I really do want to like this game. I've been playing it since Tuesday and whenever my friends ask me what I think, I have to just pause and say, "Ask me again tomorrow". I'm currently a level 12 Fire Speedster and I can't complain about the way it plays - the combos take some learning but it's really fun to chain attacks/powers together and take down 5 dudes at once. Thus far, every new attack/power does feel unique and learning when to use which isn't hard to manage. Actually, combining various powers does make every fight feel unique - not wholly different between battles, but at least it's not like WoW when it's always, "Push 1, 2, 3, one again and 5 to finish them off". I haven't experienced that thus far at least. Punching the crap out of a henchman and then finishing them off with heat vision before zooming across the room to land a heavy punch on the next guy isn't only fun, but is really fluid (barring lag problems).
However, I cannot get past how goddamn janky the interface and visuals can be.
The menus can take a second to load - I know that sounds whiny, but in an action MMO that's critical. If I'm popping open my menu to get at my inventory to equip new health packs, waiting 5 seconds to access the proper menus and options is a matter of life and death. In general it's not a problem, but it can be tedious even out of battle looking at various options while selecting cases/optimizing equipment/looking up instances, etc.
The maps are garbage - you can see the different areas, but placing waypoints doesn't always work and it can be hard to tell where you are in relation to the entire map as each individual section is represented as its own map. Why? No idea. Metropolis and Gotham are huge, but breaking it down into so many sectors makes it really hard to parse. Each section on the map itself isn't visually distinct enough on the map itself to justify it. Maybe it'll get populated with more stuff, but that seems like a stretch. Also, navigating between zones can be really confusing. Each section is separate, so if you're looking at one area and want to get look at the one right next to it, it will shift focus when selecting between the two and it can make it hard to manage.
My character looks... great? What's the point of giving you all these customization options if you're just going to cover everything with idiotic looking armor? I know it's a common complaint that every MMO has, but why do this in a Superhero MMO? Superheroes derived most of their iconicism from their visual aspect: Superman's cape, Batman's symbol, Wonder Woman's tiara and wrist guards. There was a lot of thought that went into their initial design to visually communicate who they are, what they represent and even hint at their powers. How the hell are other players supposed to tell that I am a knock-off of the Flash at a glance with a spike covered army helmet, gaudy shoulder pads and giant crab claw gloves on in addition to my bulky armor!?
The visuals aren't all bad though. The cities look great. I think it runs on some variant of the Unreal engine so occasionally textures will pop in, but whatever - I've played GoW so I'm used to it personally and it doesn't break the action too much. Gotham is dark, Metropolis is light and the JLA Watchtower is actually impressive.
Just thought I'd share. There seems to be a lot of questions about the game with no current (non-beta) players offering much at the moment in terms of impressions/advice. If anyone is curious about other visual aspects in the game, or just curious about anything in the game, feel free to reply and I'll do my best to help.
Log in to comment