There’s a lot going on at Sony Online Entertainment regarding DC Universe Online. In a panel featuring comic book artist Jim Lee and comics writer Marv Wolfman, the upcoming massively multiplayer online game set in the DC Universe was discussed at length. We were informed of some of the features in the game, and while it will feature the usual aspects that fans are familiar to most MMOs, the panelists assured hungry fanatics that this game will offer some unique attributes as well.
Of course, I think the greatest thing for fans would be the opportunity to see the world they’ve read about for over 75 years. “Now we have the freedom to move all over the place,” said Wolfman. There will be a major focus on the world of DC. The legendary heroes of the universe will make numerous appearances, and more of the universe’s famous characters will meet you as you progress further through the game.
There will be a relationship between artifacts and costume customization. Different objects offer different choices on what the player looks like.
The panelists promised a game that has a fast paced feel to it. It is said to play more like a moment-to-moment, console action game. There is no feeling of dice being rolled, or of percentages being gathered, giving the game a real feel of comic awesomeness.
Lee told the audience that one of the bigger challenges of translating the comic world into a gaming world would have to do with consistent size and shape of everything. In comics, when an author wants to convey a hero like Superman as a big brawny tough guy, he or she will draw him bigger, and more muscled. Conversely, the character is made to look smaller and thinner when he or she is being defeated. There is a consistency in games by which comics are just not used to being regulated, and that was the toughest part for designers. “When we draw in 2D,” Lee said, “we don’t really have to keep the figures in the same shape from panel to panel. In the game, we really don’t have that option. We had to figure out, ‘How long is the cape?’ ‘What is the texture of these costumes?’”
One particular detail perked my ears, just because I thought it sounded cool. It seemed pretty moderate as far as breaking news goes, but Marv Wolfman touched briefly on the idea that playable super villains may be able to be thrown in prison by playable super heroes, in which case somebody would have to bust them out. Naturally wishing to assume the role of a super villain, I think it would be totally cool if I got thrown into jail once in a while.
The was a lot of thought put into who would be the ultimate villain in the story, especially considering how many great villains are in the story. Of course, the panelists left that out of the discussion, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
The villains and the heroes of the story will be intertwined in their missions. An item stolen by a playable villain might become a target of recovery by a playable hero, and vice versa. Players will come in conflict with each other regularly.
DC Universe Online has no confirmed release date, only an update of their current progress. They are still pre-alpha testing, and hoping to reach that milestone soon. Lee jovially said that the only certainty of the release date is that it will have a ‘2′ at the beginning of the year. Even now, though, the game is looking good. The colors are sharp, the look is unique, and the overall image is one that Jim Lee himself describes as “Friggin’ Dazzling.”
