We've waxed onward about DC Universe Online a half dozen times previously. IGN's own Greg Miller has, in fact, erected a shrine in the game's honor and regularly weeps before it in the fetal position. But with the latest demo, short and sweet, the developer showcased another unique party-based battle and spoke in more detail about the character creation process.
As you sit down to create your hero or villain, you've got a lot of options, as it turns out. You can choose to be inspired by classic DC characters. Batman. Superman. Or maybe the Riddler or Lex Luthor, if you prefer. Consider it the method to character creation. The game takes a look at the source of your inspiration and evaluates their strengths and weaknesses. Batman's acrobatics and gadgetry. Doomsday's raw strength. The list goes on. And all of those nitty-gritty attributes are quickly translated to your created character so that your hero or villain plays like your DC idol. Alternatively, you can choose to do all the handiwork yourself, meticulously customizing your character from the ground-up, setting powers, power sources, and traits like super strength, speed, the ability to cling to walls, and so much more. If you're typically unconcerned with the details, you'll probably want to use the inspiration system in order to accelerate your trip to Metropolis, but die-hards have all the tools to go deeper at their disposal.
We've seen it before. You enter a universe filled with powerful characters and your newbie simply can't match up because he's at ground zero and hasn't yet worked his way through the ranks. This is a design direction the developer turned its back on, opting instead to render newcomer heroes and villains with a robust selection of impressive base powers. New or not, they are superheroes or super villains so they should at least act the part. Of course, they can be leveled up and take on more and more abilities as they MMORPG progresses and just as your powers build, so does your reputation. To that end, the game will employ a recognition system tied to Metropolis itself, which has always been a city partly ruled by its newspaper of choice, The Daily Planet. As your notoriety escalates, you will find yourself the subject of headlines in the paper at an increasing rate.
DC Universe Online is separated into public and private spaces. There's the truly gargantuan wide-open environments of both Metropolis (demoed from CES) and Gotham City (still unseen), as well as a plethora of other lesser environments spanning other locations around the world. Metropolis is separated into five districts, all of them individually enormous. The MMORPG component is supported through these open areas and you will therefore regularly see and interact with hundreds and hundreds of other players at any given moment. At least for heroes, an information system called the Oracle will deal out cases for you to take on that will lead to encounters with some of the high-profile characters like Superman and Doomsday, both of whom made an appearance in the latest demo. When the Man of Steel flies around Metropolis, he can be seen by the entire online community as a single entity. But the developer has used private spaces to give gamers individual experiences that oftentimes feature comic book icons, and private spaces typically transpire inside buildings and other locations out of the public eye. In one such case, we backed up Superman as he battled with Doomsday and simultaneously fended off a series of goons. Eventually, the villain was bested and we secured him so that he could not escape again.
SOE has not yet set a release date for DC Universe Online. Look out for more on the game in the coming months, just as soon as Greg Miller pries himself away from the fetal position.