Well there was a tidbit today concerning the DC comics MMO that SOE will be developing. Both this title and Cryptic’s Marvel Universe sound very interesting. Will it be an inevitable battle of the titans?
What about a rivalry with their counterparts at Cryptic Studios who are hard at work on Marvel Universe Online for the PC and Xbox 360? One company is backed by Sony (Playstation 3) and DC Comics. The other is backed by Microsoft (Xbox 360) and Marvel Comics. Clearly, there are going to be some comparisons.
Marvel vs. DC. Microsoft vs. Sony. XBox vs. Playstation. Can’t ask for better than that! I grew up reading comics, mostly Marvel titles, so that’s where my allegiance mainly lies in the comic realm. Although I have always enjoyed Superman and Batman in both films and comics as well. I guess I just like more stuff in the Marvel Universe, and have spent more time reading those books, than the DC Universe.
From the MMO perspective, I had a blast in City of Heroes when it first launched and think Cryptic did a great job of capturing the feel of the genre. Their character creation was second to none, and the super powers were genuinely a blast (pun intended) to mess around with. The downfall of that game for me was the repetitive grind through the same three warehouse/cave layouts, fighting essentially the same bad guys for tens of levels, just in bigger groups. So I’m a little wary of Cryptic and Marvel, but I’m more excited I think. SOE and DC? Hrm…I do have faith that SOE can make an incredible game, and I’m sure they will with the DC universe and Jim Lee on board.
Given that we know next to nothing about these games at present, my excitement level either way is premature. But I can’t help myself from imagining some of the possiblities. I did find it interesting (not surprising, mind you) that half of the interview was devoted to talking about how DC may not be the first because they want to be the best, take their time, Sony is committed to releasing a finished game, etc. etc. I know Darren made the call early this year with the whole “polish” thing, but man, it’s starting to get a bit old. I think we all get it and always have - quality matters!!
I’m really hoping that one or both of these games can succeed in the market in a big way, as I think CoH was as step in the right direction but not nearly enough. I’m ready for a little more meat on the bones of the superhero genre MMO.
Tags: Cryptic Studios, DC Universe, Developer News, Marvel Universe, MMO News, SOE
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October 3rd, 2007 at 3:21 pm - Edit
I am also on the Marvel side of the fence. With Cryptic on board, I don’t think the grind would have been that horrible if the locations had been more interesting, with LESS caves small tight dark caves. /shudders
Some of the latter levels cave wise were a blast, and the instanced street missions were interesting. So I feel cryptic started to learn from there original birthing pains.