Category: PS3

I now have a full week of DC Universe Online under my belt and my character is at level 18. I’m still enjoying the game, but most of the same doubts remain from my first weekend in DCUO. A few other aspects of the game have been bugging me as well. Let’s go through the list in my rolling (not a) review of DCUO.

Voice Acting — DCUO’s voice acting is irritatingly inconsistent. There are some marvelous performance from Kevin Conroy (Batman), Mark Hamill (The Joker), and Arleen Sorkin (Harley Quinn) — voice actors with fantastic track records. Then there are disappointing performances from Dwight Schultz (The Flash) and Tracy Bush (Booster Gold). Frankly…they suck. The Flash sounds like a nob and Booster sounds like an even bigger nob.

Sure, I understand that Booster Gold hasn’t always been the best hero in the DC Universe. He’s attempted (and failed at) numerous get-rich-quick schemes and sold out his image for things like toothpaste commercials. Still, he has saved lives and the world on numerous occasions. His voice work in DCUO just makes him sound like a complete tool. I really, truly hate it.

Rescue Me! — The game’s scripted missions have been the same after 18 levels. It’s a lot of find X, beat up Y, and defeat boss Z. I’m still enjoying it, but there’s a recurring theme in these missions that’s really starting to bug me — a hero always needs rescuing. I’ve had to bail out Raven, Batwoman, Robin, Nightwing, Supergirl, Wonder Girl, and several other heroes that I can’t remember. In the comics they’re extremely capable beings. In DCUO, they can’t walk for more than 50 feet without getting kidnapped.

As a comic book fan, it’s off-putting. I’m supposed to be a new hero that’s still learning the ropes. The people I’ve saved are established characters that have pulled of marvelous feats time and time again. A scrub like me is supposed to be bailing them out?!? This would have made sense later in the game (maybe level 20?). Perhaps the writers could have used several of DC’s damsels in distress for the early portions. For example, it would have made more sense to me if The Flash needed my help saving his wife Linda Park while he was being assaulted by Gorilla Grodd.

Diversity — I spent some time doing “Wanted” missions, tackling really powerful villains that are impossible to take down alone. Teaming up with others to down Solomon Grundy and Bizarro was a real kick. The first time I did it was a complete accident. I was randomly running around Metropolis (at super speed) and saw four heroes beating on Bizarro. Naturally, I stopped to help. He was almost defeated by the time I got there, so I got a ton of experience for a minute of fighting. In my experience, you can always count on randomly passing heroes to stop and chip in.

The group missions I’ve tackled were fun too. Teaming up as a group of four, our party received various orders from Martian Manhunter. It was basically defeat X and gather item Y over and over again, but it was fun completing the task with strangers at various levels.

This week I plan on doing more PvP missions. Hopefully my character is ready for the challenge.

Still Fun? — Yeah, I’m still enjoying the game, especially when I get to team up with my friends. I’m still marking out when different heroes and villains make appearances in my adventures. I love earning and finding new gear that makes my hero even more powerful. But, I’m still not sure I want to play for more than the 30-day trial. I have an aching suspicion that the repetitive mission structure will bore me and the novelty of the cameos will wear off. Let’s see how it goes after another week!

As always, if you have any questions about my experience with DCUO, please leave a comment. If you’d like to play with me — and it would be way more fun if you did — I’m “RPad TV” on the Crisis server.

So I finally started DC Universe Online over the weekend. It’s been an interesting experience so far. I’m glad that the game comes with a 30-day trial because I’m still not sure if it’s enjoyable enough to play it for more than that. Certainly I had fun with the game, but it has odd quirks and frustrating aspects. Here are my initial impressions — not a review! — of DCUO.

Character Creation — For my first character, I chose a hero on the Crisis server. A few of my friends are playing as villains, but I can’t bring myself to play that way. My character is a bow-wielding gadget-using super-speedster hero that’s mentored by Batman. The choices were perfect, since they allowed me to pay tribute to three of my favorite comic-book characters — Nightwing, The Flash (Wally West), and Arsenal. From a stats and characteristics perspective, creating a character in DCUO is simple and straightfoward.

I didn’t do too much in the way of customizing my hero’s physical appearance because…well, I kind of suck at it. I was able to quickly put together a character that looked acceptable through the game’s various templates. I was envious of dozens of the characters I saw online. With the customization tools, players made accurate versions of Marvel characters (saw an awesome Thor), videogame characters (loved the Ezio Auditore I encountered), and more. If you’re into creating facsimiles of your favorite characters from other worlds, DCUO appears to have powerful tools that let you do so.

Going Solo — For my first few quests, I went on solo mission. Everything I’ve encountered so far (I’m at level nine) is simple. I was repeatedly tasked with going to location X, beating up a certain amount of minion Y, and gathering a certain amount of object Z. After several minutes of hunting and gathering, I fought a boss. The gameplay template is super simple so far and would probably be a tad dull if it weren’t for all the awesome cameos. Encountering different DC Universe heroes and villains totally makes the quests. I love conversing with and taking orders from Batman, Zatanna, Martian Manhunter, etc.

What I don’t know is if it will remain interesting after several more hours. Will the mission structures get more complex? Will the cameos lose their charm? That remains to be seen. I should have a better idea after playing more of the game this week.

Forming Alliances — Playing the game with a friend is much easier and way more fun. Unfortunately, it’s also rather aimless and unorganized — at least in my experience. I tried several times with several parties to get voice chat to work. For various reasons, it just wasn’t happening. This made group questing a bit difficult. Typing on a gamepad is never fun, so my friends and I resorted to using AIM. Having to switch betwen my Dual Shock and my Google Chrome Cr-48 was a little annoying and made for a disjointed experience.

I have a call in to Sony Online Entertainment to see what the voice chat issues are. There’s a chance that my friends and I were trying to do it wrong. Still, something like this should be easy to use. The game would be much better, easier, and more fun with voice chat.

The Verdict So Far — I like the game so far, but I’m not sure it will hold my attention. I’m hoping that the quests become more complex and diverse. I’m really hoping that there’s a solution for my voice-chat woes. As it stands now, I’m not certain that I’ll play the game beyond the 30-day trial.

As always, let me know if you have any questions about DCUO. If you’re interested in playing with me, I’m “RPad TV” on Crisis. Super Buddies unite!!!