DC Universe Online Packs a Punch
One of the more pleasant surprises of this year’s E3 was DC Universe Online, an upcoming title from SOE. The game involves the player making their own superhero (or supervillain) and unleashing them upon Metropolis and Gotham City. While iconic characters such as Superman, Batman and The Joker will be present and prominent, they won’t be playable, instead playing a role as teammates during missions. If your ideal superhero has traits similar to them, never fear; Superman-like strength and Batmanesque acrobatics are all within reach as superpowers!
The combat is looking very impressive even at this early stage. It’s action-oriented, so the player’s attention is more focused on what’s happening on screen than what timers they need to keep an eye on. The UI complements this with its deceptively simple look. It gives you 4 abilities, with three different stances to organize them. This lets any character perform the three main roles in an MMO: tanking, DPSing, and healing/buffing. Compared to most every MMO available to date, this UI seems more simplistic; however this is also a game to be released on the PS3 and the majority of those players won’t have the multitude of keys a PC player will. Part of this decision is probably due to the fact that PS3 and PC players will be playing together, on the same servers. Players can also combine their powers, for example one player laid down an AOE fire move, and then a second player chucked a boulder through the fire for a much more powerful attack. If SOE maintains the focus they have on the action, rather than the cooldown, then their formula should work.
Another very cool feature of DC Universe Online was the way characters could move about the environment. The hero we tested out in the demo could fly, even in combat. Taking off was as simple as pressing a button and there was no limit to how long we could stay airborne. Getting these sorts of abilities early on in the game could be a great boost compared to other MMOs which make the player reach a higher level before offering faster travel options. Not all characters need to fly; some have acrobatic abilities, or are so fast that they can scale buildings.
While the game is still in alpha, it already looks like a strong contender to the MMO market. The game was even nominated for Best of Show for E3 2009! While there’s no release date planned at the moment, it will definitely be on the “Must-see” list here!
