DC Universe Online Review

This being my first MMO I wasn't sure what to expect but always wanted to try one the only problem was I didn't have a PC powerful enough to run it so when DC Universe Online was announced for the PC and PS3 and growing up around superhero cartoons like batman the animated series etc I was excited to give this a try and after nearly 2 years of playing this I can say I'm hooked.

The combat system is fast like an action game you can string combos together using the weapon of choice which all have different combos weapons include bow, duel pistols, staff, brawling, martial arts, shield, handblasters, 1 handed and 2 handed, rifle and duel wield. 

the story is deep and pulls from the hundreds of stories from the comics there's tons of loot to collect and with each dlc it gets better as they add more missions, loot and stories etc.

There are 9 power types to choose from each with its own unique powers you can select 6 to use in your loadout but theres alot to choose from so its a good idea to experiment with different loadouts till you find one thats right for you the 9 power types are split into the following Healer/dps are Sorcery, Nature ,Electricity Controller/dps are Mental, Gadgets, Light Tank/dps are Ice, Fire, Earth My main character is Sorcery and my alt Mental I've changed powers a few times to try out all the different powers but always seem to go back to these.

Movement mode is the way you want your character to travel you can choose from Flight, Super speed, Acrobatics I've also tried all 3 out but my favourite is flight.

Once you create your character you start your journey by doing solo story missions to level up to level 30 once there the real game starts.

There's currently four tiers once you hit level 30 you start at tier one and work up from there you can buy the pieces using marks earned from doing duos,alerts,raids and solo challenges there's 8 pieces for each set of armour head, chest, legs, shoulders, hands, waist, feet, back also you have weapons, necks, face, 2 rings and a trinket.

Along the way you meet new players and will make new friends even if you don't have any real world friends playing the game you will make some and you can always join a league of like minded players or start your own I've been in a few leagues and made alot of new friends.

when you create a character you can also choose to be either a villain or a superhero and will work with lots of iconic characters (like Batman, Superman, Flash, Joker, Lex) during missions, alerts and raids you also have your own base the heroes have the watchtower and villains the hall of doom here you buy your tier 1-4 armour, shout for alerts and raids and theres also an auction house to buy and sell things you want or don't want.

Alerts are 4 player and the best player setup for these are a tank too pull the aggro from the other players a dps to burn the enemies a controller to help replenish the groups power bars and also debuff the enemy bosses and a healer to heal the group if they take damage.

Raids are 8 player and the setup is pretty much the same except you will have 1 tank 3 dps 2 controllers and 2 healers.

Team work is a must during alerts and raids it can go wrong if people just do their own thing and not stick with the group and i'd say the best thing to do is follow the tank at all times he should always be the first person to attack an enemy so he can gain the aggro as he will have the highest health and defence stats.

Theres also PVP arenas and PVP legends in arenas you use your own character in upto 8 vs 8 player battles and in legends you use iconic characters which you unlock with marks you earn playing legends in upto 8 vs 8 battles.

Two massive cities to explore Metropolis and Gotham here you will find solo missions fighting with and against iconic characters theres also races here with times to beat that unlock emblems to wear and collections that are hidden all over these are blue, green and gold collecting these unlock styles etc.

DC Universe Online is the only game I've played for longer than a year its that good theres always things to do and never seems to get boring.

The Good

• Its based on DC comics so lots of places and stories from years of comics and cartoons
• The combat system is fast and deep but not overwhelming like some MMOS
• Loot lots and lots of things to collect
• The story for the main part of the game is amazing all I'll say is Lex comes from the future with exobytes which create all the new heroes and villains
• Playing with different people everyday if you wish makes doing the same missions feel different every time due to play styles and powers being used
• 2 massive cities Metropolis and Gotham to explore
• DLC every 3 months adds new content like alerts, raids and new features
• Updates roughly every 3 weeks that fix bugs and balance out the powers

The Bad

• Sometimes you'll meet players you don't like due to shouting at you or acting like their the best player ever to play the game (but you can always add these players to your ignore list that way you won't have to see anything they write in the chat window)
• There are bugs like freezing randomly and having to restart the ps3 but with every update it gets better 

Its hard to review a game like this because it changes all the time with new content being added and bugs being fixed its completely different from what it was in the beginning alot of reviews i read when the game released said it should of had an auction house and player houses/bases from the start but these features have and still are being added to the game the next dlc will be called Home Turf which adds player lairs like a penthouse or sewer hideout and can be customised with items dropped from missions all over the game.

The last thing I'll say is if you haven't tried DC Universe Online out yet now's the best time late last year it went free to play which means you can download from the PlayStation store for free and pay nothing if you wish you can buy extras from the in game marketplace or pay a subscription which gives you pretty much everything.