When DC Universe Online first launched in 2011, I was obsessed. I wanted it to be a successor to City of Heroes, a MMO I loved, especially since Champions Online had not succeeded in filling the superhero MMO hole in my heart. DCUO did not succeed City of Heroes, but it was a fun game in its own right. To this day, it remains one of my favorite MMOs from SOE/Daybreak, despite some continuing flaws, and I love going back to it when the mood strikes.
Growing up, I was a Marvel-first fan. Superman had nothing on Spider-Man, and I will take a brooding member of the X-Men over Batman any day (unpopular opinion, I know). Here lately, with television shows like Arrow and The Flash, as well as Batman v Superman, my interest in the DC universe has only grown. Though my love affair with DCUO has waxed and waned, this is certainly a good year for a comeback after spending so much time in the wider DC universe.
And that’s what makes spending time in DCUO so much fun. Not only are the biggest heroes around, but there’s a ton of lesser known characters to enjoy as well. The quests are mostly standard MMO fare, but Daybreak has continued to add additional content since launch and has focused more and more on telling stories. Many of these stories take place over multiple content pushes, which lends itself well to the game’s comic book nature.I never minded that I wasn’t playing as Wonder Woman or Green Lantern, but I loved the opportunity to fight side-by-side with some the greatest superheroes in Western culture.
It isn’t worth fighting by anyone’s side if the gameplay doesn’t make combat fun. DCUO offers one of the best blends of action combat and hotbar-based abilities even to this day. The mix is fun and frenetic, but not altogether different from other MMORPGs. It would be nice to have Arkham Asylum-like combat, but that’s not feasible in a heavy co-op focused game like this. Furthermore, I like having the various roles – Tank, Healer, Controller, and Damage – and I doubt that would work in a combat system so focused in attack, dodge, counterattack.
My one big gripe from the very beginning with DCUO was how geared toward consoles it always seemed to be. Overall, the combat system works, but the controls feel a bit off at times and the User Interface is one of the blandest in all of MMOs. It was a huge turnoff for many, especially since DCUO feels like it is only one “Press start to play” prompt on PC away from being a shoddy port. It continues to be a turnoff for me, but I have dealt with it long enough to ignore the headache.
However, I cannot ignore the fact that DCUO has the exact same tutorial experience it did when it originally launched. I miss the days of EverQuest where each race had its own starting zone, and I would settle for the days of World of Warcraft where a few races were bundled together to save time/money. In DCUO, starting a new character puts you through the same horrible instance that, if you are like me, you have run a hundred times already trying to get an alt that looks perfect in the real world and starts off with the right powerset (or, better yet, begins the game with one of the new fancy powersets they are always releasing).
It is a shame too, because, despite content that hasn’t changed since launch, DCUO sees regular updates. Ever since the game went Free-to-Play, it has seen a steady supply of smaller content packs for sale in its online store. While they not only fit the game thematically, the packs often add new powersets too. Roughly equivalent to classes in other games, it is nice to see new choices added in. Especially when you compare the frequency in which most MMORPGs get new classes, DCUO gets them a lot more often, which keeps the game feeling fresh even if the content doesn’t change drastically either.
Daybreak also makes sure to release these new powersets for different roles so that game always sees a new resurgence of more tanks (with the game’s most recent powerset, Atomic) and plans to see more healers with the next powerset release sometime soon (Water).
Plus, with more powersets, it becomes even easier to build any superhero you can dream up. Still, that ties us all back to my original wish that DCUO would be a worthy successor to City of Heroes. To this day, one of DCUO’s biggest faults is its relatively lackluster customization. Everything feels limited and since the game focuses more on a typical loot grind (like most other MMOs), much of the end game gearing exists in place of having more costume options, while City of Heroes focused more on adding options for players to make virtually any kind of hero. DCUO also focuses more on unlocking costume pieces, so the initial creator is limited, to say the least.
Looking back, City of Heroes was perfect, except that is not the case at all. Though it did have a ton of customization and the classes and their respective roles were more interesting, the game world wasn’t that good. I found most of that game’s content to be repetitive and dull, especially solo. DC Universe Online is the opposite. With its focus on story and its use of established characters, the game’s dungeons and quests provide an entertaining tour through the DC Universe. While the depth isn’t the same, the action-RPG mix for its combat proves to be fun. With every addition, DCUO gets better, even if it will never surpass City of Heroes.
DC Universe Online will never be a perfect MMORPG, but it is still one of the best superhero MMOs on the market today. In a world without City of Heroes, it is a worthwhile alternative. While several of its original faults are still present, the game has only grown into its own since its release. Daybreak has managed to continuously update the game with new content that leverages the DC license. Whether comic book characters are exploding onto the big screens or into our living rooms, DCUO remains a fun MMO to come back to time and time again.
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