This is a slight modification of an in-depth article I wrote about DCUO last year. I've updated some small parts of it.
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So - DC Universe online. Where you'll get to play a new superhero in the same universe as (and be mentored by) the likes of Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman as heroes. Or if you choose the villain side, Lex Luthor, Circe, and... The Joker.
Right up front I want to mention that there are both graphical and gameplay elements that make it very clear this was a game designed for a console gaming system first, and PC second. I'm going to be coming back to that from time to time and pointing it out as a reason for many of the things I'll be describing.
I want to start off with some praise for the world in general. Both Gotham City and Metropolis are FANTASTICALLY BEAUTIFUL. Absolute masterworks of design. And I don't say that lightly. Right from the start, they feel perfect and 100% true to the original source material. The shine of the skyscrapers and soaring arches of the skybridges in Metropolis, the grime in the alleyways and the steam rising from subways of Gotham. It's perfect. Throwing in little touches like billboards with Booster Gold hawking for "Bibbos! You'll love their buns!" - or a pair of roses laid on the concrete sidewalk under a lone streetlight behind the old Monarch theater... These are just sublimely geeky touches of awesomeness.
(Arkham Asylum BTW appears to have taken a few design cues from the Arkham series of Batman games. It's not anywhere near as complicated a complex of buildings as in those games, but some of the stylistic elements may be familiar.)
I feel lucky to have a system that can render all of this detail in highest rez with full framerate. Because the game engine renders all of this with an amazing amount of detail. (This might be a problem for some older machines though.)
Let me focus on a couple of things graphically and design-wise of note to illustrate what they've done and make some comparisons:
In City of Heroes and to a similar, but lesser degree in Champions Online, there's a certain amount (sometimes a large amount) of "fudging" in regards to building proportions. I.E. The various buildings and the stories, windows, levels etc... are in general -too small- in relation to the heroes outside the buildings by a small percentage. And of course, the extremely large interior spaces like the office and warehouse maps would never fit inside these places.
But in DCUO - the buildings and the cities overall ARE to scale! Which means they are MASSIVE.
I've gotten characters up close and compared the heights of individual levels to my character height. And the proportions work out. You can even do a reasonable estimation of where there would be space -between- each floor level for the various things like plumbing, insulation etc. So each individual building, whether it's 10 or 80 stories tall, feels BIG as you fly/run/ swing around them. And the cities really do feel MILES across. (Do take the supersonic options on Flight and the top end of Superspeed. It'll come in handy.)
Also - There's a stylistic thing going on in regards to day/night cycles too. They don't have any. Metropolis is perpetual mid-morning/late afternoon. And Gotham is perpetually midnight to 4 AM. But I think it works. Who'd want to see Gotham in the daylight anyway? ^_^
They also have applied a neat little visual "trick" for long distances.
On the streets, up close and into medium distance, you can see individual cars and other vehicles. But - say you have a flying character or one that has ascended to the top of a building, and you look around - off in the distance, between the buildings, (night or day) you can see headlights and taillights of cars in traffic moving.
Now the reason I call this a "neat trick" is this: At distances beyond medium distance - the actual models of the cars etc, are no longer drawn. And it "fades" out into this generalized "traffic lights" pattern. The lights are actually just an effect and not tied to anything physical. But at those ranges, they look perfectly natural.
In COH or CO, you'd simply lose the feel that there's any traffic in the city beyond what you can immediately see drawn in the short range. But in DCUO, you look far in the distance, and there's all this visible traffic going on. It really adds to the feel of a bustling city that way. Like I said - it's a neat visual trick.
So - huge properly scaled buildings, massive cities, effects that lend a real sense of scale. It's very impressive.
Here's a couple of screenshots to illustrate:
Characters are also very nicely rendered too. Here's a couple of mine.
Which brings us to the character creator. You've probably heard it's very limited. It is - at the start when you first create your character. In terms of body customization, it actually has fewer options than City of Heroes did during it's couple of years! There are no sliders for body proportions at all. You have set body types and about 3-4 faces or "skins" per body type. (at least for normal human skin tones - there's a lot of options for "glowing" or crystal or rock skins etc. Yes - you can make cat-girls...) You do get 3 body proportion types per gender, and 3 sizes for your character to be within those models. You could choose to be the biggest, burliest male character. Who would have proportions similar to the "Huge" body type in COH. You could use the same proportions, but make him a little guy. You could be a short, medium or tall version of the standard male or female bodytype. Or you could choose a "sprite" version of same. I will say that the "sprites" make good adolescent or teen characters. So yes, you could make one character the "teen sidekick" of your buddy. But all of these are static choices. Not on a sliding scale.
I feel this is due to the "Console" nature of the game. The graphics probably needed to be limited so that the PS3 console wouldn't have to deal with a million different body types and tweaks for the game engine to render.
It also has a tendency to ... I'm not sure if this is the right word, but I'll use it anyway - It has a tendency to "channel" design into something that looks like it belongs in the DC Universe. You likely will wind up with a character that looks far more "silver age" to start with than what you might have wanted.
This is offset by getting loot once you start playing. Now this is an interesting system. It's not like WoW loot where your character is forced to wear something that might not go with their ensemble simply because you can't argue with the numbers. In fact, you can "lock" your characters style if you have an outfit you like and then the costume loot simply changes your stats and
nothing else has to change! But once you have collected a piece of gear, you will always and forever have the
option to use the look of that gear if you so choose, even if you get
rid of the actual item in your inventory! As you gain more pieces, creating a unique look for your character becomes easier and easier.
So character creation in terms of design isn't a one time deal at the start. It's a process that continues as you play. I wouldn't recommend having a tight "concept" driven character that you try to build right from the start. Have a general idea, then see where it goes once you start playing. For instance, I don't think I could recreate C8 or Kara's distinctive look from the start. But a few levels in with gear? Maybe I could.
(There was a thread at their official forums that had some very creative uses of their character builder. But the link I used to have to it is broken. I'll see if I can find it again soon.)
Oh - quick note on something that I am reminded of since I mentioned Cyberman 8. Travel powers. DCUO only has 3 travel powers. Acrobatics, flight, and Superspeed. No teleportation, no tunneling (as in Champions). No boot jets.
This is offset some by the broadness of these abilities. And the fact that you can apply skill points to them to let them do specific things - even combat related maneuvers!
For example, flight is pretty basic, but you can apply skill points to let you use it to dive-bomb enemies, whirl about them in a tight circle doing punching damage, make yourself resistant to knockback, etc.
Acrobatics can run up sheer surface, stick to ceilings, and has an inherent gliding ability from the start (think cape-gliding like Batman). A few levels in and you can learn how to use a swingline from building to building with it. It's probably the most "active" travel power.
Speedster needs a VERY special note: You can run up the sides of buildings! And run on water! This is the first game where they've included such abilities, and they are awesome fun! (Careful going across ceilings though. Depending on the angle, the controls seem to "reverse" sometimes. I didn't bother with that feature much so it wasn't a problem for me.)
That rather describes a lot of the powers system in fact. At first you seem not to have much in the way of choices. But each power set has some broad applications. Fire powers for example, can do damage as a blaster. But you can concentrate your points instead into things like healing flames or transferring heat energy from enemies to yourself etc. Gadgets probably has the widest variety of options. I have two characters with that powerset, and they do things radically different. One is a martial artist and mainly uses small sticky bombs and a capture line to pull enemies to her, and the other uses robotic drones of various types as back-up firepower for her blasting abilities.
There is also a special tier of powers called "Iconic Powers" which has things specific to certain Heroes and Villains in it that you can choose. Amazonian deflection, Batarang throw, Heat vision etc. You get the idea.
Now we get into some of the weirdness of the combat system in general, and how VERY different it is from City of Heroes and other MMOS in general.
Powers with effects are triggered by a press of a numbered button from 1-6. Yes - ONLY 6. Button 7 is used exclusively for consumable healing "potions" and button 8 is used for trinkets that have power effects. You can buy more powers than you'll be able to use on the bar. But that's okay, because you can have multiple roles that you can switch to with their own load-outs. For example, my "Supergirl" inspired character is mainly melee with fire. But as DPS, she has a slightly different load-out of powers on the bar than as a tank.
And here's where we part company completely with what you may be familiar with in terms of control schemes in MMOs. Because everything I outlined above is for what I would liken to your
Secondary power sets, in comparison with COH. Your Primary powers are what you'll use more often. And they don't use a power button tray at all. You use your mouse button for them. ONLY your mouse buttons. In various combinations of button tap and hold combos like a fighting game.
Let me back up a moment and explain - DCUO does not use a "conventional" MMO control set-up. And apparently that's not even an option. How it IS set up in terms of the controls, is more of a "shooter" style.
I initially had a terrible learning curve during the tutorial and my first couple of levels. Until it "clicked" for me: "Hey - this isn't an MMO control setup. This is more like Mass Effect!" THEN it became much easier to "grok". You don't even have an individual mouse pointer on-screen unless you go to a menu. When you are in combat you point your character direction by means of the mouse. Look up - look down - turn all via direct mouse control. You do have keys for forward/backward movement and strafing. But if you play it, think of first or third person "shooters" BEFORE you think "MMO". And it becomes much more clear what you should be doing.
If you're melee, you use the mouse buttons to punch, haymaker, kick etc. If you're a blaster, archer, twin pistols, they become your "triggers" for your weaponry. And the various combos let you do different things. Different punches, kicks, PBAO damage. Charged shots.
Once again - console gameplay. The reason you only have 6 Power Effect buttons (+2 for "potions" and "Specials). The combos allow you to do more with a gamepad. In fact, I wager that if you have a PS3 Style game controller linked via USB, this will work out even better.
I will say - combat is VERY fast-paced and "kinetic". It does rely far more on "twitch" reflexes like a fighting game though. I don't think I'll be PVPing with this system. (The last "twitch" fighting game I was any good at was... er... back in the 90s. Street Fighter Alpha II I think... >.>) So far I've managed to stick to simple combos and be effective. Once you learn the system, it's actually a lot of fun.
Which brings me to the chat system, such as it is. If there's ONE thing DCUO Desperately, desperately needs, it's an overhaul to their chat system. You can do basic communication with it. You can talk to teammates on private channels. It does have "tells". But... Oh my god is it clunky. It feels "tacked on". And maybe it was! It limits DCUO drastically, I think. What is a fun game solo and a decent one in small groups (who do NOT talk in combat, at ALL, because you can either move and act, or you can type, and neither shall the twain meet!) becomes almost unworkable from an RP standpoint. In fact, I don't know if there even is much RP in this game at all. People are friendly enough and willing to help out. (though you do still get Trolls. But that's going to happen) But I don't think I've seen anyone even attempt RP in this game. There's no provision for writing a background bio for your character that people can read.
On the other hand, there is a voice chat system in-game. I haven't tried it because my system HATES voice in-game systems and tends to crash no matter what game it is. But it might make things easier.
Speaking of voices - every NPC character you interact with, from the vendors up to Superman, has a voice. Some of the voice acting is outstanding - Kevin Conroy as Batman, Mark Hamill as the Joker - how could you POSSIBLY go wrong?.
Some is good, neither Supes or Lex is from DC Animated, but both actors in the game are good. Although Adam Baldwin as Superman is...well.....Supes! The man they call... Supes! ^_^
...to cringe-worthy bad - Supergirl... augh... just... Supergirl... I LIKED her in the DCAU. I tolerate her here. Barely...
...to head-cockingly bizarre - Dwight Shultz ("Howling Mad" Murdoch from the original "A" Team and Reginald Barclay from Star Trek) does the Martian Manhunter AND APPARENTLY HAS NO INDOOR VOICE AT ALL.
EVER.
Special note: Not only did Mark Hamill return to do the Joker, but Arleen Sorkin came back to do Harley Quinn!
And She. Is. A. RIOT!!!
If you make a villain in this game, do NOT pass up a chance to go see her at the Hall of Doom. Most "stand around" NPCs in both the Watchtower and Hall of Doom have only 2-3 "canned" responses. Harley Quinn seems to have at LEAST 15 if not more! And every single one of them makes me laugh out loud - and cringe in the "should I be laughing at this?" variety.
HARLEY: (Starting off Chirpily cheerful) "Hey! You can trust me! (voice changes to evil Mua ha ha) I'm a DOCTOR!"
Never has adorable and malevolent inhabited the same frame so seamlessly...
Ahem... Moving along...
A quick word on the background music since I'm still on audio stuff. It's also very good. In Gotham the city music sometimes has echoes of B:TAS and Tim Burton Batman movies. In Metropolis, it's very "uplifting" optimistic stuff similar to that of Superman Animated or Justice League.
So - Bottom line. Worth it? Well it IS free-to-play now. I'd say it's worth at least trying out, maybe as a change of pace. I think it's a very fun game. It's a VERY pretty game. But it's not a "deep" game. The RP potential is slim to nearly non-existent at present due to the clunky chat system. But the plots and story of the game are simple but well done and I've been able to get into them while playing. Would it have made more sense as a stand-alone game like Batman: Arkham Asylum or KOTOR or Mass Effect? Maybe. But then you wouldn't be able to team up at all. And you can sit around and talk to people. You just can't do it AND play your character effectively at the same time. I think the game still has potential to survive and thrive if they'll iron out the various clunky bits.
As for spending real world money on the game - I initially plunked down 5 dollars for some goodies in their market so I could bump to "premium" status and get 6 instead of 2 character slots. Later I bought some of the DLC expansions. Those are dirt cheap compared to a lot of other games. No more than 10 dollars apiece. I believe if you subscribe you get them for free, but I think it's worth it to just buy them outright if you want a specific power set that doesn't come in the basic game and you're going to be playing more casually than long term. Say you want a Green Lantern deputy but you don't want to subscribe all the time for example. Same thing with the Earth powers and the Flash Lightning/Electricity sets.
They even have shield fighting, and their most recent DLC Pack focuses on Magic "Super Sorceror" types.
A word on "Lockboxes". DCUO has them. But unlike Champions Online and STO - they've done them in a way that's respectful to their customers and actually given people an incentive to subscribe!
Lockboxes operate on a similar principle to those in CO or STO. Occasionally A lockbox will drop in addition to regular loot (Last time I played this was FAR less ubiquitous and annoying than in CO). Inside is something. Either a piece of gear or a temporary boost of some kind.
If you are Free-to-play or "Premium" then you have to buy a key from the online store to open one.
But if you're a subscriber, you just open it for free like regular loot! No muss, no fuss.
THAT is the RIGHT way to do a lockbox! Take note Perfect World!
Is it a fun game? Yes. Is it a deep game? No. Is it a home for ex-patriot City of Heroes players? That depends on your tastes. I imagine most Role-players and people making specific concepts or trying to port/translate characters from one system to another will give it a pass.
If you want a non-complicated silver-age world with a clearly defined reason to go beat up bad guys and a fast-paced combat system to let you go at it, then this is a good choice.
Of the two superhero MMOs left after the COH servers shutdown, this will be the only one that lets you play a villain outright.
And if you're a fan of DC (even just a casual one like me whose main exposure over the last 20 years has been the Animated Universe) and you want to play in that world, even if only for a little while, I'd say it's worth it to at least download it and give it a try.
I hope this helps you in your future endeavors.
