D.C. Universe Online is a good MMORPG in my opinion. It's not traditional at all and it definitely offers something different to many other games in the genre. There have been many people vocal about some of these differences, and others seeing nothing that might distinguish it from other MMOs. I played in the beta all the way until release; before servers were shut down prior to launch there had been a healthy amount of content to test. Much of the presentation such as cutscenes, sound effects, and voice overs were embedded.
Before I can compare DCUO to any other MMORPG on the market I draw much comparison to other games such as Crackdown, inFamous, and even Prototype. A lot of the combat at its core plays much like those said games. It is very action oriented and fast pace. The time-sink is definitely much better then World of Warcraft. I mention WoW simply because after playing games like Asheron's Call, EVE Online, and Everquest; AND then picking up World of Warcraft in 2004 I realized that I shouldn't have to do the mundane for hours at a time(grinding). D.C. Universe Online literally throws level grinding out the window.
The task you do while questing aren't really new. You will find the usual quests in D.C. Universe Online, but because how combat is approached I find it less mind numbing and straight-forward. And if you're a big fan of the D.C. Universe there's a lot of interesting lore involved with these quests as well. The game's open world questing is definitely impressive because it throws so much at you at once. You definitely do not have to look for quests either. Much of the quest lines lead to instances/dungeons that introduce you to DC heroes or villains as a boss. There are so little neat extras while traversing the city of Gotham or Metropolis. Unfamiliar with DC lore? You'll find a lot of it on your travels which bits of information can be collected, and is fully voiced. There are time trials spread across the city to test your traveling powers, and allow you to gain awards. And of course there are other small activities like tormenting or saving civilians. Plus there is a good amount of raids, PvP arena tasks, and other cooperative instant material(when it comes available to you're toon) at launch.
I'll admit that DCUO character creation is fun but it is more limited then Champions Online and City of Heroes. Instead of just having everything at your finger tips initially you discover additional styles while playing the game. Each time you gain a piece of equipment you have a option of either retaining your toon's look or altering a portion of yourself with the newly acquired item. There is also tons of loot! As far as power sets go there isn't a large selection. You have gadgets, fire, ice, mental, sorcery, and nature to choose from. That's it. Each power set allows every player to become a damage dealer, but they also grant a secondary role. Ice and Fire allow you to tank while gadget gives you the ability to control(stuns, immoblization, etc). To be honest I am not sure why ice and fire are available but lightning/thunder isn't. Or the fact that you can't really create an Superman-esqued character with some form of invulnerablity and "distinguishable" super strength.
Instead having several spells, and abilities available to you in combat attach to your hot bar, you're limited to a handful. I find this to be a pro and con. You'll have access to different stances/modes. Each one allows you to hot key different abilities; but you can only changed your "mode" in between combat. But you "also" receive skills that can only be performed by completing the right combination of mouse clicks/button combos while doing melee and range combat. For instance those who choose hand to hand combat can do a 5 hit combo with the end attack having the player dropping a smoke bomb that stuns opponents near by. Then again you can have an ability as well through a hot key that allows you to zip line and stun an opponent all together.
I find that many of the MMORPG that are doing well offer something much different. EVE Online, City of Heroes, and World of Warcraft are prime examples of retail MMORPGslaunching with a experience that's much different then what was offered before. Much of what seperates DCUO from other MMOs is it's non-traditional approach to combat, and accessible content.
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