WTF? Fridays...The Avengers Alliance Edition...5/31/2013

As I've mentioned before, I'm a fan of this game.

It keeps me (somewhat) connected to my friends, and lets me vent some of my frustrations by beating up on characters like Viper, Blizzard and Whiplash.

But then they have these Special Ops that run independently from the regular game.

Yeah, you can get some cool stuff and characters, but you have to jump through flaming hoops of poo to get anything.

Plus, you can only play those parts when you have enough "Iso-8"...which unless you're really lucky, you have to buy...with like real money.

Then there's the PvP...where you are "encouraged" to put your team against those of other real players.

Only you don't actually fight against other players, you fight against a player the computer picks...along with whichever characters the computer picks...after you've already decided which members of your team you're gonna use.

Now I'm getting this "Challenge Mode" thing, where I can choose the difficulty level of a given mission.

On the surface, that's okay, the more difficult the level, the more rewards you get.

But it makes little sense.

The way the game works is: each level has six missions, and you can earn up to five stars for each mission. Once that's done, the level is completed.

You earn stars not just by completing the mission five times, but by earning enough points to attain the stars, however many times you complete the mission.

Here's the kicker - because the Challenge Mode is...well...challenging, it's harder to complete. Meaning you have to use more of your gadgets to win, and therefore have to buy more gadgets to replace what you use.

And yeah, you get more XP per victory, but you earn less points by the end of the mission.

Meaning you have to play the missions more times to earn the stars.

So in the end, the choice between Normal and Challenge Mode isn't about difficulty levels, it's about deciding if you want more XP or if you want to earn all five stars faster.

I'm gonna go lie down now...