Ambitious in some ways, lazy in others, DCUO is fun.. for awhile.
However, it isn't long before you start to feel a shift in the gameplay. Virtually nothing in the game educates the player about the overwhelming choices that lie ahead in the areas of powers, abilities and weapon skills. At first, almost any choice is a good one, and you'll be giving the enemy a thorough thrashing. But as you near the shockingly low level cap of 30, its easy to find that the choices that made your character a fine soloist are the same ones making them a disaster in teams... and teaming is definitely your future if you remain in the game after reaching 30.
Despite the inventive and immersive quests that take you from Metropolis to Gotham City and beyond, the bulk of your expected gameplay in DCUO is an endgame grind consisting of team instances and raids, or pvp, for tokens used to buy armor and weapons to presumably grind some more with. Its sad that the innovation ends at 30, a level so easily reached it takes the average player less than 4 days. Many MMO vets, particularly those who are tired of World of Warcraft (a common complaint this year, despite the new expansion), will feel like they've stepped into a Superhero coloured WoW. Those who spent years raiding and now eschew grinds and treadmills will be sorely disappointed. Even should one desire to simply level multiple characters, the lack of unique content per class makes replayability nearly nil.
The developers at Sony Online Entertainment have definitely broken new ground with the combat and even though the skill trees need some serious reworking and streamlining, it definitely shines as the game's finest element. However, there is little else to do beyond that. There is no crafting system whatsoever, socializing is extremely difficult due to the clunky, unfriendly chat system and PS3-influenced GUI, and at present there is not even an auction house (although it is promised). Oddly enough, the company that brought you Everquest, arguably the old school WoW, seems to have left behind its decade of experience concerning GUI customizability, customer interaction (you can't even tell if the servers are up or down), and customer satisfaction.
All in all, fans of DC comics, or superheroes in general, will definitely enjoy this game but likely for a month or two at the most. Newcomers to MMOs may stick it out long term, but MMO vets will see the carrots and sticks for what they are and move on. In an era when there are MMOs around every corner, and deeply immsersive new MMOs, like Star Wars : The Old Republic, are on the horizon, players have little patience to wait around a year or so to see what new content might get added.
content: 5
gameplay: 9
endgame: 5
innovation: 5
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score: 6.0