DC Universe Online

Genres
Graphics
Labels
Platforms
Publishers
A-Z

Login with Facebook

DC Universe Online

by Other Contributors Oct 2, 2017 | 1 Votes | 1 Played | 0 Reviews

Your vote

8 rate

Genres:

RPG , MMO

Graphics:

3D

Labels:

Home , Superhero , Dungeon/ Instance , Player vs Player (PvP)

Platforms:

Publishers:

Daybreak Games The world of DC is in danger and could do with a brand new superhero to solve the world’s problems or a supervillain who could add a couple more, just for a little bit of enjoyment, because why not. Flying over civilization, willing to protect or attack is a feeling you can’t quite get in any other game, other than DC Universe Online. Play Now Similar Games Played Post a Review

People Also Played

Summary Plotline Gameplay Community Graphics/ Sound Conclusion

Summary

DC Universe Online is a superhero-based MMORPG that’s in development by Daybreak Game Company. Released back in the early days of 2011, DC Universe Online filled a gap in the market to turn its player-base into the supervillains and superheroes they’ve always dreamed of. In this world you’re tasked with levelling up and improving your character as you go along, all the while interacting with some of DC’s most prominent and well known superheroes and villains.

Plotline

DCUO takes place in a world where Lex Luthor is trying to save the world from his future self, which – with the help of Brainiac – manages to rule the world, after managing to kill off all of the other superheroes and villains. To prevent his future self from destroying the world and taking over, he looks to team up with the player to try and build an army against this future catastrophe and try to prevent the inevitable.

Gameplay

DCUO kicks off with the player needing to make a character and other than the typical physical appearance and traits of the character; you are expected to pick a couple of different traits to really make your character your own. First of all, you’re expected to pick between which faction you want to be – a hero or a villain – this decision basically changes a few story options, like the type of characters you’re going to come into contact with, but isn’t that drastic of a faction difference. The next major decision is going to be which powers you would want for your character and works exactly the same like any class-based MMO; depending on what you choose, it will give you class/power-specific abilities and will greatly vary combat experiences.

After your selection of powers, you then have to choose from 4 different movement types that all completely differ from one another. First of all there is flying, which is relatively self-explanatory; super-speed, which allows you to run around the map at high speeds; skimming, which is similar to flying but it’s through the use of “discs” as platforms; and lastly we’ve got acrobatic, which has you running up walls, leaping off buildings, and typically using the environment around you to get around. Lastly, we’ve got the weapon-type you’d prefer for your character and I have to admit, DCUO definitely does a good job with giving the player a varied selection, because there is a lot to pick and choose from and making alternate characters becomes that much more fun when you know how many different weapons on offer there are.

Once the character has been made, you get thrust into the role of a superhero/villain and a lot of the time that revolves around beating someone or something up with some awesome new powers that you have access to. Similar to many other hotbar MMO’s, to activate a certain ability you press the corresponding key on your keyboard to have the character to do the attack. Other than simply hitting keys to attack, you’ve also got the basic attack that can be activated by left-clicking the mouse and keeping that up will follow with a short combo and plays out like many other action-MMO’s.

Combat is a big part of the game, as it should be with an MMO, but the high-variety in different weapon types and powers definitely makes the combat a lot more enjoyable the longer you play the game. After all, you can spend around 30 hours setting people on fire, throwing cars at them, and flying around the city and then suddenly play as a guy that can mess around with the atoms in an opponent’s body, who also just-so happens to run at super-speed. This variety in the game makes it a unique experience for an MMO and in a genre where classes can quite easily meld together; it’s nice to see one doing something a little different.

Questing is obviously an important part of the game and it’s the major way you’re ever going to encounter one of DC’s most popular character, but it’s not as if they add much to the gameplay or the story – they simply feel like they are just there. The quests themselves aren’t particularly interesting, as they boil down to the typical “go and find this” quest or the “kill 10 of these” missions that we’ve all seen and done about a 1,000 different times at this point.

Other than questing, you can go out into instances with a couple of friends (or strangers) and take on the dangers that lurk within them. Typically, these instances are filled to the brim with a large number of enemies, all of which can seriously take a bit of a beating and gives you a real chance to test out your improving abilities, along with your brand new gear; which is one of the biggest parts of the game.

Gear in this game works like it does in similar MMO’s, but you gear in this one constitutes for the majority of your characters strength and power, even sometimes surpassing their actual levels for the character. Thanks to the high number of different armor and weapon designs it does make finding new gear fun and interesting, but at times it does feel like the gear dictates whether or not your character is going to be a push over or a force to be reckoned with; even more so in the end game.

There are plenty more features in this game, including instances whereby you can group up with your fellow players to take down a particularly nasty boss, engage in a bit of a friendly PvP match at the arena or simply purchase a home to turn it into your very own superhero headquarters.... or lair, depending on which role you're playing in this game.

Community

Similar to many other MMORPG’s in the genre, DCUO takes many of the same stances as they do with the in-game friends list for players to use and contact with players they like to hang around with. Not only that, but there is an online forum for people to go onto at any point and is regularly updated, which is a nice extra for the forums. Most importantly, however, there is a guild system, known as the League system where you can build a league with a maximum of 500 different members and they can all use the League system to converse with one another and set up different raid groups, as they see fit.

Graphics/ Sound

Since the game has been out since early 2011, there hasn’t been much in the way of visual improvements for the game and that does give it a slightly dated look to it. All of the characters in the game are quite clearly discernible from one another, but the environments that you’re bound to come across quickly become a detriment; especially when inside of an instance. Instances seem to have very little design placed into them and simply feel like empty boxes with a few enemies thrown in for good measure and that lack of detail really doesn’t help the visual stance of the game.

When it comes to the music in this game, it’s safe to say the developers did a decent job on the soundtrack. Honestly, it isn’t the most epic superhero soundtrack all of the time, but when it matters it does tend to pick up and make the action portions of the game that much more enjoyable as a result. Despite this, the same can’t exactly be said for the voice acting, which for the superheroes and villains isn’t too bad, but the generic NPC and quest-giver you’ll be meeting with is really poorly done and comes across as forced the entire team.

Conclusion

Overall, DC Universe Online is a F2P game that uses the superhero IP to its advantage, but doesn’t quite use the DC license as best it could, and that’s a shame. Encountering your favourite superheroes and villains does feel rather deflating, but the rest of the game does typically make up for it. There’s a lot to play around with, especially if you end up creating more than one character and even though it isn’t the most stunning looking MMORPG in the world, it’s a fun experience to be had; especially if you bring a couple of friends along to tackle the instances or to start a League with.