Ryan Scott, Executive Editor: Seeing as how both Will Tuttle and me are playing DC Universe Online (him on PlayStation 3, and me on PC), we figured we'd share our initial impressions of the game so far. Now, bear in mind that neither of us is reviewing it (it's in the hands of a very capable writer and MMO fan), but we've both got things to say about the game. For my part, I'm a huge DC Comics fan, and I was a big City of Heroes player back when that game came out. So, I love me some superhero MMOs.
Will Tuttle, Editor in Chief: Let's kick this puppy off by introducing our DCUO characters. Mine's name is Spy Guy, and he's a level 8 hero in the PS3 version of the game. As a disciple of Batman (who is and always will be my favorite DC character), Spy Guy uses stealth and gadgets to get the upper hand on his enemies before taking them down with some serious martial arts. Unlike the Dark Knight, however, Spy Guy also likes to let his dual pistols get a bit of a workout during combat, and I can use my acrobatic skills to keep some distance between myself and my enemies if I feel like I need it. Ryan, what's your superpower of choice?
Ryan Scott: My character's name is Mindboggler, who was a throwaway character from DC's Suicide Squad series in the '80s (she died in Suicide Squad #2, to be precise). The fact that I've secured a name that exists in DC canon speaks volumes about how terrible DCUO's naming filter is. I actually saw a character named Superwoman running around the other day; chew on that one. Anyway, Mindboggler -- that is, Mindboggler 2.0, the all-new heroic male Mindboggler of this post-whatever-Crisis DCUO world -- shoots psychic stuff, hits bad guys with a staff, and uses acrobatics to somehow fly. He's currently level 9 (very close to 10), and trapped in the minotaur's maze that is the Justice League Watchtower, AKA the most poorly designed city hub zone I have ever personally encountered in an MMO.
Will Tuttle: As I mentioned, I've been playing the game on the PS3 for the last few days, although I managed to hit level 10 in the PC beta a few weeks ago. It's funny; in some ways, it actually feels like DCUO is better suited to the PS3, as it really feels more like a console action-RPG of the Champions of Norrath variety than an MMO. I've found that I've spent most of my time with the game just mashing the square and triangle buttons, occasionally throwing in a special attack via a shoulder button modifier. You were one of the game's early fans (I remember how excited you were when you saw it back at E3) precisely because it didn't play like any other MMO on the market. Now that you've played DCUO, what do you think of the combat?
Ryan Scott: Everything about this game is so unbelievably bad that I do not know where to begin. But since you asked about the combat, let's start there. The biggest problem with DCUO is that it tries to be two different things, and half-asses both of them. I understand and respect the idea that the developers wanted to make a more action-heavy, twitch-oriented MMO, but -- as you basically summed up -- it amounts to little more than mashing your auto-attacks, with the occasional power thrown in. The PC version magnifies this problem, because both weapon attacks are bound to your mouse buttons, which means you're frantically clicking the mouse 90% of the time during combat. I don't know about you, but that makes my fingers pretty sore. So, it just sort of feels like this weird, half-baked action game that they're calling an MMO. It's also worth noting that I'm almost level 10 after about four hours; seeing as how 30 is the level cap, that's kind of alarming for the game's long-term time investment prospects.
Another big problem is that DCUO is obviously designed for the PS3 first, with PC controls and UI functionality shoehorned in at the last minute. Why do I have to press Ctrl to loot nearby items? Why do I have to press Shift to break crowd-control effects? Why don't these things just happen naturally? Why do I have to hold the E button (as opposed to simply pressing it) to talk with characters or interact with objects? And why are all the social interfaces so broken? The game doesn't give you an option to turn off the stupid profanity filter, it doesn't give you a quick-reply function in chat, and the guild interface is about as basic and bland as I've ever seen in an MMO. What, was this game designed in 2002?
Will Tuttle: The obvious answer would be "Yeah, it probably was." It's funny that you mention that it seems to have been designed with the PS3 in mind, given the fact that the UI and general design is pretty clunky in that version, too. I'm particularly having issues with the quest list presentation, as I can't track multiple quests at once. Lots of little things like that add up to make it a frustrating experience. How much questing have you done so far? Right now, I'm still busy helping my buddy Batman take down the Scarecrow and some of his goons. I really hope the quests progress beyond the old "beat up 15 of Villain X's goons" to give us some comic-worthy storylines.
