OMG DC FTW BTW

Well hello there. My name is Mark and apparently ‘direct current’ isn’t interesting enough to write a blog about so I wrote about another kind of DC.

I’m going to be blunt and just come right out with it: I have always felt that Marvel do it so much better than DC. I can’t quite put my finger on why exactly – I think I’ve just always felt that way. It may be because I’ve felt that I could relate to the human side of the characters in Marvel comics a bit more than the heroes in the DC Universe. Perhaps it’s because they always seemed to be aliens, billionaires or amazon warrior women. Or maybe I’ve just grown to see Superman as a bit of a cliché in terms of what a superhero is.

Don’t get me wrong, Batman’s latest romp around Arkham Asylum was fantastic and I enjoyed every minute of it. Swooping around dishing out bat-justice to the various goons loitering about with the free flow combat system was excellent and the wide array of gadgets weren’t ignored like some games tend to do, but were instead extremely useful – both in and out of combat. I even enjoyed finding all 200 odd of the riddles, in what felt more like an intellectual boss fight than a chore – mostly due to each riddle being solved bringing you a step closer to catching the Riddler. It is easily one of the better video game adaptions of a comic book on store shelves, if not the best.

Now I recently saw a trailer for DC Universe Online and I have to say despite the feelings I expressed earlier towards Superman and the various other DC superheroes, I was impressed. I’d seen Superman in a way I’d never seen him before; blitzing into the fray like the true man of steel that he is and battering everything he didn’t burn to death. The best part was that Superman looked mighty pissed the whole time. He might have been slightly miffed in Superman II when General Zod was pounding the American military into dust – but this is the “where’s my rubber ducky?!” level of angry and his fists are doing the talking.

The only other time I remember being this impressed with Superman was in a DC graphic novel that crossed over into the Aliens universe. Early on in the story, the big man gets love-gripped by a facehugger – he’s weakened by the lack of sunlight as he’s far away on an asteroid he believes is holding Kryptonian survivors, so he’s unable to pull it from his face. Later on after reaching a ship, he sets a course that takes him closer to the nearest star where his newly found energy allows him to spit out the premature chestburster like a massive loogie. Seeing Superman triumph so effortlessly where others met a painful, grizzly end really made me smile.

I don’t know much about DC Universe Online, but after having watched that trailer I’ll definitely be keeping a closer eye on it. I’ve even signed up for the PS3 beta in the hope that I can get to play it before the general public get access to it, even though I’ll be playing an unfinished version.

Another DC game that I’ve had my eye on for a while is Batman: Arkham City. With Poison Ivy having left the asylum in a bit of a mess (read: fubar), the newly elected Mayor of Gotham City, Quincy Jones – the previous Arkham Warden – decided to wall off the Gotham City slums after Arkham Asylum and Black Gate Prison were deemed unsuitable for prison use. Unlike before where the inmates were kept under lock and key, they’re pretty much free-range now and roam the streets in gangs.

This change of locale means that although we may see less of the beautiful gothic architectural style that the asylum had, we’ll potentially have a much more expansive game world to explore and batter thugs in while we’re at it – maybe even floor it through the streets in a drivable Batmobile? I can dream.

Another aspect that has come to light is the possibility of co-operative play with the appearance of Catwoman as Batman’s ally in-game. Maybe she just pops by and helps you out in times of dire need? With hints of her being a potential love interest for ol’ Brucie I’m inclined to believe she’ll be much more than that – though it remains to be seen if this will be weaved into the main story or if it’s an optional string of side missions. Let’s just hope Batman knows how to use his equipment in either case.

Hopefully DC Universe Online and Batman: Arkham City will give me good reason to rethink my stance on DC and the characters they’ve created over the years. If either game fails to win me over however, I’ll be back to being a Marvel fanboy in a Flash.

Oh, dammit.