DC Universe Online or DCUO is an MMORPG being developed by Sony Online Entertainment - Austin. Jim Lee serves as the game's Executive Creative Director, along with Carlos D'Anda, JJ Kirby, Oliver Nome, Eddie Nunez, Livio Ramondelli, and Michael Lopez. EverQuest developer Chris Cao is the Game Director and Shawn Lord is also involved,and Geoff Johns is the principal writer.
On July 4, 2008, the first conceptual art was released for the game. The first trailer was released on July 14, 2008. New concept art and screenshots for the game were released the next day. The developers held a Q&A on the same day, where players could ask questions about the gameplay and other aspects of the game. Other interviews and information about the game have also come online.It was revealed on their Myspace page that the first public demo of the game would be shown during Comic-Con International. Other interviews have also been found regarding the game.Information about the games' reveal at Comic-Con have also surfaced. A making of DCUO video has been released. DCUO was also shown and playable in Pre-Alpha form at major conventions throughout 2009, such as New York Comic Con, E3 and Comic-Con International. The game has been scheduled for release in November 2010. According to a Sony spokesperson, the revenue model will be subscription based, rather than using microtransactions.
Gameplay
DC Universe Online is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in the DC Universe. SOE hopes to make a different kind of MMORPG, with The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction being cited as one of the main inspirations for gameplay. SOE is working to make DC Universe Online more interactive than standard MMORPGs, while trying to keep their key elements, which include a leveling system, raid instances, endgame progression and inventories. The world is mainly shared, public space instead of heroes or villains owning territory. The public space features dynamically-generated content designed for both hero and villain player characters (uniquely created by the player, who cannot choose DCU stalwarts).
It is known that players will choose a city of origin for their character, the only known cities being Metropolis and Gotham City. Another location currently known to be in the game is Arkham Asylum, Gotham City's mental institution for criminals. Players can also go to the Justice League of America Watchtower, headquarters of the Justice League. Each character is given either a Justice League or a Legion of Doom communicator - depending on their choice of playing as either a hero or a villain - and the character's allegiance will affect how the game is played; for example, a hero character may encounter a thug robbing an armored truck while a villain character will instead rob (or, depending on character level, assist with the robbing of) said armored truck. It is also known that player characters have threat ratings which will cause both heroes and villains alike to interact accordingly with the character. The game's first Case is a battle between Superman, Lex Luthor, and Doomsday where the player can aid either Superman or Luthor in defeating/capturing Doomsday, respectively. Another Case involves a mutagen outbreak at Star Labs that infects all of the employees in the building.
Storyline
The story of DCUO is set in the 'present day' and the game begins with the arrival of a time-traveling Lex Luthor who has come to warn the Earth about a future battle that kills off the majority of heroes and villains, leaving the planet vulnerable to an invasion by Brainiac.
The Cinematic Trailer, "Who Do You Trust", which appears to be the opening sequence trailer of the game, depicts a dark future where Lex Luthor and other villains are engaged in what seems to be a final battle against what's then left of the Justice League. After the future Luthor and his allies (including Deathstroke, Joker and Harley, Black Adam and others) defeat Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Cyborg, Brainiac's ship arrives overhead with an entire alien armada. Back in the present day, this future Luthor tells the Justice League that Braniac then proceeded to eliminate all of the heroes and villains who would attempt to defend Earth from his attack, Luthor remaining as the sole survivor. He stole some of Braniac's technology in order to return to the present day and inform the heroes.
Luthor sends some form of energy towards the surface of the Earth, which ripples in a shockwave around the geographical locations around Metropolis and Gotham City, and tells the JLA that he has just given them a fighting chance against Braniac. It has been proposed on many forums and reviews of the trailer, that Luthor used some of the same technology Braniac had utilized to copy the powers of Earth's Protectors, and projected it en-masse to random people all around those major cities, causing the emergence of more super-powered humans (i.e. the Player characters in the game world).
Heroes
Adam Strange Ambush Bug Animal Man Aquaman Atom Azrael Batgirl B'wana Beast Batman Batwoman Beast Boy Black Canary Black Lightning Blue Beetle Booster Gold Brainiac 5 Captain Atom Captain Marvel Congo Bill Creeper Cyborg Doctor Fate Elongated Man Etrigan the Demon Fire Firestorm Flash Grace Green Arrow Green Lantern Hawkgirl Hawkman Huntress Maxima Martian Manhunter Metamorpho Nightwing Plastic Man Power Girl Question Raven Ravager Red Tornado Robin Sgt. Rock Spectre Spy Smasher Starfire Steel Supergirl Superman Swamp Thing Tasmanian Devil Vigilante Vixen Wildcat Wonder Woman Zatanna
Villains
AresBaneBatzarroBizarroBlack AdamBlack MantaBlack MaskBlue SnowmanBrainiacCaptain BoomerangCaptain ColdCatwomanCheetahCheshireCirceClayfaceClock KingCyborg SupermanDarkseidDeathstrokeDoctor PoisonDoomsdayFireflyGeneral ZodGentleman GhostGigantaGorilla GroddHadesHarley QuinnHeat WaveHushJokerKeyKiller CrocKiller FrostKing SharkLex LuthorLivewireLoboMad HatterMan-BatMaxie ZeusMerlynMetalloMongulMr. FreezeMr. MxyzptlkMr. ZsaszOcean MasterParasitePenguinPoison IvyPranksterPrometheusRa's al GhulRiddlerScarecrowSilver BansheeSilver SwanSinestroSolomon GrundyTattooed ManToymanTricksterTwo-FaceUltra-HumaniteUltramanVentriloquistZoom
