For years now, I've been writing about DC Universe Online -- about battles with Bizarro, about getting missions from Superman, and about how you're creating your own hero or villain in this massively multiplayer online game and not just being one. But the one thing I haven't been able to write about is when this game is coming to the PlayStation 3 and PC. Now, I can.
The big news came at a recent Sony Online Entertainment event where the company was showing off the E3 demo of the game. Like I just wrote, IGN's previewed this game a bunch of times before so I won't bore you with the nitty gritty. Basically, you're going to create a hero or villain and begin proving yourself to your Big Brother savior (folks like Superman) or bad guy (think the Joker). As you complete missions, you'll earn XP to apply to your moves and loot in the form of costume mods that amplify your powers.
The level SOE was showcasing had you as a hero breaking into Harley Quinn's lair to rescue a kidnapped Robin. If you're wondering, Harley is in her Batman the Animated Series outfit and not the sultry Batman: Arkham Asylum getup and Robin is Tim Drake in his One Year Later red and black duds.
Anyhoo, what was exciting for me about this level was that this was the best looking environment I've seen to date in DC Universe Online. It was a dank,(dcuo gold) underground place packing shadows that gave off that dark and foreboding feel. Meanwhile, Harley had smeared these red streaks on the floor and scrawled all sorts of messages around the place for nosey heroes to find. It was twisted -- just like you'd think it should be.
I was playing as a tech hero named Night Mask and one of his powers trapped villains in this ball of light. It sounds goofy, but once the bad guys were in there, I could hurl the ball at other people or lift it over my head and slam them into the ground for some major damage. This was a welcome move as I had massive clown dudes looking to wail on me wherever I went.
After beating my way through a few rooms of baddies, I came to Harley and some goons battling it out with the cops while the Boy Wonder sat hogtied in the middle of the room. Harley swung around this giant hammer, I waited for her to get dizzy, and then I swooped in to knock her out and save the day.
DC Universe Online has been a tough one to peg. It's a really cool idea but the combat has been a bit flat in past demos. This time, I still didn't get that impact as I wailed on opponents, but it did feel like it was on the right track -- that ball is awesome -- especially for brawling in an MMO. I'm an admitted DC geek, so I'm excited, and that excitement's only going to build because chances are it's going to be cool to make your own hero/villain and a Sony Online Entertainment rep said that the company wasn't ready to announce voice actors yet but that you should expect familiar folks behind the characters you know.
