That's right, it's a two-fer. I'll
post screenshots another time, but I figure this time out, I can at
least give my initial impressions of DCUO and The Secret World.
DC Universe Online (DCUO)
DCUO is not City of Heroes, let's get
that straight right now. It's not really Champions Online, either.
Honestly, the biggest plus for it right now is the lore itself. For
a few years of my life, I was an avid comic book reader, and I still
like the medium. One of the beginning hero arcs in DCUO pits you
against Scarecrow and his crew, and I THOROUGHLY marked out for it.
I don't think this game would work near as well without the advantage
of an established, well-loved history.
For one thing, it doesn't have near the
customization that CO or CoX boasts. You're pretty limited in terms
of costumes and power combinations. You only have three travel
powers to choose from: flight, acrobatics, and super-speed. Though,
to their credit, they are hella sweet. Acrobatics and super-speed in
particular allow you run up (and along) walls, which just looks
badass. As for the powers themselves, you pick two general
categories (one handed weapon, dual wield, fire, mental, martial
arts, etc.) and specialize within 3 trees in each category. Each
power has a prerequisite, which means you kind of need to know what
you're shooting for.
The combat system allows for fast-paced
fights, and once you master some of the combos, you can button-mash
your way to some cool moves. It's not elegant but it gets the job
done. Bottom line: thus far it's like cheap liqour. It's not
ideal, and you always know you're settling in several ways, but it's
pretty satisfying if you just jump in and start swinging.
I made DCUO versions of Mindstryker and
Tommy Cortex (as best I could, anyway), but my most fun/success has
been with a new, original creation. His name is Runestaff, a rogue
sorcerer with increased physical skills who fights with a magic
quarterstaff containing the soul of his former master. So far, he's
beaten down Doctor Fate, Cyborg, Raven, Nightwing, and Starfire. Not
a bad start!
The Secret World (TSW)
Oh, I have been waiting for this game
for SOOOO long. My initial attraction stemmed from its concept and
its claim that it wasn't level-based. You could select any from a
selection of skills to make the character you want. I won a beta
key, but since my rig at the time couldn't handle it, I couldn't take
advantage of it. Finally, after a long and winding road, I
downloaded it, and booted it up, quivering with anticipation.
I'm not sure what I was
expecting, but it wasn't this.
First off, the game looks gorgeous.
And while character creation isn't vastly customizable, it's not bad
either. You're indoctrinated quickly into the game via a
nerve-wracking 'flashback' mission in the Tokyo subways, and some
tutorial missions. After the initial training arcs of whichever
faction you chose (Illuminati, Templars, or the Dragon), you're sent
off to Solomon Island, a fictional island off the coast of Maine,
where all manner of mystery and horror await.
A bit melodramatic, but you get the
idea. Well, actually, you don't. Seriously, I haven't even played
through 1/3 of the content yet, but it's INSANE. Personally, what
I've experienced thus far is just flat-out brilliant. The game FEELS
like a well-done survival horror movie that's a LOT more intricate
than your garden-variety zombie flick. Also, kudos on the design,
writing, and voice-over work. Solomon Island's supposed to have been
a sleepy little Maine fishing town, and that's just what it feels
like. The characters' accents are authentic, the town layout is
believable, and that just makes the horror more surreal.
It's like Stephen King meets George
Romero with some Clive Barker thrown in. Wicked.
I did go in expecting to be able to
choose from dozens of skills, both combat and non-combat. You get 9
main combat skills (Assault Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun, Blade, Fist
Weapons, Hammer, Blood Focus, Chaos Focus, Elemental Focus) and one
auxiliary (Rocket Launcher). There's a surprising amount of synergy
between all these...the passive abilities in one can apply to
another, and so on.
The puzzles you need to solve are a bit
abstract at times, but so far everything's been very well done.
However, the most damning thing I can say about it is this: it plays
very much like a single-player game. Aside from a little PVP, there
hasn't been much in the way of social interaction. Maybe the RP is
somewhere I haven't got to yet, but you know how I feel about that.
I'm starting to think that CoX really
was unique in terms of its RP potential. I'm starting to wonder if
maybe I'm done with RP whether I like it or not. I don't know.
