DC Universe Online

After spending the last couple months with World of Warcraft, it's a refreshing change to finally get into an MMO set in the modern era.  Don't get me wrong, I'm all for orcs and elves, but eventually it starts to get old and you begin to want something different.  Enter DC Universe, which not only happens to be set in modern times but allows you to play as a hero or villain.  It isn't the first of it's kind; City of Heroes/Villains came first, then Champions Online after that.  I really wanted to try both out, but lost interest after I heard what a grind both can be.  I enjoy lots of aspects of the MMO, but grinding is definetly not one of them.

DC Universe, on the other hand, is a different beast entirely.  It's an action game at it's heart, and that's what makes it so much fun.  There's no auto-attack, instead you use different types of attacks to string together combos.  There's also no hidden stat or dice roll for evading an attack; it's all up to your skill.  Just like a God of War or Ninja Gaiden, you've got to dodge and roll if you hope to survive.  There are so many different types of character combinations that I honestly spent more time with that than actually playing the game.  The obvious first choice is hero or villain?  For my first character I started with the latter, mainly because on most games of late I've been playing the goody-goody boy scout type.  I also couldn't resist the opportunity to run missions for the Joker.  When you create a hero or villain, one of your choices is who your new budding hero will be mentored by.  For the rightous; you've got Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.  For those who gravitate towards the darker side; you'll be taking orders from The Joker, Lex Luthor, or Circe.

After spending the last weekend running through the character creator, I've finally managed to get three characters I'm comfortable with.  I've already got ideas for more, but I'm going to try and force myself to not create any more until I at least get one character to 10.  (Which, from what I've heard, doesn't take more than a few hours.)

Ultraviolent is a villain mentored by The Joker who specializes in gadgets, rifles, and acrobatics. He generally sticks to the shadows, preferring to take enemies out with stealth. When the time for subtlety ends, his grenade launcher can thin out groups of enemies quickly, while his taser line can pull any hapless survivors in for the kill.

Synged is a hero based in Metropolis, mentored by Superman, wields fire with two axes, and flies. He can throw fireballs, ignite enemies so they burn, or lay waste to entire groups with a flame nova.

Cryonik is my newest Gotham City hero, mentored by Batman. He blasts streams of ice from his hands, so no guns or axes to play with. I haven't done much else besides get out of the tutorial, but so far he's been lots of fun to play.