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2nd day of play - A few quick thoughts

WarmakerWarmaker Member UncommonPosts: 2,246

Alright.  Been visiting a relative who has this game.  I was curious so I tried it out on her compy.  Firstly, I have some beef with SOE, but since this wasn't my money / account, I decided to give it a try.  I also never tried City of Heroes / etc., so the comic-based MMORPG is a new thing for me.

Setting - DC universe, one of the big 2 comic universes out there having of course a number of the industry's most recognizable characters.  The background is different since I expected a whole lot more straight confrontation between Heroes & Villains instead of the common enemy of Brainiac.  The "cutscenes" making it look like a comic strip suits the game and subject.

Graphics - Passable.  Just enough to do the job, though certain character models can use quite a bit more work considering they're prominent characters.  Some look great, i.e. Batman.  Some need work, i.e. Zatanna (how you can screw up a character with a 1 piece magician's outfit, fishnets, and a top hat, I dunno).  But on average, it's alright.  Details... if anything, they lack details on the character models, even on the highest game settings and with a good rig (my cousin's compy is a mean machine).

Player Characters Creation & Customization - This is a very mixed bag.  I commend SOE for giving players an ability to use different outfits once they've equipped it once while still using the best gear they've got.  But the very limited Color Palettes is a major issue for me.  In short, you can have a max of 3 possible colors for your outfit palette.  That's restrictive.  Also, you cannot edit the size & proportions of your character to fit your tastes.  You also cannot edit once past initial creation the color fields of your outfit.  You can only edit the 3 major color sections to the palette and no longer dictate what part of the outfit gets them.  Female or Male characters are limited to either Large, Medium, or Small builds.  You cannot tweak anything else at all.  You cannot even edit the face of your character to your tastes.  Either 2-3 possible general face types, that's it.

Questing - From what I've seen so far, I do like a degree of flexibility on the open world that people can share credit for counts on a quest.  The worry of someone tagging a required NPC isn't as bad in DCUO, and rushing in to help someone but wondering if you're "kill stealing" isn't a big issue.  Some of the quests are quite boring, a few are good.  Maybe it's my tastes.  Metropolis is bright, pretty and the quests mostly feel boring.  Gotham on the other hand is darker, feels a bit more gritty.  The early stuff dealing with Scarecrow and the Joker & Harley's antics stand out so far.  I do like the quest with Harley Quinn's mayhem, for instance.  Let me also say that this game is very solo friendly from what I've seen so far.  Open areas have a sort of "Public Quest" feel since anyone can help out but you have your own quests while still there.  There are instances also that cater to groups, but make no mistake, you don't have to do them from what I've seen so far.

UI - Not too fond of the UI.  Feels a bit clunky moving around.  Haven't seen how to customize it so far.  Also, combat is VERY click-heavy.  Most of the time 1 click of the mouse is one general attack.  Some of the combos require alot more movements to execute, but the UI design even for a Mouse & Keyboard feels clumsy and out of the place.  Feels like my hands need to be in THREE places at the same time (hopefully I didn't leave myself open in that comment).

Voices - Generally okay, though a few could use work.  Firstly, they got Mark Hamill in for the Joker and Kevin Conroy in as Batman.  That is *huge* for me.  I just can't see anyone else right now that pulls of the Joker like Luke Skywalker can.  Arleen Sorkin who's done Harley Quinn in the cartoons is in also.  Probably helps why a number of the quests in Gotham feel more immersive since they have the voices from major characters from the cartoons.  Hamill seemed to have some fun while doing it, and tidbits with the Joker will be noted.  Wonder Woman... not too fond of the voice in the game.  Maybe I was too used to the voice acrtress from the JLA/JLU cartoons.

Again, I'm not fond of SOE, but I'm curious to see where they take this title.

"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." (First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, US Marine Corps, Soissons, 19 July 1918)

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