DC Universe Online Previews
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To cater to a less-MMO-friendly crowd, the game will be launching simultaneously at an indeterminate future date to both PC and PS3. The difference between the two versions should be transparent, as the game can be controlled either with mouse-and-keyboard or with a Sixaxis pad on either platform. The ability to play via console controller means DC Universe Online features a simplified control scheme, but that fits comfortably with its action-oriented nature. On Sixaxis, the game uses a typical 3D action setup -- the left analog stick moves the character (L3 activates a special movement power like superspeed or flight); the right analog controls the camera; the face buttons jump, grab, and launch attacks and combos; and the shoulder buttons activate targeting and action modifiers. Players can alternate their targeting options between enemies and objects, and bits of scenery such as cars (or the aforementioned giant penny) can be lifted and thrown as weapons. Alternately, a hero with ice powers can freeze a foe in a slab of ice and toss the ice cube for the proverbial massive damage.
As in SOE's Star Wars: Galaxies, players won't be controlling the real heroes; the likes of Superman and the Flash will be NPCs who appear for special missions -- likewise the villains. Instead, users will be a motley rabble of nobodies, although there's plenty of room for customization within that bland anonymity. The simple route is to let the game autogenerate a character for you based on an existing DC hero; the more advanced technique is to start with one of several Jim Lee-designed body types and build a character from scratch. Body classes range from "scout" (a slim, Robin-type male) and "sprite" (a similarly slight female) to "brick wall" (a solid slab of muscle) or the more exotic "freaker" (a gangly Joker-type). Players can then choose a powerset (electrical, light, ice, etc.), a power source (eyes, hands, weapon, power ring), and movement enhancement (flight, speed, etc.) A player can have four active and four reactive powers available at once; active skills are activated with the attack buttons, while reactive abilities are automatically engaged and range from autoblocking and autoevasion to various buffs and supports.
And a snip from IGN's article:
When my time in Metropolis began, a Justice League of America communicator popped up on the left side of the screen and a video message from Superman played. It seemed Brainiac was attacking the city -- giant, floating green fortresses could be seen along the skyline -- and some of the citizens had fallen under the evil AI's control. I had to get to street level and save the people. My first crack at the mission started me as Light Stream, the blonde femme fatale whose powers sprung from energy. Operating like most third-person action games, to get Light Stream from the starting park to the battle came down to moving her with the left stick and rotating the camera with the right. However -- unlike most third-person action games -- I could press L3 and toggle flight on. Once she was in the air, I could easily glide the heroine to the fights happening on the street and unleash her specific attacks.
See, the people Brainiac has overtaken need to be beaten into submission, and then you have to remove the infecting nanomachines. To do this, I made use of Light Stream's super-Square attack that created a buzzsaw out of energy to slash opponents with, her super-Triangle move encased baddies in a energy orb that could be thrown at other foes, and her standard light/heavy attacks hurled energy orbs at anyone in her path. The infected citizens -- who looked almost zombie-ish with vacant eyes and gray flesh -- fired rainbow rays from the Brainiac triangles on the center of their foreheads, but the moves were little trouble for the world's newest superheroine. When the citizens went down from the power moves, I had to tap circle to get Light Stream to remove the nanomachines and save the day.
