DC Universe Online review

1 / 2

DC Universe Online lets you fulfil your destiny as a hero or villain, fighting side-by-side with legends like Superman or The Joker. In this alternate version of the DC comic book universe, Lex Luthor has travelled back from a future in which all heroes and villains have been destroyed by the villain Brainiac. With him, Luthor has bought a swarm of Exobytes – nanotech devices capable of giving superhuman powers to ordinary people. Armed with this new army of superhumans, the Earth might just stand a chance against Brainiac’s onslaught.

Although circumstances have forced an uneasy alliance between heroes and villains, the traditional enemies continue to vie for power. Who you fight and what you hope to achieve depend on which side you take. Either way, you’ll be facing some of the greatest names from the DC pantheon, going toe-to-toe with the likes of Raven, Scarecrow and even Superman himself.

Your first move is to create your character and choose your powers. You only get to choose between small, medium and large, with no further customisation. However, a wide range of costumes, accessories and skin effects help make your character distinctive, from bird wings to rock-like skin and biker jackets.

There are plenty of abilities to choose from, with powers such as mind control, sorcery and ice blasts and combat styles including martial arts, dual swords and firearms. As you advance, you can take on iconic powers modelled on those of your favourite heroes, such as Superman’s heat vision. You can also choose from three movement types: speed, acrobatics and flight.

Unusually for a melee-oriented action game, we found DCUO easier to control with a mouse and keyboard than with a controller. If you use a controller, you have to hold down your main attack button and a modifying button to use a power, making it harder to strategically launch a barrage of superhuman attacks while fighting. Flying is also easier with a mouse, and we were soon performing daring aerobatics amid the skyscrapers of Metropolis.

Gaining experience isn’t all about slaughtering hundreds of gang members. Instead, you’re sent on missions by your heroic or villainous mentor to earn hefty XP rewards as well as new weapons and armour to improve your stats. As you progress, you can take missions from other luminaries of the DC Universe. Most missions are multi-stage affairs with a predictable pattern: several different quests that involve a combination of combat with low-level enemies, collecting items and destroying enemy combat installations, followed by a mission to infiltrate an enemy stronghold. Finally, you’ll be thrust into a pitched battle against a well-known hero or villain.

Although you get to explore plenty of different locations in both sunlit Metropolis and night-shrouded Gotham, the whole process can become repetitive if you’re on a Player vs. Environment (PvE) server. We preferred Player vs. Player (PvP) servers, where adventuring heroes and villains can fight freely in the streets. Although this meant that our villain was attacked by irritatingly righteous heroes when she tried to turn innocent bystanders into demons, it also gives reality to the conflict between good and evil, particularly in areas where the two sides are trying to foil each other’s plans.

We were pleased to find that most of the PvP players behaved fairly and role-played properly. You can also join up with other players to form superhero leagues and duos, go on raids or just face a particularly tough opponent. Most of the game can be played alone, though – teaming up is only absolutely necessary for a handful of special quests.

DCUO owes a lot to NCSoft’s City of Heroes/Villains, but at the moment it can’t compete with the scope of its more established rival. Its quests are often repetitive and the main plot currently concludes when you reach level 30, leaving high level players with little to do apart from group raids.

Despite this, it’s undeniably fun, with heroes you’ve actually heard of, frenetic combat, detailed graphics and great voice acting from the main cast, although the music is lacklustre. We also loved not being restricted to specific zones for PvP. We’ll certainly keep our subscription going for a couple of months and will be keeping a keen eye on future developments.