DC Universe Online is an enjoyable combat game, with an impressive look on PS4 and Xbox. It makes for a great place to begin your journey into the MMO games genre. Coming off the widespread acclaim of DC Comics, the game offers players a chance to experience the thrills of superhero powers. What makes DC Universe Online particularly outstanding is the way it blends traditional RPG with action-game mechanics.

The intensity of combat and bumpy pace of the game can prove too much to bear. That’s if you have a flair for patiently exploring kingdoms; otherwise, the constant spin of adrenaline will be merely pleasing. There’s enough content to drive gameplay through several hours, even though some are barely exceptional. In all, DC Universe Online does stay true to the fascinating intrigue the comics brought.

Getting Set For a Mix of RPG and Action

DC Universe offers customization options for your character, but not enough when compared to contemporaries. Yet, you still have the chance to put your imagination to work in curating your hero or villain. When that’s settled, you choose a primary weapon, a power set, and a mentor. Getting the character creation right the first time isn’t necessary. You can always improve your hero or villain as the game progresses.

Spend some earnings from gameplay on gear for your character. These new improvements don’t necessarily alter the appearance of the character but boost the overall stats. If you need to change your hero’s or villain’s looks, the Headquarters have a shop for cosmetic items. 

The next step after character creation is the tutorial, which guides you through the game’s unique dynamics. If there’s one thing you learn from the tutorial, it’s the fact the DC Universe Online is an inseparable mix of action and RPG. Your controllers get your in-game tools or weapons to work. Of course, there’s a small lag between your action and the response onscreen, but it has no significant effect on combat dynamics. When you compare it to many other MMOGs, it is a commendable improvement on input lag.

Better and Faster Combat

The reduced latency in onscreen actions makes combat in DC Universe online more direct and enjoyable. With an improvement in pace, the game is more entertaining to play. Also, the combat animations and stunning visual effects contribute to the overall performance of the game. As you move higher in the levels ladder, you buy new combos that make combats easier and much more enjoyable.

Thankfully, it doesn’t take forever to master combining button presses to achieve mind-blowing moves and combos. Also, there are some powerful action moves that you can easily replicate over and over again. But as fascinating as combat is in this game, it isn’t entirely perfect. One major area DC Universe Online could use some improvement is targeting. It’s difficult to understand why one can’t select a target for a hit. The auto-target feature is nothing, but a drawback, offering no guarantee of a hit.

DC Universe Online may not have gotten the targeting feature perfectly right, but it does brilliantly well in the use of powers. You can earn powers in gameplay, and they come from a couple of trees. Your character can equip six powers on-the-go, with different switchable loadouts.  A Circe power will allow you to switch between its healing and damage capabilities. This arrangement lets players combine forces in team matches, with each player’s tactical advantage in use.

Spending in-game cash can ramp up your character’s abilities, but not for so long. Once you get to Level 30, the end has come. The fact that you get to that level quickly enough diminishes the satisfaction a typical MMOG fan would expect. There’s hardly a way to slow down progression, such as exploring the crafting systems you’d typically find in online RPGs. However, there’s a blessing in that. The game goes on smoothly, without you needing to busy yourself with irrelevant things waiting for the next task.

Missions Are Fast and Furious

In DC Universe Online, the missions are urging and fast-paced. Your hero or villain is always pushing you to the next mission. If that’s not going on, you have NPCs breathing down your neck with one task or the other. It’s impressive that these characters are well-voiced, especially The Joker, played by Mark Hamill. Other voice-overs don’t come close to this but are fantastic, nevertheless.

The cutscenes following each mission are stimulating, but the scenes themselves offer less impression. There’s hardly any depth in the actions you carry out – you’re mostly stuck with killing a bunch of things and interacting with some others. However, a villain character usually has more enterprising tasks that gift you with more enjoyment. But nothing’s set in stone here, as it depends on the particular mission.

Most of the game will have you executing missions in Gotham City and Metropolis. Each mission will have you traversing different locations within these two cities, and that’s pretty much all. There are no breathtaking hidden cities or places to discover. However, you might be in for a thrilling experience when you take up PVP arena battles and group dungeons.

PVP arenas form an important part of DC Universe Online. You should expect terrifying opponents ready to knock you down with knockbacks and stuns. That underscores the importance of skills that shield you from such attacks in PVP arenas. Generally, missions are relatively easy, even though the respawning rate of enemies is quite problematic.

Conclusion

DC Universe Online has certain areas to improve on, but it remains an exciting option for a good play. The attractive cutscenes, voice acting, and fast-paced combats are some of the game’s strongest points. We may have to swallow the bitter pill of the game’s ending too early and squeeze the juice we can while it lasts.