DC Comics and the characters held within the DC Universe
are some of the most recognized and loved characters in comics, television, and
movies.  It is a brand that has been a part of our world for longer than most of
us have been alive and one of the most colorful intellectual properties to grace
the gaming world.  Sony Online Entertainment holds gold in their hands with
DC
Universe Online, and the potential is unimaginable.  As fans wait, not so
patiently, for the game’s release in early 2011, Ten Ton Hammer has been in game
and is now ready to share our first impressions on what could be SOE’s next big
thing.

I feel as though I should preface my first impressions of DCUO by saying that I’m generally not a fan of comics or comic
book games. I’ve played
City of Heroes and
Champions Online and neither managed
to strike my fancy.  In fact, they lead me to truly believe that I would always
be a sword and magic sort of girl and I could not find enjoyment in any other
genre. 

As one of the lucky few to get into beta early, I
downloaded the game just out of a morbid curiosity and peer pressure. Yes, I was
swayed by my gaming friends who all embrace comics with a rabidity that might
scare lesser geeks.  Bravery intact and fully expecting to just hate everything
about the game, I logged in and was completely surprised by what I found.

Character Creation

Everything you need to create your ultimate super hero is
right here. You can choose to start from scratch and take the time to decide
upon every detail or you can pick a superhero template from any one of these
known heroes or villains:

Iconic characters face off in legendary gameplay

• Batman
• Superman
• Catwoman
• Lex Luthor
• The Joker
• The Flash
• Wonder Woman
• Deathstroke
• Bane
• Circe
• Beastboy
• Mister Freeze
• Green Arrow
• Steel
• Martian Manhunter

The templates are pretty cool if you aren’t sure what you
want or if you really just want to get in game quickly. Most players, though,
will want to create their own and it is here that you won’t be disappointed. 
You are given pages of options starting with hero versus villain, personality
type (which makes a difference in how your character behaves in game), and a
mentor choice that decides who your guidance is throughout the game.  From there
you pick your power, movement, and weapon options which are the skills that you
will be working on during your super hero or villain career.

With basics covered, you now get to customize your body and
make your costume!  You pick each piece from head to toe, and then choose your
color scheme which gives nearly endless possibilities for a costume.

In costume creation, you are given three areas in which you
may customize: body, gear, and colors.  The body section is where you choose
your skin and hair style and you’ll find options from the typical to the
outrageous.  Want to be a feral tigress that commands nature? You can do that
complete with the tail! Want to be a cyborg with destructive gadget abilities?
You can do that too.  Other interesting skin options are the mummy, robot,
undead, and chrome skins that will help you get the look you want and hairstyles
vary from a short mohawk to long flowing tresses with everything in between.

Costume options are fairly diverse.  There are theme
pieces, such as biker leather, jeans, and boots, which help create a specific
look if you want it but you get the best creations from mixing and matching. 
Each piece of gear is selected individually for each slot: helmet, emblem,
shirt, back, hands, waist, pants, and feet.  There are quite a few spandex-like
suits in various patterns, real world street clothes, skirts, military gear, and
even just underwear if you’d like to create the Lingerie Bandit.

In color customization, you’ll pick the colors for your
skin, hair, eyes, makeup, and gear.  Color choice uses a slider so just
about any color you
want, you can get.  Gear colors also have a slider, but you are required to use
a three-color scheme that can get a little confusing.  First, you choose your
three colors on the palette using the slider for color, intensity, and
brightness to find the color scheme that works best for your character.  Once
you’ve chosen your color scheme, you then have the option to adjust how those
colors are used on each piece of gear. 

DCUO does have a very cool feature that I just love. When
you earn new gear in game, you can equip it and choose if you want the new gear
to change your appearance.  If you allow it to change your appearance, it
automatically uses your color scheme so there is no chance of having a carefully
selected red, white, and black costume with out-of-place bright purple pants.  The downside I found with the color scheme system is that it is only
three colors.  If you want a red, white, and blue costume with gold accents, you
can’t do that.  It’s a small thing but can you imagine Wonder Woman without the
gold accents?

Tutorial Heaven

The Ace of Clubs...where all the bad guys hang out

Your first stop in the DCUO world is the opening “tutorial”
zone.  While DCUO is a MMOG, it plays like an action game and the controls work
like an action game which can take some getting used to.  The starting zone
gives players a fairly safe place to learn how everything works and action
instruction is covered as part of your mission here.  For new players, you can
take your time to practice complicated movements such as melee mouse clicks,
blocking, and combos.  Players that have been here before can breeze through the
tutorial in mere minutes so you can get on with business.

Once you’ve completed the tutorial mission zone, you exit
directly into the safehouse for your faction’s starting area.  For villains this
will be nightclub and for heroes it will be a police station in either
Metropolis or Gotham City.  Where you start depends on which mentor you picked, for
example, if you chose Batman or The Joker you will start in Gotham and if you
chose Superman or Lex Luthor you will start in Metropolis.

On to Awesomeness!

Out in the world there are things to learn and dangers everywhere.  
Once you’re done with the tutorial zone, the real game starts and it starts
right away.  Probably the coolest thing about DCUO is the fact that you
start out heroic and diabolical.  You don’t have to claw and fight your way
to coolness like you are required to do in most MMOGs, you are on the same level
as the iconic super heroes and villains from the very beginning.  You are
special and you are the key to this world’s salvation and this concept is enforced every
step of the way.

There are several different kinds of missions you will run
into during your early levels in the DCUO world:

• Sightseeing missions – Generally obtained from kiosks within the
  safehouses, these send you to certain points throughout the cities and will
  familiarize you with the areas in which you will be playing. 
• Storyline missions – Auto-granted by your mentor or other
  contacts, these are your primary means of progressions and you are very rarely
  without one of these.
• Alert missions – These are another auto-granted type of mission
  that gives players the opportunity to join other players from a queue in a
  larger scale battle.
• Wanted posters – Located in the safehouses these give you a reason
  to hunt wanted people around Gotham and Metropolis.
• PvP missions – As if you need a reason to kill the opposing
  faction!
• Collection missions – While not really a mission, keep an eye out
  for these glowing icons that indicate there is a collectable to gather.

DCUO is not a grindy game and missions are plentiful enough
that you are rarely without some sort of goal.  If you run out of missions
in Gotham City? Grab the portal from the Watchtower or the Hall of Doom and hop
over to Metropolis to get more missions!  These storylines also vary based
on your mentor of choice so in order to get the full picture of everything that
is going on, you actually need to play through multiple characters.  This gives
the game a very cool re-playability that makes you want to embrace the altoholic
within.

Gameplay

DCUO is downright fun.  I’ve played a lot of MMOGs and I
have found enjoyment in game challenge, in graphic quality, and in game
complexity but this was the first time that I found enjoyment in just playing. 

Your skills will all revolve around the power, weapon, and
movement selections you made in character creation.  Power skills use hotkeys
off of a numbered skill bar and you may only have a handful of powers usable at
any given time. These can be switched out though whenever you would
like.  The power you chose determines the role you play in game. As an example,
the fire power is geared towards tanking and damage while the sorcery power is
for healing and damage.

Weapon skills utilize mouse buttons, both right and left,
and require various combinations in order to trigger special moves.  I wasn’t
sure about the controls at first, mostly because action games have never been my
forte, but even in my newbness, I got the combos down.  Combos start out pretty
simple and gain in complexity so the whole concept isn’t just dropped onto new
players. As your confidence builds, so will your potential skill.  Combat is
very interactive and button mashing doesn’t work all that well, so I suggest
building clicking strength prior to starting the game to avoid serious carpal
tunnel injury.

Your chosen movement (acrobatics, flight, or speed) is more
than just a mode of travel in game.  There are also skills you can gain based on
these and combat tactics in PvP that need to take these skills into account. 
You may want to make characters just to try these out to find your favorite
since your choice does impact gameplay.

He's almost as handsome as Ryan Reynolds!

Player versus Player

DCUO will offer various types of PvP combat. An open world
PvP server will be a great option for hardcore PvPers who want to live life on
the edge. For players who play on PvE servers but still want a taste of the
action, there are PvP instances and Legends matches where players can play as
iconic characters. You have to unlock these skins (I picked up Robin and Harley
Quinn just through gameplay) and they will be made available through multiple
avenues so everyone gets a chance to unlock the ones that they want.

Wrapping it up…with a Bow

Don’t come to DC Universe Online looking for another
run-of-the-mill MMORPG experience because you simply will not find it here.  If
you are burned out on the current gaming market and looking for something
completely different then chances are, DCUO is what you are looking for.  For
players new to the action game genre, there is a bit of a learning curve but it
is definitely worth putting the time in to master the controls and I promise
that learning your combos is the hardest part of the game. For players who are
already action game gurus, you’ll slip right in with no troubles to find a
blissful combination that is unlike any other MMOG out there.  Sony Online
Entertainment has proven with DCUO that being different is sometimes better.