While perusing the booths at New York Comic Con, I had the opportunity to sit down to play a bit of DC Universe Online, a massively multiplayer online game in which the players have the ability to create their own superheroes with customized superpowers and save the world. With creative greats like Jim Lee to lend a hand to the visual representation of the graphics and a host of other DC comic book greats to breathe life into the playable world itself, I was ready for an explosive video game adventure.

I must say that I was only moderately impressed.

I was able to play-test as a female hero with the ability to move with super-speed and accuracy. Moving so fast that I could literally run up straight walls and use a high-powered rifle that seemingly never missed was a blast. The graphics were beautiful, the movement was fast and fluid, and the actions sequences were pretty fun. But as a whole, there were quite a number of issues in the game that, as a player and a comic book fan, let me down.

Now, don’t me wrong; as a game, it was a lot of fun to play in the DC Universe, but it seemed that every positive built into the game created an inherent negative as well.

In the first place, I was immediately excited to get to play in either Metropolis or Gotham, because (as a comic book fan) this was a real bonus to see these two worlds fleshed out. I was very excited to see Gotham, but I was only able to play in Metropolis at the con. The colors were bright and sunshiny, and the buildings looked very modern in terms of architecture; with well-sculpted buildings and well-drafted streets. It looked like the city of tomorrow, which was pretty much what I always figured Metropolis should look like. I also was informed that Gotham would have a much darker setting: cloudy days, rainy nights, gothic architecture style and design.

That’s a bonus, right? Well, sure, except that when I looked at this game as the model of Metropolis, specifically where I might find the Daily Planet in relation to Suicide Slums or Hobs Bay, for example, I was informed that I shouldn’t get too excited in such details. After all, this was just a video game, and the world of DC was a complex and ever-changing world. If, one day, DC comics wanted to make the building for the Daily Planet completely different, or change the entire location of LexCorp headquarters, well, they’ll do it.

This was kind of a shock to me, because DC always had the rep for not fooling around with things once they created them. When they kill a character in a storyline, he stays dead. In the DC universe, that’s how it works. When DC reps tell me, “It’s a video game, so if we need to change the layout of the city in a comic book to fit our needs ... just don’t expect the video game to be the model of the comic book.” I was kind of disappointed. I wanted the maps of Metropolis to be cannon. I wanted to know where Wayne Manor really was, or where I could actually find Arkham Asylum, not just where it was in some video game.

But there are other elements to the game that are pretty cool. Like, how about making your own comic book character? You can make them look as cool as your imagination allows, so that’s a neat idea with a lot of creative possibility, right? After all, they have Jim Lee, comic book artist and legend in his field, doing the artwork for the game, so you know your character should look really awesome.

But again, we run into a problem. Instead of having the creative fun and flexibility that we would enjoy and expect in MMOs, I was informed that the game was deliberately limited on creative style for the characters. Specifically, players are not allowed to have much flexibility on purpose, because they could compromise the integrity of the game’s artistic look. Heroes need to look iconic, so players can’t make them too creative looking or compromise the iconic look.

Those two flaws are pretty minor, I suppose, and in a weird way, almost acceptable. The game is basically telling the player, “Hey, you’re a guest in the DC universe, so don’t think that you have creative license here. The artists can change the characters, the settings, the buildings and the locations because the artists have the control, not some players in a mere video game.” As a comic book fan, I can dig that, but as a gamer, not so much.

Well, as the game went on, I learned that during gameplay, you get the chance to have your character interact with other DC heroes, such as Superman or Batman. That’s pretty cool, but you certainly don’t have the chance to kill them, or even be able to really hurt them. In fact, you can’t die in the game at all. Your character is constantly responsible for fulfilling quests, and the quests are in time limits. Every time your character is knocked unconscious, it takes time before they can recover. So if you continually get knocked out, you will eventually run out of time and fail to fulfill your quest, but that’s about it.

I guess that makes it kid friendly, plus they really frown on resurrecting superheroes in the DC universe (unless your name is Kal-El, I guess ...), so that’s a good thing. But it kind of takes some of the fun or drama out of the game. When I ended up fighting bad guys, I kept getting knocked over and kicked around by the villains (there is no friendly fire from your own people; you can’t hurt other created heroes, even by accident), I just got up, stood there and wailed on them. Why not? I couldn’t die, I just kept going and going, so I didn’t feel too worried, which kinda took the thrill out of it for me.

Well, I guess I’ll go out on a limb and end this on a somewhat positive note. I enjoyed DC Universe Online, because I enjoy comics and comic books. I’m also excited about creating my own superhero, saving the day, and exploring new realms like Gotham, and potentially Smallville or Aquaman’s Atlantis (those last two are just potential, no word on what’s really going to be out there other than Gotham for sure). However, I just felt that for people interested in an MMO — strictly for a game’s sake — will find it lacking for gameplay.

As of yet, there is no word on the monthly cost for the game, and I was told that DC won’t be releasing it until they are completely confident that is ready to go because they want the public to enjoy a quality product, which in the end is the best thing I can hope for.