Superman. Batman. The Joker. Wonder Woman. These iconic comic names call to mind thoughts of villiany or heroism, action and perhaps even awe. In an entertainment-based industry such as gaming, Superhero subject matter seems a natural vehicle for the escapism and sheer fun that players seek. In the upcoming MMORPG DC Universe, Sony Online Entertainment tries to personalize this Superhero experience by allowing gamers to create their own hero/villain inspired by, and tutored under, one of the pre-established favorites.
The basics of the game are as follows: it’s an MMO for PC or PlayStation 3 with two primary play modes—the first involves long story arcs, or “episodes”, in which characters progress in both action involvement and level. This part is not necessarily single player, though it seems to lend itself more to that. The second mode is always multiplayer and is akin to Unreal Tournament or Team Fortress 2, where its look and structure are objective-based maps where teams face off to complete any of a variety of directives.
So what makes this game special? Well, there are a few very different and interesting features to it. The controls are awesome. There are a ton of combos. The environment is physics-based and interactive in combat, and there are multiple stances to characters as well. For example, on the PlayStation 3 version, if you press down on the left joystick on the controller the player enters “acrobatic” mode. In this stance, it is possible to scale walls (or just about anything else for that matter), glide, or fly. Stealth mode is another ability. It is possible to do all of this in combat as well, so you could potentially do some very spontaneous attacks or escapes by mixing stances, throwing various objects, or running up walls then surprising enemies from above.
The item system is very cool too. Let’s say a character gains a new item which is an upgrade. When equipping it, the interface asks if you’d like this item to change your appearance. If you choose to leave the appearance unaltered, you remain in your normal Superhero attire. If you do select to display the new item, it will automatically shift to adapt to your current color theme so that items don’t look patchy or mismatched. Moreso, the inventory remembers previously aquired items and if you prefer the skin of an older piece, you can opt to apply the new stats from the upgrade to the chosen look.
My only point of confusion with this game is in console choice, given the scope of both MMOG and FPS-style content. I think the PS3 controls are fantastic and invite an enormous range of possibility to combat, but I really fail to understand how this could be successful as a community-focused game when many players don’t have a keyboard on their PlayStation consoles. I mean I realize people can use mics and such, but I don’t believe that has quite ingrained itself enough yet to be the primary mode of successfully unifying a community in the same way that we see in PC MMOGs. Having said that, I think this game may potentially be compromised when played on PC, since it could severely gimp the amazing spectrum of attack combos currently available. It seems like with either device there are pros and cons, but I am definitely curious enough from what I saw to want more.
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