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I have to admit, I had a lot of fun. Playing in a group is fun, but so is playing solo. That, in and of itself, makes this game rather unique. It does become progressively harder to solo, but I would have gotten bored if it hadn't. The controls were fun as well, in that attacks were combos like triangle+square+triangle which lent an arcade feel, but there was lots of collecting and a progressive mission/storyline that was undeniably RPG.
If you want to play solo, buy the game and play away. If you want to group, get yourself a headset (the trick I learned is to have your bluetooth on before you log into the game). I also purchased a wireless keypad, but the game can sometimes be so quick, it shouldn't be your first choice for battles. It is almost required to have some kind of keyboard though, if you want to interact outside of the group/solo play.
Do I think this is the greatest game ever? No. But is it a great game? I feel it is.
I am a huge DC fan. I also really enjoy action RPGs as well as MMOs, but, very importantly, I also like to occasionally solo and not feel dependent on grouping. Finally, I like trying games that bring something new. While some may argue that each component of what DCUO brings isn't new, I would say back that its unique in the way its delivered.
Specifically, when I played the Beta I took one character to 20. I also sat with my son while he played to level 7. His mother used my account to play 2 characters: one good, one evil.
Just my two cents. Hope this helps a few.
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After hearing so many people cry about launch day issues and having to "pay to play" the game I decided to write my first game review. I wont pretend that the process leading up to actually playing the game is not tedious and boring. I too rushed home in the middle of the day to install my copy during my lunch break from work. I knew that it would probably take a while to install (more a limitation of the PS3 than a problem with the game), so I decided to have some lunch and mess around on my Xbox 360. I after lunch I was pleasantly surprised to see that the installation of the game was nearly complete. Yay me! I would be able to at least create a character before returning to work! It was at this point that the patch began to download and would take at least 4o minutes to complete. I guess there were issues that needed to be addressed after the blurays had been pressed and i'd rather install a patch than have them push back the release date to repress blurays.
Saddened I left to return to work, I'd have to wait to crack heads in Gotham until after work.
When I returned from work I was greeted by the create a toon screen. Character creation is easy enough. The first choice is where to create your toon. I was torn between the PVP vs PVE worlds. I created toons for both PVP and PVE worlds. The PVP world seemed to be more populated however it was glitchy and I had problems seeing who was attacking me. Also I had chosen a villian and there were far more heroes. Figuring that I'd wait til they iron the kins out I then moved on to the PVE server.
Back to character creation. There are several options to choose from and some seem to have some effect on gameplay. After choosing your gender and morality you choose mentor. The mentor u choose determines the soucre of your power. Then you choose your powers. While there a limited number of powers, the ability to mix and match them with your weapon or combat focus gives a decent amount of creative choices. Next comes the fun part choosing your initial costume. The numbers of colors you get to use in your costume is limited to 3 however you can mix those 3 colors between the various pieces of your outfit and this isn't as limiting as it would seem. However, as you play the game u will find upgrades to your costume that will increase your character's power. These upgrades will change your charcters outfit, what I did not figure out until later is that you can lock your costume so that even though your power increases your costume looks the same. I found the tutorial to be pleasant and informative although it might have been shorter. I think that around my 15th character I will be tired of escaping that ship. Also it would have been helpful if I didn't have to figure out things (like how to zoom the camera in and out or how to lock my costume on my own).
The powers are all pretty cool and the combinations available make for some interesting combat.The movement powers are by far the best I've seen in any video game. Flying feels like flying, superspeed is very cool and the acrobat is a blast.All of them are upgradeable so i will have to experiment with them to see what else they can do.
Depending on whom you choose as a mentor, your starting zone after the tutorial and premise setup varies. The begining missions are simple enough, go to X place and do X I like the fact that X is not always as simple as "defeat 'y' numbers of ???". I haven't grouped with anyone yet due to not having my bluetooth ready but i will be trying that tonight. I have a lot left to see in the game but so far I am really enjoying it.
I normally don't review games but i saw that this was was getting a raw deal from people that have played even less than me.
Buy DC Universe Online Now
I played in the beta which was fun except or the game crashing your PS3 for seemingly no reason. I bought the game on launch day and while I have had a lot of fun the game has a lot of problems. So if you are a MMO and Comic Book fan this game will be enjoyable but be advised:
a) voice chat rarely works
b) in game chat has an awful interface making it a pain to communicate
c) quest sharing is not present
d) game will crash your system once in a while
e) a lot of daily maintance by SOE do servers are down each morning
f) large 3gb download after u install 10+ gb from the disk (take me an hour others reported 2-5 hours)
g) game menus laggy, hard to use and sometime lock up
the good news is #e... SOE is trying to fix as much as they can as soon as they can. So in reality until March 2011 you are playing a paid beta.
Read Best Reviews of DC Universe Online Here
Great Game!!! But, "DO NOT BUY"!!!!!!!!!!! It is NOW FREE to Download on PSN or PC Online.... Playing in a group is fun, but so is playing solo. That, in and of itself, makes this game rather unique. It does become progressively harder to solo, but I would have gotten bored if it wasn't.
Want DC Universe Online Discount?
I purchased DC Universe Online during the time period when the Playstation Network had just been hacked and was down. Needless to say, I was initially unable to play the game.
However, after redeeming my code online and after a lot of downloading and patching and updating, I was able to get into DC Universe Online.
DC Universe Online is a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game), which is a bit of an outdated term because most multiplayer is "massive" and online now, but refers specifically in this case to a game like World of Warcraft.
You log on, you complete missions to earn exp and currency, you spend said currency on making your in-game characters more powerful. Most importantly, you join the rest of the world in doing this, thereby creating your only little digital niche. An MMO is unlike other video games in that its more of a location than an activity. Meeting my friends in Gotham, Metropolis, the Hall of Doom, or the Watchtower seems as natural as meeting them in McDonald's.
Inevitably, DC Universe must be compared to World of Warcraft. WoW is the most popular MMO that has ever existed and for good reason. Blizzard is an amazing video game publisher and their games are unique, engaging, and fun. I played World of Warcraft during it's first year or so and then stopped. I picked it up later, right before Cataclysm came out, to try it out again. Unfortunately, I had the same problem with WoW that I'd had before: no superhero class. (Really, I just got bored eventually with stale game play.)
In DC Universe Online you play as a superhero in the DC Universe, imbued with powers by a time-traveling Lex Luthor. You will play as your own customizable character, but can play as Batman, Robin, etc. for 20 minutes at a time matches in a mode called Legends PVP.
So how do they compare? DC Universe is obviously a game made in the wake of THE WORLD OF WARCRAFT. It was made in response to WoW and probably by people who have spent many hours playing Warcraft. As a result, they have addressed many issues that World of Warcraft has had since its release in 2004. For seven years, World of Warcraft has been a fun game and they've added all kinds of things to it. They made it much easier to level and you can fly around on mounts. All types of neat stuff. But at the core, the game is still the same as it always has been, little more than a point-and-click. DCUO seeks to rectify this:
COMBAT: DC Universe Online has a dynamic combat system. Almost any object can be picked up and hurled around. Bad guys will throw you across the room. If you dodge a big fireball coming your way, it doesn't hit you anyways. All of the combat in WoW is just: click a button, wait, click it again. It doesn't matter where your character stands or how you move. There isn't really any physics. Just clicking and stats. The combat in the game stays fresh and is exciting. Strategy can actually play a difference. Gear and level matters, but not as much as just being good at the game and playing wisely.
STYLE: Once you reach the level cap in any MMO, you generally switch to buying better pieces of armor and weapons instead of getting experience. This is a great way to continue high-level play, however due to the superiority of the best armors, generally upper-level players in games like Warcraft end up looking exactly the same. All the Warriors will be the same, all the Healers will be the same, etc. Not so in the DC Universe. Superheroes, however, are all about style. Any armor/clothes/hats you pick up, you can save the LOOK of, to wear on your character any time, even if you don't need the actual item. Say you want to wear Batman's cape because it looks cool, but the one you found isn't as good as the cape you already have, you can have the Batman cape look, but still retain the stats of the better equipment. My guy looks a beast. I just want you to know.
Intellectual Property: Yeah, DC Universe superheroes are better than Warcraft or any other IP really. Even Star Wars. Think about it. Everyone knows Superman. Could your friend name a single character from Warcraft? Does your mom know who Admiral Ackbar is? I don't think so. Not enough can be said about the thrill of flying around Gotham and Metropolis, free to roam, and enjoying the scenery. The programmers have hidden all sorts of little secrets and characters to meet randomly and rewards for exploring all through the game. I can spend hours just wandering around aimlessly completing collection quests like the Springtime event with Poison Ivy vs. the Swamp Thing.
DCUO is scrupulous about being authentic to the source material. None of the players can wear official costumes, like say, Superman's S crest, or the Green Lantern symbol, but they are available in the form of Iconic Armor. These are specials sets of armor that are inspired by DC heroes or villains and are available to them depending on faction.
Story: And IP leads to Story. Which is done by Geoff Johns with Jim Lee's art. If you don't know, then find out. Wikipedia. These guys are DC comics. The stories are entertaining, correctly themed, and have a lot of variety. There are cool 3d render cut scenes for the big stuff, but the DUOs (2-man dungeons), Alerts (4-man) and Raids (8-man) all have a cool little cartoon/animation that tells the story of your mission and of the boss you just defeated usually. They harken back to their comic book origins and are delightful.
Voice Work: Speaking of delightful. Mark Hamill is the Joker. 'Nuff Said. Even Stan Lee would be excited. The voice work is, in general, all excellent. A lot of the people from the Bruce Timm cartoons have come to reprise their rolls and really bring their characters to life. The game is filled with funny quotes.
And again I can't stress enough the combat system. 99% of my time in this game will be spent in combat and this game makes it fun and interesting. It is interactive and dynamic in ways I didn't think possible for an MMO, much less a console-based MMO.
A quick glance at any other review here will tell you that DC Universe has had some stability issues since launch. I think I got the worst of it. I bought the game and was IMMEDIATELY unable to play it and have been sitting through a month of patches and updates and down times and crash after crash after crash.
But you know what? It's getting better. Each time a patch or update comes out, there is a bunch of things fix. The developers regularly communicate with the fans via their official forums over at Sony Online Entertainment and have addressed SPECIFIC concerns with players.
I am blown away that the developers would actually communicate and listen to their fan base, creating a game environment that is continuously redefined as much by the player as by the developer. If something is really bothering folks, then the developers read the forums and see what they can do ASAP.
Too many times have I bought a product, games or movies or whatever, and felt cut off from its source. Our transaction finished, I am left to judge whether I've just wasted my money or whatever by myself. The product will be good or bad and exactly the same 5 years from now.
DC Universe has only been out a few months and its already much different than it was. This game updates regularly and they add news things all the time.
Some people are upset, and rightfully so, that the game has some issues to contend with. No one likes their game crashing right before the boss. However, this is a very technologically advanced game, with a ton of stuff going on, and only so many people available to work on it. I myself, have crashed several times during missions and had to redo them...
But I did. And I enjoyed it. Because it's a fun game. That's why everyone is mad when they can't play it.
The game is becoming more and more stable and they are fixing issues left and right (some of which were caused by the introduction of a bunch of new, awesome content). If you're reading this post more than a week after I wrote it, then it's already outdated. The game has become even better than it is right now.
In summary, DC Universe is a game with a lot of fun and a lot of potential for more fun. It is an evolution of the whole genre of MMORPGs. In the future, World of Warcraft 2 and any successor will play more like DC Universe Online.
My main complaint, my only one, what I want, is MORE. Just more of everything.
I want more open-world encounters with heroes/villains or Ambush Bug.
I want more power and weapons and Iconic Armors.
Green Lantern trinket! You know you have one already, SOE.
More raids! More costumes! More Exobyte data! More More More!
And SOE has promised more. They've teased new armor and powers. There is a big Fortress of Solitude Raid coming out soon with new armors and featuring Krypto the Superdog... I'm hyped.
So as a new player, having experienced what is sure to be the worst circumstances during which to play this game, I've been having a ton of fun. I convinced my friends to buy PS3s and the game. They're having fun. You could have fun too. This game is already far more engaging than WoW ever was for me.
Alright. I had to unhook internet from my PS3 to my PC to do this. I need to get on some duos. I'll be taking the fight to Brainiac. Enjoy the game.
