CES 2009: DC Universe Online Updated Impressions

LAS VEGAS--At one point or another, most comic fans have daydreamed about what it would be like to strap on the spandex and fight side by side with their favorite superheroes. For example, how cool would it be to go toe-to-toe with The Joker, or enter battle with Superman on your side? The makers of the upcoming DC Universe Online know exactly how cool that's going to be, and we got a taste of the fun during a demo of the game in Sony's suite at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. We didn't get a chance to actually play the game, but the demo that we saw has us even more eagerly anticipating our first hands-on time with the game.

The core of the DCUO demonstration was a "case"--that's superhero speak for a quest--that had two player characters on the trail of Superman and Doomsday, who were currently in a titanic showdown on the streets of Metropolis. As he is wont to do, Superman's archenemy Lex Luthor was also prowling around in this mission, looking to capture some DNA from both Superman and Doomsday in the form of blood spilled during the epic slugfest. In this multipart quest, your few mission objectives will be to take down a bunch of low-level enemies while securing the DNA samples that are strewn around the city.

The two heroes playing during the demo showed off a good deal of the variety found in the game's hero-creation tools. We didn't get to see the tools themselves, but we did learn a good deal about the types of characters that you'll be able to create in the game. One was an ice-blue speedster who carried a superpowered rifle that could deal big damage; the other was a long and lanky female ninja, who carried a pair of short swords and reminded us of a sluttier version of Taki from the Soul Calibur series.

Both characters had their own individual powers and abilities, which were most obvious in the way they moved. As you might expect, the speedster was extremely quick on the ground. On the other hand, the female ninja was an acrobat who could leap great distances in the air, change direction on a whim, and even dash forward in the air. Acrobats also have the ability to cling to buildings (alas, you're not able to climb up building surfaces). A third movement type, flight, lets you hover and move in midair. These are the only three movement types available right now in the game, but the developers hinted that more might find their way into the game as development continues (teleportation, anyone?).

Beyond movement, a couple of the other big factors that will set your hero apart from your friends (and enemies; there is a big PVP focus in DCUO) are your power source and your power type. Your power type determines what kind of power you possess; in the case of our female ninja friend, her power type was "light," which let her blast enemies with light beams, among other attacks. The second factor is power source, which, just like it sounds, serves as the source of your specific power. Your power source can be anything from the weapon you carry (such as the ninja's swords) to a ring you possess (think Green Lantern), or a specific part of your body.

How you construct the various powers that are associated with these major areas of character creation will determine what makes your hero unique. You earn points while leveling up, and you'll assign those points to different powers. Furthermore, through a feature called "roles," you'll be able to load up specific power loadouts at any given time (except when you're in combat). When playing in an offensive role, your damage might be boosted but you'll be more vulnerable to attacks; conversely, when playing a defensive role, you might be tougher to take down but deal less damage. The concept of roles sounds as if it will have a definite place in solo play, but it'll be practically invaluable in team situations, with any player being able to take on the role of a tank or healer at any given time. That said, though you can switch roles often, just because you're in a defensive position doesn't mean you'll be an ideal tank (that will naturally depend on your characters' attributes).

Once our sword-wielding heroine made her way into the building where Superman and Doomsday were duking it out, it was up to her to help Supes out in any way she could. The first order of business was to take down the peon enemies that were on hand so that Superman could focus on the big guy. Next we watched as she took on a distracted Doomsday briefly so that Superman could catch a breather. However, getting too close to Doomsday is not a good idea: just a few smacks from his huge fists was all it took to defeat our heroine. Luckily, dying in DCUO doesn't really come with a huge penalty; you're merely out of action for a little bit, and after that you can choose to respawn immediately (taking a small hit to your health) or withdraw from the fight to a predetermined rally point.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of DCUO's gameplay demo was how easy the game seemed to play using the PlayStation 3 controller. The game is coming for the PS3 and PC--though we don't know if the games will be released simultaneously--and, as near as we could tell, the game looks very playable with the controller. You have eight power assigned to the face buttons: two sets of four that you can toggle between by pressing the L2 or R2 buttons. Movement and targeting seem smooth as well, though it's important to remember that this was a demo environment with a small number of things happening onscreen.

With a mixture of indoor and outdoor environments, the world of DCUO seems to be taking shape, though there's obviously still tons of work to be done. The demo took place in the midtown section of Metropolis, and the environments had an impressive amount of detail. The bright color palette was fitting for Superman's home city, but we're curious to see how the darker and grittier Gotham City fares.

Plenty of questions remain unanswered with DCUO, both for fans of the game and, it seems, for the developer. For instance, though we do know that the game will have a party system in which players will be able to team up with their fellow do-gooders (or do-badders, for that matter; you can play as a villain in DCUO), the final maximum party size has yet to be determined, though a safe bet seems to be about four to six people. That said, there will be raid content for lots of players to take part in. Couple that with the aforementioned player-versus-player combat, and you've got what looks to be a recipe for superpowered success. We look forward to bringing you much more on DC Universe Online over the coming months, and we look forward even further to the game's eventual release, whenever that may be.