Review: DC Universe Online

[DTWolfwood]

Turn on WASD Mode in your settings PC users. I swear its a god send, i have no idea y its default is off

But i really do enjoy the game a whole lot more than i would have expected after waiting a month before actually diving in. With all the news that its so "consolized" i was damn hesitant. But i wanted an action mmo like Vindictus with more content and man its a blast playing on a PVP server.

Its tuff for the first 10 lvls when you are questing outside cause there is a chance you will get ganked by lvl30s left and right! XD but once you get pass it you can have some serious fun when a determined group of heros/villains in raid groups show up in front of your mission hubs and you literally have a massive ffa out on the street! Cars and trucks flying everywhere! and powers exploding all over! I bet you dont get that kind of random open world raids on PVE servers

simple fix for the UI on DCUO, give the PC ppl an option to disconnect the mouse cursor from the camera view! left clicking a dude, right click a drop down menu to invite to party is needed!

edit: Learn the moves you're opponents use! Knowing when to use an interrupt or a block breaker = a lvl20 owning up a lvl30

 

[gibboss28]

As someone who brought this, I'd love to sell it but I don't think I can. I don't think its worth paying the monthly fee for, I'm only playing until my free trial is up and that's it as far as I'm concerned, but as far as the free trial goes its worth playing for that, its an all right game and you'll get a decent bit of mileage out of it.

You only really need 30 levels, any more and I reckon it would get quite tedious.

The combat mechanics are a lot of fun, mixing the melee/ranged combos of an action game with the abilities of an mmo worked like a charm, and as far as I know this is one of the only mmos to pull this off successfully. While the range of weapon types you have and the number of powers you've got aren't as vast as they in Champions Online it still holds its own. I love my hand blaster weapon mixed with the Gadgets power.

There's very little difference between the heroes and villains quest lines. As in you'll be doing the same stuff...just slightly different. For example: At one point if you're playing as a hero you'll be helping out the Green Lantern Corps deal with the Sinestro Corps, in the first quest you'll help out members of the Green Lantern Corps by defending them from attacks by the Sinestro Corps. If you're playing as a villain...just swap Green Lantern for Sinestro and Vise Versa.

Also, it can be buggy and slightly laggy at times. And lag in an action game...ooof it hurts.

But no matter its shortcomings I'd say its a good game, but its got very little replay value which for an MMO isn't that good.

Excellent, thanks very much sir. You just saved me some cash, perhaps I could buy you a drink one day to return the favour.

I could do with a bottle of Crabbies.

 

[CD-R]

Someone with a PC version tell me how it is please?

I'm itching to try this but I don't want to shell out for it and pay a monthly to do so. I know it only has 30 levels and that in itself is quite off putting.
Basically, sell it to me.

I have it on PC and I really like the game.

It doesn't really matter how many levels the game has. If it has 85 levels but you only get a point every 2 level or it has 45 levels but a point every level, there's not a big difference right? In DCUO, every odd level, you get a skill point (boost your weapon attack by buying combos, stat boost or movement upgrade) and every even level, you get a power. You also get a new skill point for every 100 achievement points, so trying to get achievements gets you a reward.

At 30, you have 15 power points, but your action bar can hold 6 powers (plus one item and one trinket) so it's a bit like guild wars. You have to be prepared with the right powers for the encounter, but at least you can change them when not in combat. You also have enough power points to be ok for two roles if you like being versatile. Every power set has damage and another role (controller, healer or tank). Controller is a mix of CC and party member energy regen. Powers can behave differently depending on your role. Ex: there's a sorcery spell that gives the status "Bad Karma" to the target. If your in DPS, it does AoE DoT on the mobs. If you're in healer role, it's a AoE HoT on your party member around the target.

The combat system is the best from all the MMOs I tried because it's not keybind based. You have to use combos that stun or kockback your ennemies to do good damage and not die. Also there's a block and you can dodge attacks like most action games. Some attacks are better to be blocked and others to be dodged. PvP has more depth because of the blockbreakers, interrupts, stuns in weapon attacks.

I really like to use a pulling power, do a big combo that finish with a big knockback attack, then pull the mob before he hit the ground and do the combo again.

The first month is free, so you don't have to pay a monthly fee if you don't like it. If you don't like the game, it's not really different than buying a new game that you end up not liking.

I've been playing since launch and I really like the game. I won't be able to play WoW again because the combat system is too boring after playing DCUO.

I've heard the combat system described as a cross between Dynasty Warriors and WoW. Would you say thats accurate? Because I love me some Dynasty Warriors, and although I like the concept of MMOs, I've always hated the whole "click on an enemy and wait for it to die system" used in most MMOs. Which is weird because I don't mind it in traditional RPGs like Neverwinter Nights and Dragon Age.

 

[Xenominim]

I've heard the combat system described as a cross between Dynasty Warriors and WoW. Would you say thats accurate? Because I love me some Dynasty Warriors, and although I like the concept of MMOs, I've always hated the whole "click on an enemy and wait for it to die system" used in most MMOs. Which is weird because I don't mind it in traditional RPGs like Neverwinter Nights and Dragon Age.

I only played the beta and wound up getting bored before that ended, but yeah the combat system could be described that way. You have heavy and light attacks, and as you level up you learn combos and charge attacks. Your attack style can be melee or long range as well, such as hammers vs rifles. Mostly these are for damage dealing but you can also juggle, stun, and knockback opponents and some have area of effect attacks.

The WoW part is your powers, like fire or ice. They use a mana bar which is only replenished by using your regular attacks. So you can't just sit back spamming your powerful fireball moves and then running around waiting for the bar to refill, you actually have to go in and fight. These moves also have more effects than your regular attacks.

It's a fairly neat combat system really in theory, but a lot of the attack styles and powers blend together or just aren't very useful, so you tend to wind up just using one or two combos and a couple of powers for the bulk of your fights.

 

[magicmonkeybars]

Don't mind me but you were awfully critical of a game you rated four stars...
Maybe I don't understand the start rating but I get the impression that four stars means good, not repeditive quests, limited cumbersome communications among players and unwieldy controls.
Sounds more like a 2.5 star rating to me.

 

[Rad Party God]

I still think the game looks like lots of fun, but if it wasn't for that damned monthly fee, I'd already bought it by now.

 

[Nerf Ninja]

Whilst I am enjoying this game, I'm personally playing it as a single player game. I think it should have been nothing but single player. There's virtually no interaction between players and as far as I can tell no need for it either.

I know I'd rather have played a high quality Arkham asylum style single/two player game set in the whole dc "universe" with fully customisable characters than an average action game with a poorly realised MMO element tacked on.

"Edit"

Also, why are the official DC characters/quest givers so much taller than you? yeah Superman is tall but he's not eight foot tall! and neither is the Flash!

 

[retrofish18]

"The cinematics and one liners feel like they were ripped from the pages of a graphic novel"

What does that mean. As someone who reads comic books on a regular basis, I've always used the word graphic novel and comic book the same way. Please explain.

 

[shreedder]

anyone notice that the fire villain/hero they were playing looked a lot like Total Biscuit's one named Dark Halibut?

 

[lomylithruldor]

I've heard the combat system described as a cross between Dynasty Warriors and WoW. Would you say thats accurate? Because I love me some Dynasty Warriors, and although I like the concept of MMOs, I've always hated the whole "click on an enemy and wait for it to die system" used in most MMOs. Which is weird because I don't mind it in traditional RPGs like Neverwinter Nights and Dragon Age.

I never played Dynasty Warriors, so I can't say. But, left click is a close attack, right click is a ranged attack. Every weapon or fighting style have different speed, dmg and combos in both. combos are taps, holds left click and right clicks with some directions (ex: Rifle has a combo of hold right click + back to do a backflip while shooting. Two-handed has hold left click x5 for a combo of big slow knocking back attacks). It doesn't have as much depth as Prototype, but it's a big step forward compared to WoW.

Also, when you're in DPS role, your powers give you a % of bonus dmg (between 35% and 50%) until you break your chain of hits (effect last a minimum of 5 sec). Powers break your chain of hits so you can't stack the bonus. The other roles don't have that bonus so they focus more on using the right powers instead of trying to keep their combos going.

 

[OtherSideofSky]

"The cinematics and one liners feel like they were ripped from the pages of a graphic novel"

I object strongly to this insulting use of the term "comic book" as opposed to a superior style of "graphic novel" which is just a way for people who don't want to admit to reading or writing comic books to act smug. We don't have different words for good and bad literature or films and the coexistence of these two terms strikes me as unnecessary, pretentious hipster bullshit unless someone can come up with a legitimate reason for considering these to be two different mediums. "graphic novels" are works of sequential art written, drawn and published in exactly the same way as "comic books" and often by the same people. By perpetuating this segregation we are restraining the creative advancement of comics as a medium and actively preventing their acceptance as a legitimate art form by the culture at large.

"The cinematics and one liners feel like they were ripped from the pages of a graphic novel"

What does that mean. As someone who reads comic books on a regular basis, I've always used the word graphic novel and comic book the same way. Please explain.

he means its like the 1960s batman compared to batman beyond. the 1960s batman was meant for little kids, and is MUCH lighter in comparison to batman beyond. SOE tends to dislike any sort of maturity in any of their games and forbid anyone from saying anything even resembling a normal person. In short, everyone acts like this:

Actually, the Adam West Batman TV show had a far larger adult audience than ever became aware of Batman Beyond, which was still undoubtedly a children's show and was aired and marketed as such. It just happened to have decent writing and deal with interesting issues. The Adam West Batman, however, was also far more subversive for its time than it sometimes appears in retrospect and while its dialog is undoubtedly unnatural and ridiculous it was delivered with a level of sincerity which elevates it beyond mere camp. Its poor reputation is due almost entirely to fans of the gritty, post Frank Miller Batman going back and getting upset that he used to be lighthearted and fun.

 

[Dastardly]

Review: DC Universe Online

Enter the world of Superman and Batman

Read Full Article

"Not enough to justify paying a monthly fee." Hammer, meet Head O'Nail.

Subscription-based MMOs have evolved in a predictable, but unfortunate way over the years. Back with examples like Ultima Online, for all their flaws, companies realized they had a lot of proving to do--they had to prove the game wasn't just worth buying, it was worth continuously buying for months or years. The market had a certain amount of subscription anxiety.

A game like Star Wars Galaxies had to provide branching skill systems, robust player housing options, the most intensely personalized crafting system ever, vehicles and animals on the ground, spaceships in the air (with completely different gameplay mechanics)... and this was a game based on a ridiculously popular IP.

Then, after enough time, we grew accustomed to the idea of subscriptions to MMOs. No longer did "monthly fee" cause people to shy away. Enter: The WoW era. And since this time, MMOs simply haven't tried as hard. They've improved as games... but only about as much as pay-once single-player offerings. Graphics, mechanics, etc.

But persistent player housing? Robust crafting options? Marginalized or removed. Many games have few character creation options... not that they matter if you'll instantly be covered in lowbie quest rewards anyhow. Even your vehicles no longer exist apart from springing from your crotch as a player model change. Basically, anything that allowed a player to feel like their presence left a footprint in the world was removed.

Earlier? You were paying monthly for real estate in a virtual world. Even when you were logged off, your house was there, your shop was open, players were buying items you created (and stamped with your name)... you had a persistent presence of some sort.

Now? You're a renter. You rent a character from a list of pre-approved types. You're borrowing space for a moment while you play the story specifically spelled out for your class/race/allegiance. And when you log out, you vanish without a trace. Essentially, this game "world" is an expanded busy-work lobby system for multiplayer matches... or the whole experience is just playing a single-player game while other people play the same game separately around you. (Oh, and instanced housing? Nope, doesn't count. It's just an expanded storage bag. There is no chance of 'walk-by traffic,' allowing you to feel like your home actually exists when you're not online.)

These aren't experiences people should pay for monthly. There is no room for any sense of "ownership" over the character, or even just a little piece of the game world. It's a single-player-quality experience... and even then, with the time it takes to develop, even these elements are outdated at release. And we have to remember that the necessity of an internet connection means a lot of things are toned down to keep lag low. So, really, it's a sub-par experience for which you pay far more.

SOE still hasn't quite had to face the music in this regard, largely because of StationPass. But soon enough, that'll change. The advent of mainstream free-to-play will slowly start putting the responsibility on these companies to continue to provide interesting experiences if they expect customer buy-in.

 

[DeASplode]

At 30, you have 15 power points, but your action bar can hold 6 powers (plus one item and one trinket) so it's a bit like guild wars.

Y'know if you press T, it switches to a secondary action bar, so you've got 12 skills.

 

[lomylithruldor]

At 30, you have 15 power points, but your action bar can hold 6 powers (plus one item and one trinket) so it's a bit like guild wars.

Y'know if you press T, it switches to a secondary action bar, so you've got 12 skills.

You can't switch in combat and it's not a secondary action bar, it's your other role. It's like changing spec in WoW. Your powers can react differently and your powers in your non-DPS roles are not as powerful.

 

[lead sharp]

"The cinematics and one liners feel like they were ripped from the pages of a graphic novel"

I object strongly to this insulting use of the term "comic book" as opposed to a superior style of "graphic novel" which is just a way for people who don't want to admit to reading or writing comic books to act smug. We don't have different words for good and bad literature or films and the coexistence of these two terms strikes me as unnecessary, pretentious hipster bullshit unless someone can come up with a legitimate reason for considering these to be two different mediums. "graphic novels" are works of sequential art written, drawn and published in exactly the same way as "comic books" and often by the same people. By perpetuating this segregation we are restraining the creative advancement of comics as a medium and actively preventing their acceptance as a legitimate art form by the culture at large.

"The cinematics and one liners feel like they were ripped from the pages of a graphic novel"

What does that mean. As someone who reads comic books on a regular basis, I've always used the word graphic novel and comic book the same way. Please explain.

he means its like the 1960s batman compared to batman beyond. the 1960s batman was meant for little kids, and is MUCH lighter in comparison to batman beyond. SOE tends to dislike any sort of maturity in any of their games and forbid anyone from saying anything even resembling a normal person. In short, everyone acts like this:

Actually, the Adam West Batman TV show had a far larger adult audience than ever became aware of Batman Beyond, which was still undoubtedly a children's show and was aired and marketed as such. It just happened to have decent writing and deal with interesting issues. The Adam West Batman, however, was also far more subversive for its time than it sometimes appears in retrospect and while its dialog is undoubtedly unnatural and ridiculous it was delivered with a level of sincerity which elevates it beyond mere camp. Its poor reputation is due almost entirely to fans of the gritty, post Frank Miller Batman going back and getting upset that he used to be lighthearted and fun.

You're a little long winded but I have to agree, piss poor writing is just that, doesn't matter what medium it's in. How would a gamer feel if someone said 'It's just a game it doesn't need good writing...' just before Yahtzee turned them into a fine red paste.

The term 'Graphic Novel' is simply a way to cover up any shame people feel over the term 'Comic Book' so I personally can't abide it.

And Champions online just went free?!?!?! Well DCU Online can kiss my hoop.

 

[Thespian]

I really really want to get this game just so I can make a superhero, get overloaded by choice, make him look totally ridiculous, hop around the city eccentrically, do a few story missions, get bored, try to fix my characters goofy appearance, make it worse, stop playing and complain about how the monthly fee is too much.

MUST HAVE

 

[DeASplode]

At 30, you have 15 power points, but your action bar can hold 6 powers (plus one item and one trinket) so it's a bit like guild wars.

Y'know if you press T, it switches to a secondary action bar, so you've got 12 skills.

You can't switch in combat and it's not a secondary action bar, it's your other role. It's like changing spec in WoW. Your powers can react differently and your powers in your non-DPS roles are not as powerful.

Woops, guess I've been playing it wrong then D:

I really should pay attention to the tutorials...

 

[warboss5]

Having played to level 10 myself, I agree with the same-i-ness of the quest lines. Plus, because you level so quickly, leveling up simply doesn't feel all that special. And, sadly, the chat interface is no better on the PC than on the PS3, its just not a very group/guild friendly game.

Oh well, back to WoW it is.

 

[Bassman_2]

Why'd you make yourself Batman with a hat?

And a bat.