I bought DCUO the third day it was out, and I think I'm enjoying it just because after seven years of playing City of Heroes, I needed to see something different. Will I keep playing it indefinitely like I did CoH; I seriously doubt it. I have six level-50s over on CoH, and several in the high 30/low 40 range. If NCSoft can stop visually examining their colon and throw away their bleedin' Nerf stick that they love so Goddamned much, I might just go back.
But right now, we're talking about DCUO. I think they've done some good things here. I've never enjoyed travelling all over the map as much as I do here. And I am here to tell you, I dropped WoW after two months of playing because the travel pissed me off to no end.
The combat's stamina meter is great. You aren't unmercilessly punished for unloading everything you got at a villian and forced to wait X amount of time for your stamina to come back. Yes, Perfect World International, I'm looking at YOU.
Now that the praise is out of the way, here's what's behind the curtain:
Character customization is very limited; it is THE worst when compared to CoH or CO. And if you make a male character, be warned, you're gonna want a full mask, because your choices of hair and facial features are crap. Also, if you were spoiled by CoH's body/height slider, you'll absolutely HATE being stuck with only 3 body types to choose from. Outfits are limited in the beginning (your character comes across the 'cool' stuff in-game) and if you make a tri-colored character, be warned; you'll be playing around with the color scheme all day and STILL won't have the color pattern you want.
The social panel is garbage. I still haven't figured out how people even 'Shout' in the general channel. I've sent 'Tells' to people and never had anyone respond. I thought it was simply because I was being ignored, or they were in a battle, until I got my friend on the phone and asked if he got any of my messages, and he said he didn't see anything from me. Seriously, you might as well forget the whole damned thing and get everyone on Skype.
I don't like the World of Warcraft feel I get about this game in regards to your character. By that, I mean, the NPCs merely talk AT your character, instead of TO your character. This is where CoH shined in my eyes, because they INSERTED your character's name into the story dialogue. I understand they can't do that because they insist on giving out missions verbally, which is annoying as batshit to me personally, but seriously, I didn't go through the trouble of naming my character just so you could NOT use my name. If that's the case, I might as well go call myself 'Twattycake'.
Movement is nothing like any MMO out there, and I can't really say that's a great thing. The controls are bizarre and take some getting used to. Flight, in my eyes, operates rather clunky compared to CoH, and I just can't bring myself to try superspeed. All my characters have acrobatics, and that seems to be working.
And that's my take on DCUO. I like it, I think it has some good ideas and great potential, but right now, it's a diamond in the rough. If you're thinking about getting into this game, wait a year; the level cap should be raised by then and they might iron out some of the more glaring issues they have.
But right now, we're talking about DCUO. I think they've done some good things here. I've never enjoyed travelling all over the map as much as I do here. And I am here to tell you, I dropped WoW after two months of playing because the travel pissed me off to no end.
The combat's stamina meter is great. You aren't unmercilessly punished for unloading everything you got at a villian and forced to wait X amount of time for your stamina to come back. Yes, Perfect World International, I'm looking at YOU.
Now that the praise is out of the way, here's what's behind the curtain:
Character customization is very limited; it is THE worst when compared to CoH or CO. And if you make a male character, be warned, you're gonna want a full mask, because your choices of hair and facial features are crap. Also, if you were spoiled by CoH's body/height slider, you'll absolutely HATE being stuck with only 3 body types to choose from. Outfits are limited in the beginning (your character comes across the 'cool' stuff in-game) and if you make a tri-colored character, be warned; you'll be playing around with the color scheme all day and STILL won't have the color pattern you want.
The social panel is garbage. I still haven't figured out how people even 'Shout' in the general channel. I've sent 'Tells' to people and never had anyone respond. I thought it was simply because I was being ignored, or they were in a battle, until I got my friend on the phone and asked if he got any of my messages, and he said he didn't see anything from me. Seriously, you might as well forget the whole damned thing and get everyone on Skype.
I don't like the World of Warcraft feel I get about this game in regards to your character. By that, I mean, the NPCs merely talk AT your character, instead of TO your character. This is where CoH shined in my eyes, because they INSERTED your character's name into the story dialogue. I understand they can't do that because they insist on giving out missions verbally, which is annoying as batshit to me personally, but seriously, I didn't go through the trouble of naming my character just so you could NOT use my name. If that's the case, I might as well go call myself 'Twattycake'.
Movement is nothing like any MMO out there, and I can't really say that's a great thing. The controls are bizarre and take some getting used to. Flight, in my eyes, operates rather clunky compared to CoH, and I just can't bring myself to try superspeed. All my characters have acrobatics, and that seems to be working.
And that's my take on DCUO. I like it, I think it has some good ideas and great potential, but right now, it's a diamond in the rough. If you're thinking about getting into this game, wait a year; the level cap should be raised by then and they might iron out some of the more glaring issues they have.
