Just picked this up today and have yet to get to play it (it's currently installing on my PS3 as I type this). I was just wondering if anyone else has it yet and what they're thoughts are on it. I've read quite a bit of good about it online and decided I was too impatient to wait and see an IGN review before deciding to buy it. Oh, and if anyone is playing and wants to add me on PSN, my ID is mowens04.
I plan on getting it. I've heard that the Metropolis and Gotham worlds are going to be freaken EPIC not to mention you get to have more "freedom" so to speak over what you can do in cities and such which is awesome.
After having it for a few days, I must say, I'm enjoying it. Now, let me get this out of the way - I have NEVER played an MMO before this, so I can't say how it compares to the likes of WoW or CoH/CoV, Aion, etc. However, I will say that I am enjoying it, and I'm the type of guy that has mocked people that play WoW my entire life. First off, I'll about character creation. The creation of your hero or villain is pretty good, as I feel it gives you quite a few options to make your hero look unique and stand out from the crowd. You can change your skin time (from flesh to lava and a lot in between), to your helmet, suit, etc. It's basically everything you would expect in a character creator. I do feel like it's probably a bit on the shallow side, but there's always the chance they could add extra stuff through patches and updates. The combat, to me, is a blast. It's got a very solid combo system, and all the moves work well. I've heard some people have issues with the aiming system on the PC, but I play on PS3 and it plays exactly like you'd want a 3rd person action/adventure game to play. The controls are pretty tight and responsive, though to me, it seems like there might be a TINY bit of lag from when you hit the button to when the move occurs. I don't know if there is any or if it's just because I'm typically chaining together long moves (or if it's just lag from my occasionally shoddy internet connection), but it really has no effect on the game, as the combat as a whole works fantastically. The combos all work well and it's a breeze mixing together striking and powers. Exploring the cities is fun as well. I'm currently playing on a character with acrobatics, so it's fun being able scale up buildings and leap from rooftop to rooftop, looking for some of the random easter egg things that they have scattered around the city. I've also played on a character with flight, which is pretty fun, but the controls can take some time getting used to. The only movement mode I haven't used is super speed, but that'll come soon enough. One thing about the movement, if you want to be unique, feel free to not use flight. It seems like at least half of the world uses flight. The least commonly used one, at least from what I've seen at this point, is acrobatics. The quests are all pretty standard fare. Go here, beat these guys up, collect this, etc. The missions can be somewhat repetitive, but luckily, the game does a good job of giving you a decent variety of enemies to beat up. Overall, as long as you enjoy the standard fare, 3rd person beat 'em up type missions, you'll enjoy the ones this has to offer. Apparently, they're also pretty standard as far as an MMO goes. I haven't done anything as far as raiding or instances go, so feel free to NOT ask me about those right now. I also haven't really toiled with the PVP part of the game. I do have a trio of characters at this time and one is on a PVP server, but I've strayed away from that character as of recent due to complaints about the higher level players preying on the lower level characters. And, quite frankly, I don't feel like getting raped by a level 20+ character consistently, so I've just stuck with my character on the PVE server. There is another section of PVP that's available on these servers too, but you need to be a level 9 to do it, and I'm only at level 8, so I haven't experienced yet. The other cool part about this game is the amount of different ways you can play the game. Obviously there's the hero and villain approach to the game, but it does go deeper than this. The game will play differently depending on the type of movement you choose - super speed, acrobatics (a la Spiderman) and flight. There's also a variety of powers in the game - mental (aka telekinesis), fire, ice, gadgets, nature and sorcery - and those obviously change the way you go in to battle. There's also a variety of type of combat, and your choice of combat style affects the types of weapons that you're going to be able to use. Right now, my main character has acrobatics for movement, has mental powers (which are a blast - I have two other characters, one with fire and one with ice, and I much prefer the mental powers over those two), and has martial arts for combat style (which I currently have axe type hand attachment things for the weapon for this). Then lastly, there's the choice of mentor, which is also dependent upon whether your hero or villain. There's three separate mentors for each side, and those are the people that dole out your missions to you, so that also helps the longevity of the game. One of my current quips about the game is the user interface. It works ok enough, but it definitely needs to be smoothed out. I have no real complaints regarding it, as it does what it needs to do, but I do feel like it could have been a bit more user friendly, but what can ya do. I also have an issue with voice chat. Mainly that it doesn't seem to work. I tried to chat with a friend of mine tonight - both our headsets were connected and working - yet I couldn't. Apparently, the mics were down on the game, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. They need to get some consistency there and make it so they work all the time, because quite frankly, typing my messages would get annoying. I've got a USB keyboard and all, but still, it would be easier to talk to my teammate instead of typing at him. The other issue I had was the size of the freaking install. This game is huge. On the PS3, there was the 135 MB install of the initial game. After that, there was a 14 GB install that was likely maps and all that other fun stuff, which took about a half an hour to install (I assume this was all on disc). After that, there's ANOTHER 2.5 GB install, and this appears to be a patch, because it took me over 4 freaking hours to install it (however, I didn't help my cause by having at least 3 separate things leaching off my connection for the first hour and a half), and then there was another 50 MB install that I had to do the next morning. I guess I really shouldn't complain too much about all this, given that it's an MMO, I knew it was going to be huge (and it's actually smaller than what the box says), but still, that's a lot of my HD to be taking up, and I can't say I appreciate that too much. Oh yea, the game is also expensive. I shelled out $60 for the game itself since I got it on PS3 (it's $50 on PC), and after that, I'm looking at $15 a month to keep playing. They do give you the first month free, but $15 a month is a bit on the pricey side. However, as long as it keeps me entertained and as long as SOE keeps the game fresh, I'll happily shell that out. My favorite part of this game is what I'll end with, and quite simply, it is the atmosphere. I'm a huge comic book and superhero nerd, so this game definitely appeals to me. Meandering around Gotham and Metropolis is a blast. Both of the main cities have had a nice amount of detail put in to them, with a lot of classic places available to go to and see (Arkham, Wayne Enterprises, etc.). They've also put a great attention to detail in all the classic heroes and villains of the game, as they all look fantastic. The voice acting is also really good for a lot of them, which helps add to the story and the overall quality of the game. So at this point, I can say that this is probably going to be a game that I'm going to be playing for a good long while, especially if SOE gets monthly content out like they say they're going to. I'd say I'd definitely recommend it to anyone, whether you're looking for a new MMO to give your life to or if you're looking for a solid action experience. Also, after I get some more time sunk in to this game and do some of the things that I haven't done, I'll let you guys know my thoughts there, too. Oh, and I apologize for the length of the post, but hopefully it answers some of your guys' questions about it.
I would check out DC Universe, but I'm heading back to school and my dorm internet connection is certainly nothing to rave about. Maybe I'll get this game in the summer.
