply more levels (as in level 51) but rather a somewhat different way of improving your level 50 character, but I haven’t tried.

More to my liking, there are a few new powers. Actually the most popular of them, dual pistols, has been available since the previous free expansion, but available only to those who pre-ordered Going Rogue. Which I think most did. I did not, though I have bought it after release. With a month’s subscription fee included, two new character slots, and the new powers and auras, it is not a bad deal if you have money you don’t need yourself or want to give to the poor.

I naturally skipped Demon Summoning. There is enough of that in real life, but let that lie for now. There is also a new power of electricity manipulation, which I have not tried (there were already several electricity powers in the game before). I have however tested Kinetic Melee. The hero in the picture above has this. Basically he uses the aura around his hands to fight. It is somewhat similar to the concept of using Ki in martial arts. You can throw enemies around without actually touching them, but still at a short distance, about the length of a blade mostly.

The azure auras on Wingman’s hands and the gleam in his eyes are not parts of his power, as one might think, but are also new. Before, you could only get auras after doing a series of missions (quests) at level 30 or above. So that is a welcome addition. The hand auras fit quite well with his powers, and I colored them in the same color so they would blend seamlessly. I am quite happy with the result.

But the main attraction of the expansion, I am not impressed with. Sure, it is nice that masterminds and brutes can become heroes. But the whole “shades of gray” thing was not really ever on my wishlist. And it still isn’t my reason for buying the expansion. It is not a “run and buy” recommendation in the least. More like a curiosity.