Despite being over eight years old, DC Universe Online still stands as an incredibly fun MMORPG that is quite at home on the Switch. It has some connection issues and noticeably dated visuals, but the amount of content and customization present makes it easy to recommend DCUO to anyone looking for a fun MMO that doesn’t require any monetary investment.
DC Universe Online
Developer: Daybreak Games
Price: Free to Play (with optional paid memberships and microtransactions)
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch (reviewed), and PC
MonsterVine was provided with a Switch code for review.
(Editor’s Note: This review is written entirely from a Free-to-Play perspective. I partook in no Premium content while playing DC Universe Online for review purposes.)
I haven’t played DC Universe Online since around 2014. I had it on my PS3 and had a blast with it, until my PS3 died. I didn’t have unlimited internet at the time, so I didn’t redownload the massive game when I got a new console. All this is meant to portray that while I’m familiar with the most basic aspects of DCUO, jumping into it on the Nintendo Switch in late 2019 was essentially an all-new experience; and a good one at that.
DCUO features a premise that any comic book fan will appreciate. As your own custom character, you are given superpowers as a result of time travel shenanigans and comic-book technology. After making your avatar, you get to decide whether you’re a hero or a villain, and which hero or villain you want as your mentor (Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman for heroes, Joker, Lex Luthor, and Circe for villains). The rest of the story is pretty loose, and it changes in fairly substantial ways depending on your chosen morality. This allows for lots of characters, both mainstream and niche, to appear all over the place. I loved getting tours from Booster Gold as much as I loved nabbing some cursed relics with my man John Constantine, so I really appreciate how big the cast is. No matter your choices though, the main enemy of the story is always the invading tyrant Braniac, which gives some more straightforward direction to the overall plot.
I made one hero character and one villain character, with the hero being mentored by Batman, and the villain being mentored by Joker. While both started in Gotham City, their stories and missions, as well as their interactions with the overworld as a whole, were rather different. My hero used sorcery and acrobatics, while my villain used dual pistols and flight. The experience I had with each was different enough for me to easily recommend trying both routes out, which even free-to-play players can do, thanks to the two provided character slots. The ridiculous amount of customizable cosmetics make playing as different characters even more fun, as you can create your own vastly different characters with their own unique stories and aesthetics.
“[…] being able to fly at high speeds or run up buildings like the Flash makes the simple act of exploring Gotham or Metropolis far more fun than one would expect.“
If you go the free-to-play route, you’ll notice a few limitations. Your inventory slots are limited, you can’t obtain certain loot, and a big chunk of the game’s story is unavailable (the many DLC episodes added throughout the years.) You can go through the entire base story, filled with side-quests and collectibles to find in addition to rotating free events that are based on different DC characters and storylines. While managing your limited inventory and bank can be frustrating, the content available to free-to-play players is more than enough for me to feel satisfied with what I got.
Gameplay is very diverse thanks to the large variety of different weapons and superpowers. I’d change my loadout every couple levels just to try out new things, and in one playthrough of the base story, I only unlocked all of the abilities for one weapon. It’s a ton of fun to experiment with different powers and weapons, and I could easily see myself maxing out a few more weapons going forward purely because of how fun it is to experiment. And that’s without mentioning how fun it is to just travel around in DCUO. While I find Acrobatics to be the most fun (and goofy) movement style, being able to fly at high speeds or run up buildings like the Flash makes the simple act of exploring Gotham or Metropolis far more fun than one would expect.
The biggest problem I had with DCUO on the Switch was its moderately frequent crashes. During regular play sessions, the game would crash every few hours. This would close the game, which means you have to relaunch the title and sign back in. You may be less affected if you play in small sessions, but it’s a cumbersome issue either way.
The other most noticeable issue with DCUO comes in the form of its unfortunately dated visuals. It doesn’t look awful by any means, but you’ll have to get used to the character models and textures that feel a couple console generations out-of-date. The framerate can get a tad choppy at times as well, though it doesn’t happen often enough to be anything more than a minor annoyance.
The Final Word
DC Universe Online is a great MMO for anyone who loves DC Comics and doesn’t want to drop a lot of (or any) cash. There’s lots to do, collect, and explore as your own personal metahuman, and while there are some visual and technical issues, the game is an overall fun and addictive experience that is right at home on the Nintendo Switch.
MonsterVine Review Score: 4 out of 5 – Good
