Hero World: More than just 'Super Hero Mafia Wars'

"The Hero League needs your help stopping The Silver Valkyrie from destroying Star City! Choose your super hero name and join the battle!"

So begins Hero World, the newest Facebook game from Rockyou, the publisher also responsible for dark horse hit Zoo World.

At its core, the game resembles nothing so much as a superhero-themed version of Mafia Wars, where you click buttons to perform missions, draining your energy to earn money and power points. These can, in turn, be exchanged for new equipment to make your hero more powerful (and better looking), new hideouts (to generate yet more money), new vehicles (to access new areas and missions), more powerful abilities and attacks, and more.

The early missions task your hero with some decidedly un-super heroics like "teach kids how to use a computer" and "help old lady across the street," but as you level up, you'll move on to slightly more appropriate tasks like taking out drug dealers and tracking down car thieves.