Wrath

It’s funny…I went into DCUO wanting to like it, but the thing I’d thought I’d like the most has turned out to be something of a deal-breaker.  I do like that your character is set in the rich and expansive DC Universe, but the problem is that I never quite feel like my characters belong there. 

Your toons are basically sidekicks/minions of whatever mentor you picked, or whoever’s mission you’re doing.   There’s no real sense that your character is doing anything for their own reasons, or even that they’re supposed to HAVE their own agenda.   Lex Luthor wants you to experiment on people with his new virus, better get to it!  Hey, Batman wants you to go stop Bane’s plot!  Don’t just sit there….get to work, peon!

As you might well imagine, I don’t think Tommy and Jack fit in here.  Maybe it gets better later on, but right now…not feeling it.

So, I’ve mostly been poking about in Champions Online.   Not that I’m considering that they’re here in canon, but I’ve been experimenting with Priest, Lue, Primalis, Dom, Tenma, and Frost here.  My main here, however, is a brand new creation called Wrath.  Check ‘im out:

Wrath’s costume is very much inspired by Azrael of DC Comics, though that and his ‘kill the bad guy instead of arrest him’ theme are where the similarities end.  

Paul Thompson, aka Wrath, served in the Canadian Special Forces in Afghanistan until he killed his corrupt commanding officer.  He served for a couple years in an Edmonton military prison, but escaped while being transferred to a Canadian federal prison for the remainder of his sentence.

He went underground as a soldier of fortune, when he met Roland Hennings, a former Army Ranger who was assembling an elite, highly-trained paramilitary force.  He joined Hennings’ Steel Wardens, rising to the top to become Hennings’ second-in-command.   Thompson eventually realized that the Steel Wardens’ purported mission of safeguarding the people was a sham, their real goal to form their own sovereign nation, and fuel Hennings’ ambitions for power.

He abandoned the Steel Wardens and now protects the weak and powerless (with lethal force) as Wrath, a gun-toting angel of vengeance.  When the justice system fails….he doesn’t.

How’s that for a movie pitch? :P  It’s a bit cliché and campy, but that’s CO for you.  (Incidentally, Hennings has gone on to become Wrath's nemesis, The Commandant.  Again....campy.)

He's level 26 currently, and with CO capping at 40, he's coming along nicely.  His fighting style is pretty flashy, wielding dual pistols a la Equilibrium and flying kicks.  And I'm not making that up...with his build, that's how his animations look!  I particularly get a kick out of his Bullet Beatdown power, a melee combo that includes gunshots from point-blank range, pistol-whipping, and butterfly kicks.  

Wrath is a lot more powerful than I anticipated.  That's the thing with CO's freeform system...done right, you can make some seriously nasty customers.   His defense is half 'dodge the attack' and half 'gun that sumbitch down before he gets to do anything'.  He's slightly squishy, but later powers and better gear will ameliorate that.

So....final analysis?  CO still isn't City.  It's not even really close.  But it's the best option if you want to do the superhero thing or make a fairly unique toon.  DCUO just doesn't cut it, and from what I hear, Marvel Universe is even worse.  You don't even get to make your own toon there!  You just play one of the existing Marvel heroes.  

Fuck.  That.