A Matter of Principal

Trav was out of town this weekend, so I’m decided to take the blog post today since I had some free time.

I’ve now had DC Universe Online for just under a week and I’m probably played for 24 of the last 36 hours. I thought I’d share my thoughts on what I think of the game so far. Now, I won’t call myself an MMORPG expert in anyway. I’ve played World of Warcraft for a while, but I never got much past level 60. I also played Final Fantasy XI and Dungeon Runners with varying levels of success.

As Trav mentioned the other day, the character I started with was Sidekick. He was originally based of Nightwing’s look, but I quickly dropped that, even though I kept the color scheme, and Nightwing’s badass two weapon fighting. I played him until level 11 before I found myself becoming overwhelmed by even level enemies. I’ve created a villain named Firebug on the PS3 server Countdown. I have gotten her to level 19, out of a level 30 cap. Most of my experiences with the game have been with her and watching my younger brother play his hero The Glamazon up to level 16.

The game seems to follow a very simple pattern. You get a quest from one of the three mentors on your side, you then do three or so parts with various side quests, with it all culminating in a short instance and a boss fight. I’ve fought Batman, Robin, Nightwing and the Titans, Supergirl, and teamed up with Killer Croc to take down Bane. Every one of the quests has an over arcing plotline specific to the mentors, with everything falling under the umbrella of Brainiac’s attack. The voice acting is great, and it really draws you into the story.

The combat is more action game than traditional ability based MMO. I was worried about how real time combat would play out in an MMO, but even playing over wireless internet, I’ve experienced very little lag. It can be compared to Marvel Ultimate Alliance and games like that. It takes a little practice to get the ability timing down and to figure out how to best string combos together, but once you get going, it’s fun and addictive.

But this is still an MMO. You kill X # of enemies, collect Y # of items, and then turn them in to your quest giver and get a moderate amount of experience. You fight a few different types of enemies in each area, based around some theme. You will pay around $15 a month if you want to play. If this sounds boring or upsetting to you, its time to move on.

I know a lot of video game sites hold off on reviewing MMO games too quickly, due to the long and fluid nature of the genre, but I think it comes down to one simple question. Is it fun? Forget graphics, story, gameplay, etc. If you aren’t enjoying it, stop playing. If you are, keep going. And I’m really enjoying DC Universe Online. I like the system and the powers. I feel like a super villain as I run through Joker’s Fun House fighting off police and stopping Robin as he attack’s Harley Quinn.

If you love DC Comics and enjoy MMOs, give this game a try. If you don’t like DC Comics or you don’t play MMOs, then this isn’t the game for you. My younger brother did make a good point. He’s a DC fan, but has never really gotten into MMOs. After playing DCUO he realized it’s PC gaming in general he doesn’t like. He loves DCUO, because you can play it with a controller. So if you don’t get into PC gaming, but want to try an MMO, this might be something worth looking at.

There are a couple other things I like to talk about. First is the continuity of the game. The game takes place, as far as I can tell, sometime after Infinite Crisis and 52 and before Final Crisis. Dick is still Nightwing, but Batwoman is around, Tim Drake is Robin, but is wearing black and red. I think this is an odd choice, but DC did try to go back to basics at that time, so it’s pretty recognizable. It’s a little upsetting that Superboy might not show up, as he was dead during this time. I can only hope the universe will progress through events like Final Crisis, Blackest Night, and War of the Supermen in future patches.

The other thing I’d like to talk about is the lifetime subscription. For $199, you can play for the life of the game, without ever having to worry about monthly fees. Unfortunately, the PSN has $150 limit on wallet size, so PS3 players can’t yet take advantage of this. Most people are expecting this to be resolved before the 30 day free trial that came with the game runs out. I’m tempted by this offer, and will seriously consider it if I’m still loving the game like I am now. It’s a big chunk of change, but this is a DC MMO. And it’s good. If you had told me that was going to happen 5 years ago I would have laughed in your face, loudly, and probably called you a few names. Ask Trav, I do that to him when he says stupid stuff all the time.