Difficulty:

Very Easy

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Almost, but not quite"

Well, for starters I suppose I should say that ive played this game for a month straight, both as a hero and a villain and I´ve put well over 70 hours in it.
DCUO has the foundation of a great game. Now they just have to build on it. The biggest problem is you have to pay 12.99 euros a month while they do it.
The game does a great job of capturing the DC universe, you´ll fight along side famous heroes like Batman, Superman or villains like Lex Luthor... well you get the picture. Gotham is pretty cool, seeing the bat signal on the sky is just sweet and Metropolis rocks too. The voice acting is great, especially the Joker and Harley Quinn and the cutscenes are just plain awesomeness. There could be more customization for your character but there´s enough to make you feel unique and very cool. I guess what i´m trying to say is you really feel like you´re in the DC universe and I think that´s a great achievement right there for the game. The powers are balanced, more or less at least (fire cough cough) the controls work, all the powers and weapons are fun to use and the fast paced gameplay really works. For the first few hours the game is pretty much 10/10. Then, after a while you slowly start to see the problems. I guess its a problem with most MMO´s but that doesn't mean it should be excused. The missions are terribly repetitive. The whole game and I mean the WHOLE game is about going somewhere and killing 20 enemies of this kind, then going to another place and blowing 10 things, then killing 20 enemies of another kind, rinse and repeat. Again and again, and again. Go there, kill 20, boss fight, go there, kill 10, etc, etc. Turns boring fast especially because the game is really easy, with little or no challlenge until you reach level 30.
Another fatal flaw and this is an almost game killing flaw in an MMO is the social aspect of the game. Voice chat pretty much doesn't work. Text chat is a pain. You have to pull up the menu (which is really slow) and then use the keyboard and then put the command to group and then... its just a pain. If you don't have a keyboard at all and use the controller, well then its just hell! Most people don't even want to party up, preferring to go solo the whole game.
Then you have the bugs. The queue for anything takes forever. Then the game freezes. Seems every 5 Legends PVP matches the game froze at least once. So you wait and wait and then finally you´re playing and "BAM" the game freezes. Fun!
Then the sound goes out. My final mission for Batman had no sound at all. The final mission!!!!! Just epic, right? You even get attacked by invisible enemies as the game loads the map because your character moves too fast for the game to keep up.
Then you get to the end game, just like that. Leveling up to level 30, the current cap takes about a week if you play a few hours a day, probably 3 or 4 days if you´re more hardcore. Then you start the grind. There are a few missions you have to over and over again to gain points to buy better armor. That´s it! That´s all there is. And by then you better pray you know a decent bunch of people because suddenly, the game is all about grouping up. If you play with randoms get ready for hell because most people don't even know their roles because they´ve been playing solo all game long which is pretty much what the game encourages you to do. So people don't know about being healers, or controllers or tanks, many don't even know how to change stance so random groups usually get destroyed because the end game missions are absolutely brutal. So suddenly there´s not much to do except repeat the same missions over and over again or go outside and beat up some of the opposing players. Which is why you have level 30´s camping mission sites of levels 5 or 6 and destroying newbie players again and again.
So while the road to level 30 is somewhat entertaining even if repetitive, the end game is even more repetitive and also frustrating and dull.
Its a shame really, because with a little more mission variety and a better end game this could be an amazing game. As it is, there´s not much reason to play after a month. The leveling up is too fast and the end game is definitely not enough to pay for it and put up with all the bugs, and freezing! Maybe in a few months, if the developers keep working on the problems this will be worth a monthly fee but one has to wonder if it wont be too late by then. Lets hope not.