Glitches bog down 'DC Universe Online'
It's been about a month since power-hungry billionaire Lex Luthor — well, a futuristic version of Luthor — unleashed scads of superpowers on the unsuspecting citizens of Metropolis and Gotham, turning everyday folks like you and me into superheroes and supervillains in order to bombard Brainiac, the intergalactic baddie intent on invading Earth.
That explains why Superman and company have hundreds of new friends and foes in “DC Universe Online,” a massively multiplayer online game inviting players to craft their own characters to do battle in the virtual Metropolis and Gotham, as well as other places peeped over the past 70 years in DC Comics.
Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman provide newbie superheroes with their origins and inaugural missions, while those who side with the villains choose among the Joker, Circe or Luthor as their evil mentor. They're not alone. For every marquee name, scads of esoteric characters, like sorcerer Doctor Fate and egg-shaped entity Chang Tzu, pop up in the game.
Such star power obviously sets “DC Universe Online” apart from “City of Heroes” and “Champions Online,” the other major online superhero games. There's nothing quite like soaring above The Daily Planet or Wayne Enterprises with your cape flapping in the wind. Of course, this is ultimately an action game, and luckily there are plenty of fast-paced endeavors.
Superpowers stem from one of six fields — fire, ice, gadgets, mental, nature and sorcery — while an array of weapons, such as guns and swords, provide other ways to fight. The combat is crisp, and the smorgasbord of abilities is deep, providing players with plenty of options to create either completely unique characters or clones of pre-existing DC legends.
The missions themselves aren't any different from other online games, ranging from tedious (rescue a certain number of bystanders, smash a particular amount of robots) to creative (become a gorilla and destroy a science lab, take down a giant demon in downtown Metropolis). Investigations and races offer a welcome respite from the often repetitive action.
It would be a dynamic experience if everything else about “DC Universe Online” wasn't so buggy. During my time in Metropolis and Gotham, I witnessed citizens climbing the walls, servers going down without warning and the game crashing my system when I battled inside the Batcave. To make matters worse, the interface and chat system are wonky.
Teaming up and communicating with other players is tough, especially in the PS3 edition. It's entirely possible to plow through most missions without working alongside other heroes and villains, an unfortunate venture given that this is a massively multiplayer game with hundreds of other players working to achieve the same goals as your superpowered avatar.
Such significant downfalls mean that “DC Universe Online” isn't likely to be the next great massively multiplayer game, though die-hard DC Comics fans who have longed to fight alongside the likes of The Flash and Green Lantern and against villains such as Bizarro and Mr. Freeze will probably be delighted with this interactive excursion.
<b>“DC Universe Online”</b>
★★
Sony, PS3, $59.99, and PC, $49.99
<a href="http://www.dcuniverseonline.com/" target="_blank">dcuniverseonline.com/</a>