Initially, the thought of getting DC Universe Online was something I struggled with. It really was.
Should I purchase a console game that comes with $15 monthly fee – if it ends up being everything I had hoped for? MMO games have almost been nonexistent in the world of console gaming but starting in 2011 we might see it becoming more mainstream. especially for Sony’s gamers. After all the deliberation, we got the game, we popped it in our PS3, and were greeted with an update patch. This is very common in all MMO based games. Then once I redeemed my first month of service (you get a month free), I was taken to the main loading screen to download 12gbs of content; a process that took a grueling 40 minutes to complete. The reason why you are getting charged monthly is because these special servers allow you to game thousands of gamers in the same game world. Also your funds go towards weekly game updates and additional content at no extra charge until, of course, there is an expansion pack. Not the worst investment I would say.
Now, once you get passed all the initial setup you will witness a powerful cinematic introduction that is sure to drop your jaw, especially if you love comics. After the inspiring introduction, you will begin to create your Legend with a deep character creation process.
You will be able to modify your Costume (make your own or choose from a bunch of presets), Gender (male or female), Build (small, medium or large), Morality (hero or villain), Personality (powerful, serious, primal, flirty, or comical), Mentor (the Joker, Lex Luthor, Circe), Power (fire, gadgets, ice, mental, nature, sorcery), Weapon (bow, brawling, dual pistol, dual wield, hand blast, martial arts, one-handed, rifle, staff, or two-handed), and Movement (flight, acrobatics, or super-speed).
After you are done with the incredibly enjoyable process of crafting your hero ,you will jump right into the living breathing universe. But first things first… you have to learn the game. It’s tutorial time.
You will quickly adapt to all the basics of combat on a space ship and, at first glance, it really does not seem like it’s anything special. Like most MMO’s you will notice that you will level up very quickly when you hit Level 2 as soon as you beat the first mini boss. The tutorial shouldn’t take you more than an hour and they do a respectable job of teaching you things you need to know quickly. At the end of the tutorial you will come across your first boss battle – which is ‘alright’ and certainly nothing to write home about. The real action begins after you take down this boss and the ships defenses.
The Safe-house is your starting point and the first place you will find NPC’s who will give you missions, as well as other heroes/villains roaming around. There will be many missions, side quests, random battles, and much more things to do to keep you entertained.
The game does a great job in directing the player efficiently. Using the mini-map in the top right corner, players will always know where to go to find the enemies, objects, or locations necessary to complete missions. You’ll never find yourself running or flying around aimlessly, trying to find the things you’re looking for. The game is way too massive to get caught in that sort of thing. The experience seems to be never-ending. To take the time to complete everything would be a massive endeavor and the sheer depth of the game adds to the replay value that justifies the $15 monthly price tag.
The games Menu system is a fantastic tool. Pressing ‘Start’ will take you into a menu that shows you everything you’ll ever need to know about your character. Here, you can also find your map, which by all means, is incredibly huge.
The Inventory features items that can be traded, stored, or sold. Of course, you can choose to keep the items and the stats that come along with them. Some items are labeled as being rare. You can also completely edit the way you look, head to toe. You can alter your overall style as a hero or villain, choosing a distinct personality and mindset.
Your Journal is where all your missions are being tracked. This is where players will go to see what missions they have unlocked and all the information connected to the missions, including the level required to initiate each one. Leveling up is all about Experience Points, a system that shouldn’t be foreign to anyone at this point. Powers and Skils can be assigned and upgraded with every level achieved and the load outs for your specific talents can be mapped on the control to your liking. Your powers are upgraded in a unique and progressive manor that can have you achieve alternate forms of said power. Your Iconic Powers are all the beautiful and familiar qualities that you may recognize from the greatest DC characters of all. For example, you can have Superman’s Heat Vision and Ice Breath.
That brings us to the controls. DCUO did a fairly good job in creating a simply layout that can get progressively challenging. The left analog stick is for movement and right analog controls the camera. Once you become more advanced you will quickly realize that there is a lot of skill and technique involved with both the sticks, particularly when you obtain super speed or the ability of flight. The combat consists of the Square button, which acts as your primary attack and combination command. You can learn new move combinations such as Tap, Hold, Tap. Of course, that’s just the basic ones. The combos get ever so complex down the line as you advance to keep the combat fresh but also present a challenge for the already seasoned player. The Triangle button is usually a ranged or multiple damage attack, but can be used to unleash specific moves.
Then you have your power moves. With L2 held down, you can choose to map any of your powers to any of the face buttons to perform these attacks, and once you are more powerful you will also get to map skills to the R2 button which functions the same way – hold it down and choose your face button. Furthermore, you use L1 to lock targets, R1 to defend, and holding R1 and double tapping in any direction will perform an evasive move. X is to jump and L3 will initiate your flight, super speed, and acrobatics. The Select button will bring up Social tools like chat, grouping, etc. Got all that? Good.
Visually speaking, DCUO is one of the superior MMO’s you’ll find. When you’re supporting an obscene amount of users, it’s not shocking to see some slow-downs and audio dips, but with DCUO they are few and far in between, making it one of the smoothest MMO’s I’ve ever played. The game boasts a dynamic weather system that will change weather patterns whenever the hell it feels like it. Above all, I love the cutscenes in this game. They are little story snippets that usually revolve around an iconic villain or hero and visually, they are an homage to the comic book styling’s of DC. I really enjoy every single cutscene in the game and give the developers huge marks for staying true to the graphic novels that the company has pumped out for generations.
Another thing that jumps out to a comic book geek like myself is that DCUO is one of the best historical references for the DC Comics history. Every hero, villain, and landmark has a tremendous back-story, and the game makes sure to fill you in on its history. For example, I was locked onto Wayne Towers and I got a detailed explanation on when the building debuted and the changes it has seen. For a comic book fan – especially a DC fan – this is gold. Overall, the game is absolutely solid in its production.
The missions in the game are pretty straight forward by design. Initially, you will notice that they are almost exclusively Safe-House Missions, but around level 10, things really start to open up for the players as Alerts begin to flood into the world. Regardless, the goal of most missions is to take out a certain number of enemies, or to eventually take out one major enemy. You will get some variety, of course, as you will find yourself having to destroy certain objects or machines as well while enemies are trying to end your life… and speaking of which, death isn’t all that bad in DCUO thanks to a relatively solid checkpoint system. The bottom line is that you don’t lose ground in this game, which is all we could ask for.
PvP matches are common in every MMO game and DCUO successfully has made this mode extremely fun to play. Still, it remains ever so complex for the casual gamer. Here you will join other players in a variety of game modes to take each other out tactically. Every moment here counts and math begins to become a huge factor in deciding a winner. I suggest that you try to compete in PvP matches when you have a set of strategies ready and have set your loadouts properly. You always want to start by dealing “Damage”, so make sure you have your combos down to unleash your devastating attacks and move on to “Defend”. I advise to further advance your techniques in “Support” to give your allies the upper hand when they need it, but only use this loadout minimally as without damage there is no victory. There are multiple other loadouts that you will have to discover for yourself and for your group to become the legends against other real players. More servers and new modes will be added in the near future alongside game updates that will assure that the PvP matches stay fresh.
What’s great about DCUO is that it’s an ever-evolving experience that will constantly be tinkered with until it has reached a satisfying point. Developers will always be patching and fixing the game as time goes on, and they already have multiple times. To know that there’s a team that is consistently improving on a product makes it seem pretty fair to drop $15 a month on a title. Oh… and if that wasn’t enough, consider this: Sony will be offering streaming DLC content as early as March for no additional charge. With the DLC prices these days, that sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Considering server upkeep and constant DLC additions, your $15 is going a longer way than you may think.
That’s why this review cannot be taken as the end all and be all of DC Universe Online. Instead, like the game, it is a work in progress. And that, my friends, is a beautiful thing.
Rating: Extraordinary
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