DC Universe Online Previews
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PS3Vault:
Usually in MMO's, combat is a slow, tedious task, requiring the player to wait and recharge to attack, or force the player into a turn-based system that's considered real-time. DCO throws all that out the window and opts for a more hack and slash approach. This is a refreshing approach to the combat. Of course the signature powers are still there, mapped brilliantly to the L2 and R2 triggers, however they are considered a part of the combat rather than the combat itself. Pressing square allows for a light attack, while triangle is ranged. Combining these can string a combo without having to wait for your abilities to recharge. This approach allows for fast, frantic combat.
Allegedly Speaking:
That's not to say we also did not have a nice variety of super-powers to draw from, trapping an enemy npc in my energy ball and then going to town with my sword was a lot of fun. What made it even better was when I discovered that with the right combo attack you can launch the ball into the air for some nice aerial combo action, DCU has some very nice physics to it! The players powers reside in slots on the UI, much like a traditional MMO, and are mapped to the number keys. PS3 owners will have the ability to map specific powers and attacks to buttons on their controller. SOE has done a really good job of making sure that the console version of DCU plays just as well as the PC version with it's wider array of mapping options. I actually preferred playing with the Dual Shock, and that is saying something coming from a long time PC gamer.
PlayStation LifeStyle:
Now, on to the gameplay. You can kick and punch like regular, but you also have special attacks. There are 8 total that you can map to your character. Just hold down either the L2 or R2 button and push one of the face buttons to activate it. The special attacks in my play through were all based on ice powers. There was a whirlwind attack that tossed the enemies up into the air. There was an attack that shot ice spikes up out of the ground. There was even an ability that would restore part of my health. All these special attacks require magic to use and some have a cool down time, so you can't constantly spam them. Oh, and you can fly. You can still punch and kick while in the air, and some of your special abilities can be used. For example, the ability to shoot lasers out of your eyes was available while flying, but not the ability to shoot spikes out of the ground was not.
