DC Universe online

[Joose]

No, but yes. It is pretty fun, but doesnt last long. You would probably get your monies worth or 50% off, but I wouldnt bother about a subscription, as it probably wont keep your interest longer than a month. Just dont think of it as an MMO

[Joose]

aaaaaand, its gone F2P. I stand by what I said previously, its a good fun game but doesn't have much staying power. It was worth paying the 50% off price for a month or so's gaming, so for zero pounds I would definitely recommend checking it out. Even if its only to see them prove that yes, you can make an actiony, non-WoW clone combat system for an MMO that works.

OH! also, PC Gamer this month are giving away free sony money, which you can use in DCUO. yay!

[FatherJack]

Also worth noting, that this is available F2P on the PS3, too - if you have the 15GB of disk free required to install it.

I'm kind of interested in this from that perspective, as it's the first proper MMO on a console available to us Europlebs without massively huge costs involved.

FFXI Online never made it to the UK PS2, and before that Phantasy Star Online on the Dreamcast relied on its built-in modem - which either didn't work or had exorbitant costs associated, and the Xbox remake of PSO with its unique separate-from-XBL subscription model wasn't any cheaper. FFXIV fell on its arse and..there hasn't really been anything else I can think of, other than White Knight Chronicles which rather absurdly required you to complete the entire singleplayer campaign before you were allowed to go online.

I really wanted FFXI on PS2 at the time and was disappointed it never occured for us, but over time I guess I've written the concept off. Now it pops up again all unexpected, free to play to boot..and I'm unsure whether to be excited or ambivalent.

I generally play console games when I'm in an entirely different mood from when I play PC games, and I think that Console Mood is probably quite well suited to MMOs. Have to see with this one.

[Joose]

Whilst it is definately worth checking out, I would leave it for a bit. SOE have utterly failed to take into account the extra load on their servers, so it's currently a mess of huge queues to log on plus game breaking lag. Hopefully they will sort it out soon, as it's basically unplayable at the moment.

[FatherJack]

I played in on the PS3 this afternoon, and it was completely fine - no lag, no queues. There are only two servers listed, a PvE and a PvP, their names indicating they are specific to PS3 systems in the EU. Far be it from me that I should suggest that has anything to do with the game being made by Sony.

It's also pretty well suited to a console as it's mostly button-bashing and combos. Looking around and locking on is probably harder than with a mouse, but no worse than any other third-person console game, and activating your powers requires a two-button press, which is to be expected but not too unwieldy. Also public chat is a damn sight quieter

Gameplay-wise it was okay, felt pretty much like City of Heroes, with a sprinkling of some of the better ideas in Champions. It doesn't have anywhere near the costume options of those other two games, but it does have a decent selection, and of course there's always the shopping cart...