DC Universe Online (PC version)

Super Game or SuperBad?

As most comic /graphic novel fans know, comic books are awesome. I remember first picking up Mcfarlane’s Spawn comics as a teen and wishing a game could come out that could make these worlds a reality.

Well DC comics have made an attempt at immersing fans in their world with their new MMO, DC Universe Online.  As the title suggests The game is played online, with a monthly subscription fee. There has been much hype over DC Universe ever since the title was announced.

Although it is the first MMO to be on the PlayStation 3, the game still has stiff competition from the likes of epic titles such as World of Warcraft, which have been available on PC for years, acquiring a steady fan base with its latest expansion Cataclysm, reaching sales of nearly 5 million in its first month. So is DCUO a super game or a joker for the genre?

Storyline

The story is fairly easy to understand and allows for the game developers to have an awesome cut scene whereby the majority of iconic DC characters get killed in an all-out epic battle. A Lex Luthor from the future comes back in time to warn Batman, Wonder woman and Superman that whilst this battle is occurring, Brainiac (a green bald headed alien genius) is preparing to take over Earth. Luthor explains that he was able to steal energy from Brainiac’s mother ship in the form of nanobot-sized ‘exobytes’ that basically turn a normal human into a super hero. It is then there jobs (or Luthor’s, the Jokers and Circe’s job if you choose the path of villain) to train these new found heroes (or villains).

Presentation

The starting and in-game menus are fairly easy to navigate and the tutorial level that takes place within a Brainiac ship is both fun and explanatory of the games mechanics. The game world is very immersive with both Gotham City and Metropolis depicting Jim Lee’s vision of the landscapes he has so often shared with us through his comics. Missions are explained though communications with your chosen mentor and provide a really cool interface with great voice acting from the likes of Mark Hamill (the Joker), Kevin Conroy (Batman), James Marsters (Lex Luthor) and Adam Baldwin (Superman).

The graphics are clean and contain a high enough level to compete with existing MMOs on the market. I feel the graphics were hindered in part by the cross-platforming development with the PlayStation 3.

Gameplay

The levelling system is very much like that of any MMO; as you gain a level your character is awarded either a skill point or power point. These are then allocated by the player onto their character’s skill tree, awarding new moves and/or combos.

Although it is not an innovative system, it is an effective one and, in the case of DCUO, successful. It allows for countless amounts of variation amongst characters and with the addition of in-depth character creation, makes the player feel like he/she has created a truly unique hero.

The quests themselves have very little variation and usually involve killing a certain amount of NPCs. Although this is a major fault of DCUO it is a characteristic that most MMOs share and can’t be helped. Due to DCUO’s fighting style however, I never found quests becoming tiresome and the diverse enemy types, from clowns, to zombies, to robots, allowed the gameplay to remain fresh.  Although the game is an MMO it is very fast paced with lots happening on-screen at once.

This suits the superhero theme and allows the grinding feel of most MMOs (I’m looking at you WOW!!) to go by almost unnoticed. This is also the case due to the low level cap of 30. Although this is low for an MMO, the end game content has a lot to offer players with Alerts, Raids, Duos and PvP matches

Sound

Although as stated earlier, the voice acting of famous DC characters is well incorporated and a treat for fans of the franchise, the in-game voices are pretty dire, with cringe worthy one-liners that are repeated over and over; these can become very annoying very quickly. The sound track however is solid and compliments the environments explored by your super character.

Lasting Appeal

Although the level cap is low it suites the game and with a substantial amount of end-game content the game will have fans playing for months to come. There is also the addition of collectables jotted around the world map and races, to give the player a bit of variation in-game. With updates in the pipeline I feel this game will have a long and successful lifespan and will hopefully encourage players who are not big fans of the comics or the MMO genre to have a go.

Conclusion

DC Universe is a fun game that allows both serious and new MMO players to indulge upon a familiar world set by the DC franchise. Although it may not appeal to all MMO fans the game has brought  new styles of gameplay to the genre allowing more new directions within Online games. With the addition of new patches and updates DCUO has become a competitive rival to World of Warcraft.

Rating:

 Chris is a junior contributing video games writer Read more from this author

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