So, after my mixed feelings about Champions Online, I thought I would give DC Universe Online a go. I played it for about 15mins before un-installing it. Unlike Champions Online, I won't be giving it another go.
It's not actually because it's a bad game, if I'm honest. The gameplay is different to other MMOs, but in a good way. It feels dynamic and involved. The graphics are pretty nice, although I dislike the fact that you can't change your character's face very much, and the body types and sizes are fixed. The costume generator was also more limited than both CoH and Champions Online, but then, in DC Universe your costume changes every time you equip gear, so I suppose they didn't think it was that relevant to make the starting options too extensive. You *can* equip styles in the game to change that (so you can keep a costume instead of losing it every time you get a new bit of gear) but I didn't play long enough to experiment with that. I'm not a huge fan of gear-based super-hero games as a concept anyway, so that was just an extra annoyance after an irritating character creation session.
No, the real reason I ditched DC Universe Online is the same reason why I generally ditch most things DC related. It's not a bird or a plane, but as ever.... it's Superman.
I hate him.
I also hate Wonder Woman, but Superman is the main offender here. And lo and behold, he shows up right at the end of the training level, and reminded me of how much he sucks in anything other than films. I then learned from a few people in-game that even though I had picked Batman as my character's mentor (and don't get me started on how I feel about having a mentor- I didn't start out to play a lacky or a side-kick, thanks) I would still have to deal with Superman and Wonder Woman a fair amount. And that, my friends, is a deal breaker for me. So I un-istalled it.
(As a side-note, I do like Superman in films. Christopher Reeve played him very well, and I enjoyed the newer 2009 movie too. The main reason for that is the humanising elements that an actor brings to a character. I liked the way both actors showed him, as Clark Kent as well as his super-hero alter ego. I have read a lot of comics, and a fair few with Superman in, and the best efforts I have seen so far to bring any kind of human element to the guy have either made him a whingy little emo, or an over-the-top caricature. Most of the time, he comes across as a self-righteous psychopath, or as very, very dull. The same is true of Wonder Woman, who- at her best- has been made into a psychotic feminist, a tarty wet dream, or a simpering humanist. At her worst? Dull. Or worse- the kind of female hero who always seems to need a man to save her at the last moment, despite her apparent over-competence in the rest of the story arc. >_<; Which is a real shame, really, because DC *can* do good heroes- look at Batman- and they certainly do some of the best villains.... but they have pinned their colours to two of the most uninspiring comic book characters of all time.
And yes, I am looking forward to the new Superman film. I am interested to see what they will do with this re-boot, although I doubt I will like it more than 'Superman Returns.' I will, at least, give it a fair chance, and with any luck it will prove once again that Superman works best on the silver screen, and not in comics or games.)
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