Now that Sony, Warner Brothers, or whoever actually makes these decisions has lifted the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) on DC Universe Online (DCUO), those of us who've been in the beta but were constrained to discuss the game only amongst ourselves on the official forums can now go to hell with ourselves and blather on endlessly about DCUO to anyone within eye or earshot.
For people like me, this is a very good thing.
People like me like to write about the games we play, and some of us are even fairly good at it. When I played Eve-Online I wrote a blog about that game which still gets pretty decent hits. Only once before have I started writing a blog about an MMO during beta, but my time playing Fallen Earth didn't last very long after the game actually went live.
I guess one thing that caused me to lose interest in Fallen Earth was that right after the game went live the players seemed to immediately divide into the serious and hardcore who put hours and hours into the game and the more casual gamers who devoted far less time and so found themselves well behind these players who were quickly moving into new territories and planting their flags. The more I played Fallen Earth the more I felt like the game demanded more from me as a player than I was willing or able to give. After a time, I decided to go back to EvE, but that too, would only last several months for much the same reason.
EvE is a great game. Of this there is no doubt. My problem with it is that I just don't find it as compelling as I used to anymore, at least not at the moment anyway. Exactly why that is I'm really not quite sure. I can only tell you that it's so. I've left and gone back to EvE three times in total and perhaps I will again someday...someday.
Another reason I was so wary of DCUO is that I'd been in the beta of Champions Online, but once that game went live I found I really didn't have any interest in spending actual money on a game centered around rather mundane gameplay and completely generic superhero characters. I mean, you couldn't even fly. What the hell kind of superhero game doesn't let you fly?
And so, now we come to DC Universe Online. It's interesting, actually. I was pretty sure I was going to hate this game when I first heard of it because just about every other game based on DC superheroes I've ever played except for Batman: Arkham Asylum has basically sucked. I was having a seriously hard time imagining what an MMO based on the DC Universe would or could look like that would be both entertaining and engaging.
The truth is, I'm probably a harder sell than most. I grew up on DC Comics, but I haven't been following the monthly books since Bush the First was in office. I fondly remember the work of artists like Neal Adams, Curt Swan, George Perez, and Jim Lee, as well as the incredible level of detail that went into those books. I'm also a veteran MMO player and I have very clear ideas of what I like and what I don't like in that regard.
When they announced the acceptance of beta applications for DCUO I applied and was accepted. I'd also chosen to preorder the game and so I'd applied for beta access through that route as well, figuring I'd cover my bets. That came through as well a little later on so I passed the second key off to my brother. Hopefully we'll get a chance to play together soon.
So that's where I come from to here. And as for here:
Holy crap, I love this game. So far.
The graphics are great, the game mechanics and structure make sense and are easy to understand, the gameplay is easy to learn, and it just seems a lot more accessible than most MMO's just in general. Also, not incidentally, it's a hell of a lot of fun to play.
One key point where I think a lot of games fail but DCUO excels is that the game respects the established canon of the comics but at the same time it doesn't hit you over the head with it and make you feel like an idiot for not keeping up with the details. As long as you know the basics of who you're dealing with (hero/villain, source of powers/abilities) you won't need to know what's been happening in the relevant comics to enjoy or be successful in this game.
If you take the DC-created-and-then-destroyed multiverse theory to one logical conclusion, one could argue that DC Universe Online takes place on an Earth which was not compacted into one along with all the others during "Crisis on Infinite Earths" because it did not yet exist, a dimension based upon a timeline which was created when Lex Luthor decided to go back in time with the stolen exobytes and warn Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
DCUO would be, therefore, separate and distinct from the universe which is depicted in DC Comics, but at the same time be completely based upon that universe and its history up to the point at which Luthor shows up in the present and releases the exobytes, causing the DCUO timeline to branch off from the DC Comics universe's timeline at that moment.
The story possibilities just boggle the mind, don't they?
It also leaves open the door to a new kind of comics crossover, one not just of book or dimension, but of media format as well. I hope skilled and empowered creative minds are considering this possibility carefully. Imagine a new comics series that takes place both in print and in-game. DCUO's graphics are of high enough quality to able to make a project like this virtually seamless and I hope they'll consider it. If it's done well, my bet would be that the game would help sell more print comics and vice-versa.
Alright, so I guess that's enough for an introductory post. As I write this, I've patched up and I'm waiting for the servers to come back. I can't wait to see how the game plays now.
Needless to say, stay tuned...
