Friday, December 24, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
DC Universe Online Preview(PC/PS3)
I was able to play both the PC and PS3 versions of the current DC Universe Online Beta. The game is great, mostly. The main things I love about the game are the incredible action oriented controls and the fact that the whole game was pretty much made with the PS3 in mind. Which is interesting. As far as I know this is the first MMORPG to have a console in mind when creating it as opposed to the more traditional PC platform.
The PC version IS incredible. There is no pop in and there is absolutely no slow down. What is wonderful about this is that you have complete movement and combat control. It’s amazing to be zipping around on the ground or flying around in the sky and have all this control. This control of course, can only be achieved by using a controller. So even if you play on the PC, your not going to want to use your keyboard and mouse. Unless you feel like playing the game completely out of sync with the way it was obviously meant to be played. However, the PS3 version is not quite as good as the PC version. Why? Well, the beta keeps having unrecoverable lock up. But that isn’t anything I’m going to hold against it. It is a beta after all. But what I do hold against it, are the really bad animations and the game’s annoying tendency to pop in all the enemies your about to face about 5 feet before you need to see them. Which makes some situations a little bit of a pain.
The PVP arenas are a lot of fun and playing as a “Legend” character like Batman, is great fun. I honestly was a little worried these arena modes would be throw- aways but they are incredibly fun. What will be REALLY interesting is when your own hero/villain is maxed out. Then, the real crazy stuff will begin.
Currently this is an incredible game. But I’m not sure what the length and breath of this game is going to end up being. I certainly loved what I’ve played so far and apparently, it isn’t even half way to getting your character in real action. Iconic powers can’t even be earned until level 10. I’ll let you know how that turns out when it happens.
The game shines when you are constantly called upon to do moves to either attack enemies or break free from control or freezing. I really like the constant input the game needs from you to be played. Unlike any other MMORPG out there, there really isn’t any automatic pilot you can turn on even in the earlier levels.
The only problems I have with the game are the clunky menu system and the fact that when you have a quest it is sometimes unclear where you are supposed to go. Also, getting a quest and not being able to easily reach that area even when the quest is activated. I think if you have a quest in another city, you should be able to easily reach that city without having to wander all around looking for a teleporter. I would have also liked to see more different kinds of gear, powers, and archetypes. The game is essentially very limited right now. But once the final product launches we could be seeing a lot more. The basic structure is sound and my problems with the game are minor gripes and even for someone like me who rarely plays MMORPGs without the TV on, I was relatively wholly consumed by the PS3 version of the game not to miss this. I can’t imagine this would have ever happened with World of Warcraft.
I do have to say that my character grew on me rather than me loving him from the very beginning. Hence the limitations that I mentioned earlier. But after much character evolution and a few episodes, I really love my character and I’m going to be sad when I have to dump them when the game comes out. Because I’m assuming the beta info won’t carry over.
While DC Universe Online is not the greatest game ever made it is certainly an AAA MMORPG and I think it will probably, once done, be a serious contender against at least Champions Online anyway. As far as World of Warcraft is concerned; the people who like DC Universe Online will probably not be the same people who like World of Warcraft.