Massively Multiplayer Online games (or MMOs) have always fascinated me as a concept. In these online games, a persistent world exists for all the players, who team up with others to help them on their journey or fight each other in hot Player on Player (PvP... get used to the geek acronyms. Geekronyms?) action. As an army brat, the idea of joining friends from all over the world to fight evil always appealed to me. I've dabbled very cautiously into MMO waters over the years, but never got "hooked." Last Friday, I bought a game that might change all that. What is so different about this new game? What unique experience does it provide that no others have? There are 2 simple answers: 1) I am a superhero. 2) I do missions for Superman.
The game, of course, is DC Universe Online. DC is the comic book publishing company responsible for Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, among many others. As I kid, I was never much of a comic book nerd, but I LOVED Superman. He is and always will be the quintessential superhero, for reasons I'll probably explain in a later post. A few years ago, while deployed to Iraq, I started ordering Superman comics on Amazon and had them shipped to me there. What else are you going to do for fun in Iraq? As I researched notable and critically acclaimed stories, I realized that I dug the epic crossovers and the idea that all the DC superheroes lived together on the same world. I cut my DC teeth on Crisis on Infinite Earths, a 1986 effort to simplify DC continuity, though I didn't know who most of the heroes I was reading about were. Now I do. I lapped up the year-long weekly comic "52," which was about pretty much every hero and villain in the DC World. I own beautiful hardcovers of Kingdom Come and New Frontier, as well as most notable Superman stories. My already impressive geek repetoire had been blown wide open with my introduction to the DC Universe.
Now, thanks to this new game, I can be a part of that universe.
World of Warcraft is the leading MMO in the biz, and has been for years, but I didn't last more than a few months in it. I loved the concept of playing with my real life friends, and it is a remarkable game, but here's the thing: I've never been into Lord of the Ringsesque sword and sorcery type fantasy. I was a gnome rogue because I thought that was funny, but I didn't yearn to explore the darkest depths of Azeroth, teaming up with Night Elves to vanquish the evil Horde. No matter how expertly crafted that world was, it just wasn't a world that interested me. That's the key to an MMO- it has to be a world that you want to be a part of. People get hooked because they love the fiction they're experiencing. I've finally found my fiction.
DCU Online does an amazing job of making the DC Universe seem real. You start out creating your own unique hero or villain, and unlike the few distinct races you'll find in other MMOs, the options to make someone unique are impressively robust. I created a Dr Pepper themed heroine named Heritage, who battles alien invaders in futuristic Metropolis under the watchful eye of Superman himself. My girlfriend went for a reptilian demon woman with green skin and red wings. My brother's creation is a suave villain who roams the dark and gritty streets of the Gotham underworld. I've got friends who are a hulking rock monster and a Japanese school girl possessed by an Egyptian cat goddess, respectively. You choose your powers and customize your costume, and are set loose in the comic book world in all its glory.
The game does an excellent job of explaining why there are suddenly new heroes and villains flying (or running or leaping, depending on which powers you choose) around the streets of Metropolis and Gotham. You fight side by side with established heroes, taking down well known villains from the comics. Rescuing Supergirl, fighting alongside the Teen Titans, or helping Robin take down Harley Quinn are incredible fantasies being fulfilled. The game focuses more on action than most MMOs, and I personally use an X-box controller rather than a mouse and keyboard. This interesting action- RPG hybrid alone makes playing it a unique experience, but the fact that I'm helping my costumed idols take down their most nefarious enemies is definitely what has me hooked.
In DC Universe, I've finally found a fictional digital world that I'm willing to spend time in. I do the quests not as a means to gain levels, but to see what exciting comic book situation I'll be put into next. If Sony Online Entertainment (the game's publisher) manages to keep adding to this already brilliantly vibrant world, and as long as there are enough people like me who want their superhero fantasies fulfilled, I suspect DCU Online will do very well for itself. I only wish I were able to play with my friends who bought it for the Playstation 3, but for now I'm giddy just being a part of that world.
Role Playing Games, and particularly MMOs, are about being someone you're not, in a world that isn't yours. I have to go to my evening Political Science class soon, but afterwards I'm going to take to the skies of Metropolis and use my powers to help the hopeless. If I do enough good, maybe Superman himself will invite me to join the Justice League. I get giddy just thinking about it. I've found the world I want to be a part of, if only in digital form. I feel like I've been given the opportunity to open up my favorite comics, step inside, and live the life of a superhero. As a kid who wore a homemade Superman suit years after he'd grown out of it, swooping around the living room blasting the Superman: The Motion Picture soundtrack over and over, this is a dream come true.
In conclusion, I guess I give DC Universe Online about a B.
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