By Jason Parker (Ragachak)
Earlier today I had the opportunity to join a live chat with Jesse Benjamin and Jens Anderson of Daybreak, who clued me in to the upcoming content of DC Universe Online; in their bid to tie the game closer to the rest of the DC IPs, we are going to see a series of episodes featuring the “League of Assassins,” which fans of the show “Arrow” will be familiar with. A new Eight Man Operation and a new Duo are coming in this content, with fancy new attire to collect, as well as slick posters to go in your base. Why are those important? Because the posters are done in the style of a series of characters who have never seen gameplay in a DC game: The Bombshells. Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Harley Quinn and Catwoman are the Bombshells featured, and in addition to them being in the game as a part of this one-shot storyline, you can also unlock two of them and purchase the other two for DC Legends PVP/PVE events.
The Nexus allows for the DC Universe to experience many parallel/alternate settings and universes. One of these is the Bombshell Universe, and this is again, the first time the Bombshells have been released into a video game, making it pretty momentous. The Bombshell setting is a World War II style world, complete with art style taken from propaganda/war posters in the 1940s. I really enjoyed hearing some of the audio clips that came with it, talking about the current situation in the world, especially how Lex Luthor was contributing to the war effort. In this operation though, “The Lady Al-Ghul” (Talia) has ripped a hole in reality, and it’s up to the heroes and villains to set things right. Though we did not see the actual combat and boss encounters, there was a tour of the Russian Gulag that it takes place in, that was converted to a weapons facility. There are interesting blueprints laying on some of the tables, implying that giant robots are possibly in production, which will shift the war one way or another.
Two new factions come with this content, in the Indigo Tribe and the Black Lanterns, which are the focus of the Duo content. The Duo takes place at Star Sapphire’s planet where the Black Lantern Corp. has corrupted a Lantern Battery, the source of a Lanterns’ power. Is this just a step in a broader plot? We’ll have to stay tuned to find out! Nekron has leeched his way back into the universe to cause trouble and spread the power of the Black Lanterns. The ultimate goal is to do battle with the Black Lanterns, including corrupted Heroes who have fallen to the power of Death Itself, including Hawkgirl as a prime example. This is an interesting choice of character; in the comics, Hawkgirl was a member of the White Lantern Corp at least temporarily, which is the Lantern of Life, Nekron being their antithesis. The ultimate goal is to purify the Battery, and defeat Commander Skor, an NPC revealed in an earlier bit of content.
There are player rewards in this setting also, as with all monthly content. The beginnings of a Hard Light constructed costume can be attained which you can apply your emblem to, as well as an Indigo Tribe design, which looks very sharp. There will evidently be an elite version of the Hard Light armor, which will offer more customization and color hues. There is not much information on that, but look forward to it regardless! Admittedly, I was hoping the Bombshells would get more than a one-shot story, as there is definitely lots that could come out of it. But what this episode provides looks to be quite promising. This is part and parcel of an attempt by DC Entertainment to tie DC Universe Online to the rest of its IPs, which is a wise move. Fans of the comics, TV series and movies that are not in the MMO could very well be lured to give it a try and see what the other fans of the DC Universe are already seeing.
One Lamp To Rule Them All: Excited for the future.
I have said it before and I still stand by it: Daybreak is the best thing to happen to DCUO; the switch to Monthly content is a terrific idea, for a plethora of reasons. It allows for more fluidity of story, and gives the game a more comic book feel. Say the Bombshells were an ongoing series in DCUO, the next episode (16) would not necessarily follow that. Instead they could work on another storyline, and tease upcoming events in the Bombshells, Halls of Power, War of Light, or whatever else they chose to. They are not as hard-locked in to whatever content they put out, as they are with quarterly, where once they set something down, it’s incredibly hard to change what’s already released. Instead they can make more long-term plans and keep up to date with the happenings of DC Entertainment. This is the best thing that could happen to the game, and I feel like it could very well be the start of DCUO’s return to glory.
