DC Universe Online

 PC
User Score
6.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 269 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 137 out of 269
  2. Mixed: 71 out of 269
  3. Negative: 61 out of 269
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  1. Thylbanus
    Jun 17, 2015
    6
    To catch things up on this game, it's come along quite nicely. In case you don't know, it's a Freemium MMO, but don't let that scare you. It's Freemium done right. It's a bit gitchy, but that's the DC Universe for you. It has some basic ideas that they have pulled of well, but not great. It's not that it's bad, but there are some head scratching inconsistencies about the game. Of allTo catch things up on this game, it's come along quite nicely. In case you don't know, it's a Freemium MMO, but don't let that scare you. It's Freemium done right. It's a bit gitchy, but that's the DC Universe for you. It has some basic ideas that they have pulled of well, but not great. It's not that it's bad, but there are some head scratching inconsistencies about the game. Of all the Freemium/F2P games you can get into, this is one that is at least not a P2W situation.

    I guess I should quantify P2W, since there are MANY definitions. P2W by my definition is the necessity to pay in order to compete in either PvP or PvE. To have access equipment, powers, or gameplay that imbalance the game in such a way that you cannot be successful without spending money.

    While you DO have to spend money for certain powers or gameplay access, it is not dependant upon your success. You can do equally well playing in the full F2P basic access to powers as those who are full subscribers. There are also DLCs to purchase, but they also are not required to enjoy the game, although that does leave content a bit sparse.

    Not spending ANY money on the game makes it a grind fest, so throw them a few bucks (if you enjoy a game, give them SOMETHING). Doing so will get you at least a few perks, like 4 more character slots, 50% more inventory space, 100% more bank space, 5 auction slots, and a third more max cash. Know that cash limitations are for gold selling. Don't complain about it. It's an unfortunate reality of MMOs with Freemium/F2P monetization models.

    Given all this, I'll caution you away from the subscription model (this is one of the head scratchers). There really is no point in it. They are not releasing content fast enough that having a sub makes it worth it. You will spend significantly less not going with a sub. And that even means accessing your cash escrow regularly, which costs money.

    As for gameplay, it's quite fun and the missions, while typical, at least vary enough and well executed enough that you don't mind them. Character customization has not been exploited as you might expect. There is very little in the game store for you to purchase. 90% of the costumes are available in game, although as of Amazon Fury I, some equipment styles have been tied to the DLCs. So far that's only 15 suits and 3 weapon total. It's likely that will grow as the game progresses.

    If you are in the know, you might say that it is P2W because the advanced tier equipment is only available if you buy certain DLCs. Not quite. Without buying those DLCs, you wouldn't have access to the missions to need to get that equipment. All the PvP gear remains unconstrained by anything other than time spent grinding PvP.

    Also, know that you will have to pretty much have to follow builds to compete. There will be no "theming" of your powers. If you don't follow preset builds, you are handicapping yourself to the point that you may not be able to complete storyline missions. It happened to me with my Gadget themed hero. Almost made me give up the game until I read up on some builds. Used the build and aced a mission that I couldn't get through without dying. REPEATEDLY. Unfortunately it goes COMPLETELY against how I wanted my character themed, but it's one of the things I marked off for the game.

    The other head scratcher is the penchant to favor the heroes in this game. It's MUCH easier to be a hero than a villain. Wany things are easier (NOTE: not impossible), if you are a hero. From not getting shot down during a race (happens on both sides, but is more prevalent for the villains) to getting all your achievements. As someone who favors the bad guys in a game, this is a bit of a let down. You will be significantly more frustrated by being a villain. I guess that's what gives us our bad attitudes. I suppose if it weren't hard, some parents group might get on a campaign against the game.

    As for the community, there are some helpful, quite a few not so helpful, and a few downright rude people. Not unusual for a F2P/Freemium community. Just know that if you are a noob to the whole MMO thing. There will be some hostile remarks to inquiries and rude ones if you need actual help with missions.

    This isn't going to be one of the best MMOs, but it will be fair and fun. Give it a try. It's not like it isn't free to do so.    … Expand
  2. AJCk19
    Apr 19, 2023
    5
    Repetitive combat and the game is feeling its age. But had one of the best marketing videos ever when it was initially released. It still send chills down my spine.
  3. SIPPIO
    Jul 20, 2016
    7
    Time for DCUO 2.. NO expansions are-NOT the same...I dont want Brainiac storyline..I want Dark SUperman/injustice, or some dark future like Marvels future imperct or Old Man Logan. Not to mention the combat power system BLOWS chunks...Th ecombat weapon combos are amazing! but the complexity of combining soo many powers for combat rating was too much for me..i played TWICE. both times forTime for DCUO 2.. NO expansions are-NOT the same...I dont want Brainiac storyline..I want Dark SUperman/injustice, or some dark future like Marvels future imperct or Old Man Logan. Not to mention the combat power system BLOWS chunks...Th ecombat weapon combos are amazing! but the complexity of combining soo many powers for combat rating was too much for me..i played TWICE. both times for about a year........

    ~~~revamp the whooole game with or without a new engine. diesnt matter...But the stories are pathetic. like a generic comic story that NONE OF US WOULD EVER NEVER EVER READ/BUY...

    --The writing is outdated..its like a early 1990's style of story. just sooo rated PG. & stale....read the Injustice comic and tell me that wouldnt make a great DCUO STORY... The good guy/bad guy teams are mixed but they still have theyre good/bad personalities..and Superman is the only character powerful enough to enslave...

    ~~Unless Shazaam were to go dark by whatever means..im OK with that..It instan tly made me think of,,,of,,? im drawing a blank at the nake of that,,,(3 mins later) KINGDOM KOME!
    **Because Shazaam is a little kid= he could easilly get confused down a darker path because the only way to prtect humanity is to bring in the heroes/villains and fishbowl the people...
    ---Can anyone beat Shazaam? superman,Batman? but thats were writing comes in.

    ****ii just want a storyline that isnt the same ole same ole boring cvrappy crap....
    ~~A Dark Batman because Alfred is killed by a hero sounds dope...Imagine batman without the morals..    … Expand
  4. ravenclaw77
    May 22, 2017
    9
    DCUO was good on release, then lost its way. Now, under Daystar, it has risen from the ashes. This is my favorite MMO.

    I started on PS3 and thought it was 'fair', but the best console mmo. Now with FF XIV, Neverwinter, ESO, and Skyforge, there's a lot of console MMOs to choose from. For me, this game s the best of these titles. The game can be enjoyed absolutely free, except if you    DCUO was good on release, then lost its way. Now, under Daystar, it has risen from the ashes. This is my favorite MMO.

    I started on PS3 and thought it was 'fair', but the best console mmo. Now with FF XIV, Neverwinter, ESO, and Skyforge, there's a lot of console MMOs to choose from. For me, this game s the best of these titles.

    The game can be enjoyed absolutely free, except if you go this route, you'll reach the end of the content in a week or two. You can buy expansions individually for about $5 each -- yes they're short, but they're also always coming out. New content is always just around the corner, and each has plenty to do.

    If you choose to subscribe, you'll get everything you could ever want for $15 a month, or $120 for a full year. Free expansions (as long as you keep your sub active), full bank and inventory space, all power sets (classes), tons and tons of value -- plus enough in-game currency to unlock cosmetics.

    The combat uses a limited action set (about 8 skills per loadout), and uses a rock-paper scissors style combat system very similar to what ESO offers (but DCUO came out first). Light attacks, heavy, blocks, stuns, it's pretty in-depth and fun.

    Every class is equally good at dealing damage, but each class also has access to one 'role' (besides dps). Some power sets are tanks, some are healers, and others are 'controllers'. Controllers are pretty unique and my favorite role. They do a few things -- they generally are responsible for being 'mana batteries', restoring power to their team so they can use their powerful skills more frequently, like a healer but for mana. They also function as crowd control with stuns etc, and in mechanics heavy fights, generally it's best for the controller to 'do the things' (pull the lever, hack the console, etc) while the tank, healer, and dps keep fighting.

    Leveling is quick. The cap is 30, and you can hit that in a week or less. I personally like that I can have a max level hero pretty quick -- starting over in Warcraft and looking at a 150 hour slog to get to 'relevant' content, or worse, LotRO's 300+ hours is daunting. This game respects your time. Once you hit level cap, the gear treadmill starts like most MMOs. There are currently 27(!) expansions each adding new raids, new zones, and often a new gear type (side-kicks, utility belts, lairs, etc).

    I don't play much PvP but it's pretty solid for those who enjoy PvP. There's a ton of pre-made heroes with unique skill sets that you play as in PvP -- instead of using your own created heroes and villains, you play as Batman and the rest. The active combat makes 'ring psychology' and learning your opponents' habits critical. It's about predicting their reactions while remaining as unpredictable as possible.

    The level-capped solo experience is bar-none top notch. There's a ton of things to discover and collect, 'skill points' earnable for a staggering range of activities, you will never run out of things to do or ways to improve your character, and unlike games like Neverwinter, improvements never take more than a few minutes. It's this fast pace of improvement that lends itself to 'just one more quest' mentality and make it hard to put down.

    If you haven't played before, or if you wanted to like it but didn't years ago, I'd encourage anyone to see what it's got going for it today.    … Expand
  5. GuideVault
    Aug 21, 2018
    5
    Its a love-hate relationship you'll have with this.

    The things to love are the fact that its riddled with DC lore and characters and you'll feel like your a part of the series itself. Character creation isn't too horrible if your planning to play only vanilla, but unless you shill out for the powers, which are by far better than the originals then you generally won't have a hope of    Its a love-hate relationship you'll have with this.

    The things to love are the fact that its riddled with DC lore and characters and you'll feel like your a part of the series itself.

    Character creation isn't too horrible if your planning to play only vanilla, but unless you shill out for the powers, which are by far better than the originals then you generally won't have a hope of winning in future story DLCs/PvP.

    The thing I despise are the story DLCs that emerge costing ~$15.00 everytime. It's good that there is fresh content being released regularly but the fact that you continue to pay for a storyline over and over again are a deal breaker for me. Reason is you cannot get the next tier gear say T4 without it. The consequence is that if you skipped a few DLCs you'll either have to pay for the skipped DLCs to play gear catch-up or make sure you have a team who will carry you through the latest missions.

    This is definitely fun, and I was among an original adopter of this game (PS3). Unfortunately unless your willing to let your purse-strings be unwound a lot then you'll lose interest pretty quick.    … Expand
  6. Forceofwon777
    Sep 27, 2016
    4
    I have been playing DCUO almost since the beginning. Why? Because Im bored. But DCUO is fun in the way that people can create characters then hang out and just have fun. Sometimes missions are fun. RAIDS are a freaking blast, unless you get with alot of newbies who dont know the game much. But you cant play raids until you are high in CR(Combat Rating) ratings. But heres the downside.I have been playing DCUO almost since the beginning. Why? Because Im bored. But DCUO is fun in the way that people can create characters then hang out and just have fun. Sometimes missions are fun. RAIDS are a freaking blast, unless you get with alot of newbies who dont know the game much. But you cant play raids until you are high in CR(Combat Rating) ratings. But heres the downside. Several times since DCUO started, DCUO decided to change things. Everytime they did, my characters went from being mighty to start all over again. That sucks because you put alot of time, money, and wear out controllers playing this game. One time DCUO did this and many many people left and never came back.(2013) I almost left then myself. This game wants you to buy legendary membership. Because if you dont, you wont be able to get past CR95. So this is something newbies need to know. If you are not going to become legendary, heres what you will experience as I have. If you are a hero character, you should be able to reach level 30 almost without help. For Villians its harder. After you get to level 30, the on duty scenerios are also like that. The Villians seem to have more enemies and have a tougher time. Once you get to CR43, you are given the cat woman and penguin missions. They claim to be rated CR43 but once inside the enemies are CR53. Good luck. I have worn out many good controllers trying to beat these two missions. Right now I am trying to level up a character on my pc and I cannot beat either mission. Trouble is both are single player missions so you cannot get help. These missions wont give you anything to level you up either. They give you junk you cant use for a reward for fighting. They want you to buy membership so bad! If you somehow find a way to level 53, you have it made because then you can do old gotham and a couple other missions and rank up high enougfh to play raids, which give you alot of goodies. But its that area from level 43-53 thats a real pain in the control pad. They have a "broker" where you can buy things, but only if you are premium members. You become premium if you purchased something on DCUO. I have bought alot of things, but no legendary membership so Im still on the back burner. Anyways, in the Broker only legendary people can but things over 2000 dollars.. Everyone else is limited up to 2K. To make it bad, the legendary members make it even worse by selling their crap over 2000 each time. I wonder if DCUO provokes then to do this? This game can be fun at times, or it can aggrivate you so bad youll break your controller. DCUO started making things alot harder because some rich players made it to level 165 with their legendary memberships, wanted to go back and play the lower levels, and griped to DCUO it was too easy (DUH!!) so DCUO caters to them instead of the general public. ( a level 43 mission and the player who is CR165 thinks its too easy) From what I read, DCUO is about to shaft themselves again making it to where the CR (Combat Rating) doesnt matter anymore. Once again ,they are going to strip away high levels of their power and make them start over. Not me. 3rd times the charm. You do this DCUO and you lost another player… Expand
  7. TheCornflex
    Jan 31, 2018
    6
    Great to play your own created Superhero but I don't feel motivated to grind for anything in this game.
  8. Tyson14
    Jul 2, 2020
    4
    the gameplay isn't good, the personalization character is not the best and the questing mode and pvp is too bad and bored
  9. DeathKillerNOR
    Jan 8, 2021
    6
    {GamePlay: World/Level Design, Driving/Combat, Game Theme/Mechanics,}
    ☐ 10/10 - Fantastic.
    ☐ 8/10 - Great. ☑ 7/10 - Good. ☐ 6/10 - Average. ☐ 5/10 - Mediocre. ☐ 4/10 - Bad. ☐ 2/10 - Awful. ☐ 0/10 - Non-Existent. {Narrative: Dialogue, Cutscene, Voice Acting} ☐ 10/10 - Fantastic. ☐ 8/10 - Great. ☑ 7/10 - Good. ☐ 6/10 - Average. ☐ 5/10 - Mediocre. ☐ 4/10 - Bad. ☐ 2/10 -    {GamePlay: World/Level Design, Driving/Combat, Game Theme/Mechanics,}
    ☐ 10/10 - Fantastic.
    ☐ 8/10 - Great.
    ☑ 7/10 - Good.
    ☐ 6/10 - Average.
    ☐ 5/10 - Mediocre.
    ☐ 4/10 - Bad.
    ☐ 2/10 - Awful.
    ☐ 0/10 - Non-Existent.

    {Narrative: Dialogue, Cutscene, Voice Acting}
    ☐ 10/10 - Fantastic.
    ☐ 8/10 - Great.
    ☑ 7/10 - Good.
    ☐ 6/10 - Average.
    ☐ 5/10 - Mediocre.
    ☐ 4/10 - Bad.
    ☐ 2/10 - Awful.
    ☐ 0/10 - Non-Existent.

    {Visuals: Graphics, Animations, Motion Capture}
    ☐ 10/10 - Fantastic.
    ☐ 8/10 - Great.
    ☐ 7/10 - Good.
    ☐ 6/10 - Average.
    ☑ 5/10 - Mediocre.
    ☐ 4/10 - Bad.
    ☐ 2/10 - Awful.
    ☐ 0/10 - Non-Existent.

    {Technical: Bugs, Performance}
    ☐ 10/10 - Fantastic.
    ☐ 8/10 - Great.
    ☐ 7/10 - Good.
    ☐ 6/10 - Average.
    ☑ 5/10 - Mediocre.
    ☐ 4/10 - Bad.
    ☐ 2/10 - Awful.
    ☐ 0/10 - Non-Existent.

    {Story: Plot/Ending, Character Development}
    ☐ 10/10 - Fantastic.
    ☐ 8/10 - Great.
    ☑ 7/10 - Good.
    ☐ 6/10 - Average.
    ☐ 5/10 - Mediocre.
    ☐ 4/10 - Bad.
    ☐ 2/10 - Awful.
    ☐ 0/10 - Non-Existent.

    {Replayability: Replayability (Alternate Endings, Secrets, etc)} ☑ 10/10 - Good. ☐ 5/10 - Bad. [The Level Design is average, not bad, but not great either, it does need an upgrade to keep up with other games in the same category in 2021. The Combat system is Average as well for an MMORPG. If you want to try to do some low tier alerts, you will most likely wait quite some time to find any groups. I myself while writing this has been in the queue for “Tier1: Area51 Alert” for about 1 hour. The Dialogue is great, The cutscenes are alright, and the voice acting is good for the most parts. The Buildings look great, the game looks average overall, except for the Player models. The Player models feel outdated and not that great to look at. The animation is alright. I did encounter only 1 or 2 bugs but did encounter more impactful performance issues during my GamePlay such as FPS drops to the point of being verry laggy. Between the main story questline and the DLC quest lines of this game, it actually decent, they keep adding DLC’s and thereby adding new quest lines. The replayability is good, as it is an MMORPG. You got the potential of having many hours of fun in the game, despite the drawbacks. But once you hit the end game you will most likely only play 1-2 months once a new DLC hits the game, or start playing on multiple characters.] "6/10 – Average. These recommendations come with a boatload of “ifs. It's only held back by a few issues (or stiff competition). Not always the best choice, but it can get the job done. There’s a good game in here somewhere, but you’ll have to know where to look, and perhaps turn a blind eye to some big drawbacks.” ~DeathKillerNOR~ ⚠️ IN MY OPINION ⚠️    … Expand
  10. Donnie_Plays
    Jun 1, 2019
    9
    I put probably 300 hours into this game on PS3 and was one of the first people to play it. I bought this game and played on launch day a long time ago. I'm giving this game a thumbs up for a lot of reasons. I paid $60 for this game when it came out. It went free to play later on... but I never got mad about the fact that I paid $60 for this game.

    The character customization options are    I put probably 300 hours into this game on PS3 and was one of the first people to play it. I bought this game and played on launch day a long time ago. I'm giving this game a thumbs up for a lot of reasons. I paid $60 for this game when it came out. It went free to play later on... but I never got mad about the fact that I paid $60 for this game.

    The character customization options are great. I love the way both Metropolis and Gotham looks. The game holds up graphically today although it came out almost eight years ago. You can download and play this for free. The first 30 levels give you plenty of missions to play. The world is open. You can potentially fight other players in PVP circumstances. Game is great.

    It's fun doing missions and seeing Batman or Superman or whoever. I once created a Green Lantern character of my own. I absolutely give this a thumbs up! With the game being free to play, you can get plenty of entertainment out of it without having to pay a penny. I sat that as a guy who paid $60 for it on launch. It's worth your time. It was worth mine.    … Expand
  11. Lizarino
    May 31, 2020
    8
    The only MMORPG I can get into, I really enjoy it as a game as well as it being in the DCU.

    Pros Lots of powers and good amount of weapon types Lots of content and grinding to max level isn't painful Only superhero based MMO still running afaik Fast and fluid combat Cons Basically requires you to pay for membership to play end-game Reused areas and other content in updates    The only MMORPG I can get into, I really enjoy it as a game as well as it being in the DCU.

    Pros

    Lots of powers and good amount of weapon types
    Lots of content and grinding to max level isn't painful
    Only superhero based MMO still running afaik
    Fast and fluid combat

    Cons

    Basically requires you to pay for membership to play end-game
    Reused areas and other content in updates
    It was primarily made for console, so menus look big / clunky for keyboard & mouse, lack of graphics options and badly optimized.
    Lack of build options in terms of your power loadout

    If you enjoy this game and can get past its issues (and can afford it) then it's worth it    … Expand
  12. mstromley
    Dec 27, 2020
    0
    HORRIBLE SERVICE
    This is one of the worst MMORPG games available. The game play is both good and frustrating, but the customer service is absolutely horrible. Purchases are often broken, or don't work according to description. Customer services refuses to help, often claiming that the item works "like it was intended to", but offers not help or fixes for the customer. This game should be    HORRIBLE SERVICE
    This is one of the worst MMORPG games available. The game play is both good and frustrating, but the customer service is absolutely horrible. Purchases are often broken, or don't work according to description. Customer services refuses to help, often claiming that the item works "like it was intended to", but offers not help or fixes for the customer. This game should be avoided at all costs.    … Expand
  13. concerendparent
    Dec 21, 2019
    0
    Daybreak games LLC based in San Diego CA, game called DC universe online have been ripping people off for over a decade! look at them offer up this garbage while they exploit gambling addiction. 35 episodes they expect you to pay for but them you also need to pay a "membership" but wait!!! you also need to pay for opening "Time capsules" which have a .01 percent chance of dropping theDaybreak games LLC based in San Diego CA, game called DC universe online have been ripping people off for over a decade! look at them offer up this garbage while they exploit gambling addiction. 35 episodes they expect you to pay for but them you also need to pay a "membership" but wait!!! you also need to pay for opening "Time capsules" which have a .01 percent chance of dropping the gear they show off and then you have to pay for replay tokens in order to repeat a mission wtffff??? then you have the broker which is manipulated with extremely high prices ensuring you spend money to get items to sell. why are people still paying for this . the audacity of these people now its on the switch literally a gambling machine in the hands of our children disguised as a free to play game this needs to stop . they addict people to gambling including children. These companies have been corrupting the gaming industry converting it to a huge gambling ring and creating a problem because this affects children. this game is poisonous to the mind of a child and adults alike.… Expand
  14. Ragegoberts
    May 14, 2021
    0
    Pay to win garbage that'll only be good to those who spend money, this game does it's best to try and sell you your powers, outfits etc this is the worst style of free to play ever don't even bother with this worthless trash
  15. Stankshop
    Jan 10, 2023
    0
    The game lacks enough challenge to make it enjoyable. It's one of the most mindless games I've ever tried playing. Games don't need to be difficult to be good, but you should feel some resemblance of impact when you play. This feels more like a collectable world where people focus on character customization, basically virtual barbie for DC fans.
    It's really not even worth downloading.
  16. Dimocracy
    Jul 6, 2023
    6
    Unfortunately, the developers failed to adequately realize this potential. It could have been a good MMORPG.
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Awards & Rankings

51
#51 Most Discussed PC Game of 2011
67
#67 Most Shared PC Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 27 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 27
  3. Negative: 1 out of 27
  1. PC Games (Russia)
    Mar 21, 2011
    80
    DC Universe Online plays best if you've never tried a MMORPG before. The combat is innovative and addictive, the visuals are sleek and the setting is exciting. It may lack some interface polish and the level cap happens too soon, but nevertheless it's a must for any comics fan.[Apr 2011, p.89]
  2. GameOver.gr
    Mar 3, 2011
    60
    DCUO never really takes off. It suffers from numerous bugs and glitches, and the structure of the quests looks more suitable for a single-player RPG rather than an MMO.
    Read full review
  3. PC Gamer
    Feb 26, 2011
    88
    An exciting new direction for MMOs that's plenty of fun already and should only get better with a few patches under its utility belt.
    Read full review
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