After playing this title for more than a month I feel that an accurate and honest review can finally be let out to the public. I say this seeing that almost every review out came just shortly after the game's release or not long after. These reviews couldn't possibly resonate just exactly what can be experienced in the way of action and adventure if you decide to pick up DC Universe Online. But like I always say, I don't read them anyway so I can judge for myself.
From day one the action of this huge world has kept my attention in many different ways. I have found that the weapons and combination of super powers, along with tricks and iconic powers, is so diverse that with even only one character you have a multitude of options. You can easily evolve to the type of action figure you wish to portray. You may even re-spec your power and skill point trees which will cost you some of that hard earned cash. This will give you the opportunity to change some of the things that weren't working so well. At the same time it gives you a chance to try out some of the other powers and weapons available. But only after you have reached level 30 will this become available to you.
Doing all of this will keep you interested for a while. You can picture how much experimenting you can have with multiple characters, heroes and villains, in multiple servers. With every type of character you create, selecting a different special power will open up new moves and tricks to totally change your perspective on the battlefield. Your imagination is the only thing that limits your creations here, the possibilities are endless.
The attack controls and powers including the motion of the characters were really done well. As opposed to the usual button mashing routine that I don't really care for, here you actually have planned out attacks that you choose to unlock while spending your acquired skill and power points. The attacks are formed by combinations of tapping and/or holding square and triangle. An exact number of hits with the combo of these two buttons will be required for a precision finishing move that will have the most damaging effect on your enemies.
At first, leveling up in DC Universe Online goes rather fast. As you progress it starts to slow down, making it more of a challenge to achieve the higher ranks. Every time you do a mission the environment and enemies are totally different, keeping it fresh. I find this to be a pleasant surprise, seeing that most other MMO ranking systems just seem too much like a chore and a never-ending process. The missions get much harder, requiring help from other players is necessary to your success. Some of the bosses are just way too big for even 2 or 3 highly ranked players. Be sure to help others so that you may ask for assistance when the time comes for yourself to face the big boys.
I have heard some say that DCUO is not an original superhero MMO. What they are referring to is the City Of Heroes title while try to legitimize their argument of it not being original. Earlier this month, the original hero MMO announced their animal booster pack is available. This is content that is already available in the DCUO character creation menu, under skins. Meanwhile, the two games just cannot even begin to be compared. The COH has a very repetitive battlefield and seemingly endless bland missions which will wear thin on you very quickly. DCUO, on the other hand, has a giant open world full of player vs player action, new alerts, raids, and duos happening all the time. This, along with added content always in the works, makes its relevance a lot more convincing. So with that I say there can be only one, and it's not a hard choice really.
As far as the complaints of having to play for lengthy amounts of time without being able to heal, I have found that to be a normal part of beating a boss. When you are in a final battle of a boss you will have to find and smash the health barrels because your health doesn't regenerate. This is the only way to stay alive if you don't have any soda or healing powers. The barrels do re-spawn too, so use what you've got.
Though some say that getting to level 30 goes too quickly I have to say I am there now and it really is not the end of the road by any means. Getting here is but a small part of the journey. What lies beyond level 30 is where the real adventure begins. In the watchtower those previously useless transporters come to life with ultra hard missions that only level 30 players can enter. They will send you inside places like The Daily Planet. This is where you get to earn the respect of the various factions and also the marks of the legends that are necessary to purchase the amazingly crazy power suits that are on display.
You may start to participate in the PvP ring wars which are all-out battles between groups of level 30s in one arena at once. There's so much pure madness going on from explosions, people flying around, and overall carnage everywhere, that you have to see it to believe it. Other things that become available to you at the cap are raids and duos. Here you will find a bunch of unique situations that will take all of your strength along with a certain combination of character roles in your group such as tanks and healers to achieve your objectives.
The group function is also a great feature. It allows you to send and receive group invites to people who are in your server. While in the group you will receive your share of the loot including XP, cash, and any items that become available to the players in your group while you are together. This is a much better scenario then the usual smash and grab of not being in a group.
I didn't find much use in the league feature. The invite system seemed to be lacking. There should be a queue for invites to sit in, rather than just a random pop-up window with a choice of yes or no and no time to decide. What I mean is that you get an invite and have to decide to join a league or not before you can even continue playing the game. Also, you should be able to create a league whether you are alone or not. The system only lets you create one when you are grouped. What is the purpose of that? Split second decisions are no way to form teams. On top of this, group invites and league invites are nearly identical. I can't count the amount of times I've accidentally joined a league in the middle of a battle thinking it was a group invite.
DCUO has one of the best character customizing options I have seen thus far. Having a style tab separate from the equipped items is just pure genius. This allows you to collect any item of your choice and add it to your style tab. In return, you may keep the best possible equipment attributes while not sacrificing your character's costume appearance. Once an item is saved under the style tab you may change back and forth to any combination of items and forge a pretty impressive amount of completely different looks.
The graphics and moves are silky smooth even at the high speed of a running Flash or flying Superman orientated character creation. You leave behind a spectrum of colors that you have chosen when traveling at high speeds. When you are in a large group, fighting can get disorientating. This by no means is attributed to the quality of the programming but is actually a compliment to it by showing everything that is going on at once without missing a single frame.
The world itself is full of amazing environments that are highly detailed with every aspect of reality as well as the science fiction twist that is the DC Universe. Metropolis is bright with tall skyscrapers and very detailed inside and out. The trees, oceans, and skylines are fantastic. All of the maps are littered with fully recognizable and destructible items, moving traffic, and civilians roaming the areas. While Gotham City is dark and eerie with nothing lighting the streets but the moon, a few street lights, and the bat signal up in the clouds. The Gothic styled buildings and constant darkness make for a perfectly creepy hangout for the villains, so be aware this is one of their favorite gathering places. All of these environments have the feel of exactly what they are trying to portray and are very well done.
I found the soundtracks to be quite good as well. I kind of got the superhero feeling as I took to the skies and the music started to play. Though a little birdie keeps telling me that it sounds like Final Fantasy music. I keep having to remind the birdie that the superheroes of DC have been around a lot longer than said game and that this was always what the theme music sounded like. Some repetitive dialogue plagues this title. Many games with A.I. conversation also suffer this fate. It is not as bad as some of the complaints that I have been hearing about.
Is it worth the pay to play price model? The replay value from what I am experiencing should be nothing less than eternal. For the amount of cash it will take to keep you online in this ever expanding universe, I would have to say yes. This decision has to be made by every individual's preference. New available quests are already starting to roll in, such as the latest Catwoman missions update. There will be many more to come, not to mention the level cap will continue to increase.
All in all, I will highly recommend giving this game a chance. You will not be disappointed, especially if you are a DC fan. DC Universe Online gives you the chance to walk in the shoes of famous heroes/villains and fight the fight whether it's for good or for evil, that's up to you as you carve your character into the history books one battle at a time.
So until my next update of “This Week In The DC Universe Online”
I say to you “For every hero there will always be a villain lurking in the shadows”
DC Universe Online awaits you !!
Check out the insane intro video here:
See Slide show here:
Score: 5/5
Review Copy Info: A copy of DC Universe Online was provided to the reviewer by the publisher. A 6 month subscription code was also provided by the publisher.
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