GameFan-Mag

The premise of DC Universe Online is simple: put players in control of their own superhero or supervillain and let them loose in a world populated with DC icons like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor, the Joker, and Circe. These trademarked names immediately set the game apart from an obvious predecessor, the still-running City of Heroes, which had a similar premise but could only include pastiches of popular heroes. The developers of DC Universe Online have gone to great lengths to make sure that the names aren’t the only difference, though.The game’s 5 -year development cycle, which cost over 50 million, has been aimed at making a game that breaks the boundaries of the traditional massively-multiplayer online roleplaying game (best typified in popular culture by the uber-blockbuster World of Warcraft). One of the expectations for MMORPGs is that they will only be played on a computer, for one thing, but DC Universe Online is available on both Microsoft Windows and Playstation 3. Another key difference is that heroes and villains all exist within the same set of worlds, unlike other games where different types of characters are limited to different areas.Developer Sony Entertainment Online also hopes their game is a little more action-packed, which is fitting given the source material. They based portions of the gameplay off the offline action-adventure game The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, released on the Playstation 2, Xbox, and Gamecube in 2005. In a game genre that is mostly about leveling up your character, SEO is also taking a chance on special “Legends” missions, where players will be able to step out of their personal avatar and take on the role of some of the comics’ biggest names. Looking at the list of characters confirmed to appear in the game (which includes little-known characters like Ambush Bug, B’wana Beast, Congo Bill, and Doctor Psycho), the possibilities for these encounters are highly exciting.In addition to simply being based off of DC’s comics, the game has also spawned a comic book title of its own: DC Universe: Legends, a bi-weekly series which will begin in February 2011. The title will be written by well-known comic authors Tony Bedard and Marv Wolfman (Wolfman also wrote for the game). Howard Porter and Adriana Melo will provide the art. DC Universe Online was released on January 11, 2011, so the fun is just starting. Check it out today.