DC Universe Online Reviews

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Written by Brother None on January 18th, 2011

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Those boss fights and mass brawls may not require much strategic thought but many are all but impossible on your own. Teaming up with either friends or strangers brings its own reward, as you try to work together as a team, healing and co-operating where necessary. It's worth noting though that the chat system is a pretty wretched thing to try and use on a joypad and, because this is the PlayStation 3, most people don't have microphones.

That's a shame because thanks to the half-hearted tutorial system many of the game's more involved features go completely without mention or explanation - and you're constantly wishing you could more easily ask other people what's going on.

The first thing you'll notice about DC Universe Online is how remarkably fluid the combat is. Actually, that's a lie. The first thing you'll notice is that you have to let the stupid thing spend two hours downloading a patch before you can play it. But, after that, the combat.

It actually works on a joypad I played the PS3 version, see. This is a pretty astonishing feat considering the game occupies a genre that has been so heavily associated with the PC from day one. Putting MMORPGs on consoles is generally a terrible idea, which is why so few of them ever even get released. But there's a good reason this one actually made it to the shelves - it's fun.

It's a very satisfying mechanic to build a character and then take him out into action. The gameplay in DCUO comes across as pretty much a giant beat-em-up but that's oddly fitting for a superhero game. The game's plot involves a bumper crop of new super-powered humans, spawned by future technology seeded by a time-traveling Lex Luthor. Superman's archenemy comes to our present trying to prevent Brainiac taking over the planet years from now and you play as one of the newly-enhanced folk. The narrative idea is that all these new powered people will stop Braniac's onslaught where the already extant metahumans couldn't. But the plot reason doesn't really matter. What does is the fact that you'll feel like you're in a fun world full of new, weird characters and in the well-established DC Universe at the same time.

Obtaining a mission to do in the game is as easy as walking up to an NPC and talking to him/her. Not all NPCs have missions for you to do, but if they are highlighted on your mini-map, they do, and there are plenty of mission to choose from. Sadly, but like the majority of side quests, they all feel the same. Yes, one time you will be taking on Joker's henchmen and the next you will be fighting Brainiac's robots, but they are all the same at their core. Go here, kill these guys, come back and get your reward. Don't get me wrong, there are other types of missions other than that I just described, but you won't be blown away by their originality. They are fun, but the same thing you have played before. The things that make missions fun though is that as you complete these missions; you will be building up to take on a villain. Which villain you fight will depend on who you got the mission from. Get a mission from Cat Women, and you might fight Robin. Get a mission from The Flash, and you might fight Gorilla Grodd. Being able to actually fight the rivals of your super friends is very exciting, and always makes the fighting more thrilling. Then as a bonus, on some of those missions, you will be joined by a super hero/villain depending on who you interacted with during that mission.

Questing has its ups and downs. While the main quest line will have you teaming up with and facing off against famous DC characters, the side quests become monotonous and stale after a few hours. Their is very little variation; go to point A and kill a bunch of cops, go to point B and kill some more cops and then come back to turn it in. Rinse and repeat, just change the objective to robots instead of cops, or super-smart Gorillas. The lack of variation is a little disappointing, but it is still a lot of fun nonetheless.

The biggest hurdle DCUO faces is pleasing action game fans and MMO fans. The game is not as deep as a "World of Warcraft." At a basic level, there's no features like crafting. At a deeper level there's no minmaxing, in fact there are very few details about which powers do what damage, so it can be hard to figure out the best combos to use.

And combos matter because "DCUO" is an action game, but one where you level up, pick equipment (which you have to earn money to both buy and repair), pick powers, group up with peers, join guilds (leagues)... While action games usually are tightly balanced, crafted experiences, "DCUO" is a massive game, both in terms of geography and sheer options. Plenty of action but tons of choices.

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