DC Universe Online

[Dasquian Belargic]

Another day, another superhero MMO goes free to play. This time it's DCUO.

SOE has announced that in late October they will be going free to play for DCUO. You can see the available subscription plans here, breaking down what the free, premium and legendary versions get you: http://www.dcuniverseonline.com/free/

I played a little DCUO at a friends house once and wasn't totally sold on it, but I've subsequently played Champions (another free to play superhero MMO) and enjoyed it - so I'd give DCUO a go for free!

[Peter McCoy]

I bought both games and while the mechanics of DCUO felt better (though it's more recent in my memory) the customization in Champions is far superior and a highlight of the game genre for me.

[Dasquian Belargic]

I was talking to a friend who played this all the way through to the level cap and he said that eventually he got to the point where there was literally no content left to play :huh Seems kind of weird, when end-game raids etc are the bread and butter of MMOs.

[Peter McCoy]

Yeah that's what I heard. It gives the impression that they were relying on the strength of the license to keep people playing.

[Captain Untouchable]

There are still a few more weeks before Bioware will let me loose on The Old Republic, so I've been trying out various free MMOs to keep me in the mood. One of the ones I couldn't resist giving a try was DC Universe Online.

For reference, I created a gadget archer hero with Batman as his mentor.

There were some technical problems with the launcher, but a quick google search resolved those. Character creation was a bit odd... the menus (and the controls) feel more like a console game that has been adapted for PC; a little strange for an online game, though it is available on PS3 as well.

The game plays like Arkham Asylum/City; particularly with the skillset I've got. You have a basic melee attack and a basic ranged attack that you can spam to your heart's content; you've got a block ability that you usually forget about until it prompts you to use it on screen; and instead of a series of increasingly powerful but slower attacks, you've instead got gadgets and grenades and what-not that compliment the left-click / right-click spam combat.

The result is that the combat feels quite fast-paced. You're constantly jumping around and smacking things, and your attention needs to be on the fight itself, rather than staring at the cooldown timers for your next attack.

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of participation with DC characters that you have. The tutorial happened aboard Brainiac's ship: I escaped with some help from Superman. I then wound up in Gotham and, after helping Harvey Bullock investigate a string of attacks by Scarecrow's thugs, I teamed up with Batwoman to take him down.

My absolute favourite part is the screens dotted around the place that you can interact with and recieve a location description. These end with the phrase: "This public service announcement was provided for free by Booster Gold." :lol

Quests flow into each other nicely, and you (or at least I) have Batman and Oracle providing hints and leading me from one area to the next: there's no running back to the quest giver in order to recieve your reward. Unfortunately, there are always a lot of people trying to do the same thing at the same time, so saving 10 cops from thugs can take a while if someone swoops in and talks to the cop while you're distracted fighting.

It isn't as good an MMO as City of Heroes, but it is a more fun superhero game. I wouldn't pay for it... but I don't have to, because it's free. If you're a fan of superheroes / comic books, and if you're looking for something easy-to-play with an amusing few gimmicks, it's probably worth a look.

On a scale of World of Warcraft to The Old Republic (where World of Warcraft is the most boring, overrated, and loathesome piece of software I've ever had the misfortune of installing; and The Old Republic is THE MOST AWESOME THING EVER), I'd put it somewhere in the middle.


This public service announcement was provided for free by Captain Untouchable.

[Dasquian Belargic]

I still haven't really given DCUO a proper try yet. I am tempted by the amount of interaction you have with main characters, but then I think... I have Arkham City sitting, waiting to be played after I finish with Skyrim :ohno

[Captain Untouchable]

You could always Superman as your mentor, so that you'd be interacting with Metropolis-based characters; that way it's different from Arkham... :mischief

[Dasquian Belargic]

Honestly, I have never been that big on Supes, aside from a couple of comics that I've read. When I tried DCUO out originally, I'm pretty sure I was playing as a villain under the Joker so I'd probably do that again... or see what kind of mentor Wonder Woman makes!

[Xel-Naga]

I've been dabbling with this game for weeks and it's quite frustrating. I started out playing PvP and you get camped by higher levels all day long. So after finally giving in and going PvE it was a lot smoother, but I can't say it's a game I would play. It has a lot of good merits, like the costume system letting you swap styles on the fly after you've picked them up. The game looks like it would be a blast to play with others, but I can't even figure out how to group, or if that is even an option for Free Accounts.

It's an okay time sink until something better comes along, but I would rather play Rift or World of Warcraft. It's only attractiveness is the free.

[Peter McCoy]

I played it for 2 days when it was released, never looked back. Found it very boring.

I may check it out again now that it's free, but I won't get my hopes up.

[Xel-Naga]

A lot of my friends jumped onto DC:U when it came out, hit level thirty in a few days, and at the time it had no end game content so they quit. They did not play more than a month at most before dumping it. There was just not much end game content, and from what I've gathered since there still is not much end game and with the new paid content model you have to buy the end game content to play ti, which sounds slightly less fun. I really do not enjoy the pay-to-play model. I guess it could be more defined that monthy, because you can buy the exact content you want, but it becomes a game of endlessly scrolling through menus trying to avoid or find content rather than just handing them the $15 a month and not having to worry about all that. Nothing breaks the immersion more than trying to do something only to get a menu asking you to purchase the require content.

The other problem with pay-to-play games with free play for basic accounts is that the games are completely swamped at all times because of the easy access that free play gives. It's also confined to just two servers for free players (PVP and PVE) so good luck getting that super cool superhero name you always wanted because everything is taken. EVERYTHING! I makes me sad when I can only get a name if I add a bunch of numbers at the end. Somehow springing out from the shadows at criminals with a "Shadowstalker045884 is here to save the day!" just kind of kills the mood.

[Drin Kizael]

Tried it out. It's neat teaming with DC characters and the voice acting during battles (not just cutscreens) is a very cool touch. But as far as game play goes, City of Heroes is still better.