DC Universe Online is set for an upcoming DLC pack which will focus on PvP battles, and will add new iconic characters - specifically, more Kryptonians and members of the various Lantern Corps. For a look at what's to come, here DCUO Creative Director Jens Anderson and Game Designer Andrew Buschmann walk us through some fighting between Power Girl and Amon Sur.

Braniac is going to take a fall in DC Universe Online, resolving one story line but inevitably setting things up for the next big threat. It all looks and sounds awesome, so much so that I won't let the face that it's called 'Battle for Earth' creep me out with weird imagery from the L. Ron Hubbard novel/film/religious treatise Battlefield Earth even cross my mind.

This right here? Not thinking' about it at all.

No the Battle for Earth is the upcoming DLC, and beginning of a new storyline, for DC Universe Online. It sounds great - I'm hearing about Braniac as a dangerous magical avatar, setting the stage for an Amazon attack featuring creatures of Myth on Themyscira. There are also going to be new powers, and brawls on Gotham's South Side.

Here's the list of new features from DC's press release on 'Battle for Earth,' followed by some super-sweet screenshots.

• Themyscira – Experience a new Raid on Wonder Woman's home island that pits players against Chimeric Brainiacs and, ultimately, the deadly Avatar of Magic. Players will fight alongside mythical creatures such as Cyclops, Hydra and Colossus, while simultaneously protecting key units of Amazons and Beastimorphs.

• South Gotham Brainiac Invasion – Supercharged action continues as players battle Brainiac's invasion force in the streets of South Gotham, the Courthouse Alert and new Duos. Working to stop Brainiac's Union – formed by the people trapped inside the bottled buildings – who are constructing Proto-Avatars to assault Gotham, players will be challenged to rise up and defend Earth against Brainiac's final assault.

• The Prime Battleground – The Battle for Earth storyline leads players in to an epic battle in which they must fight all three of Brainiac's newly completed Prime Avatars, and then Brainiac himself. Heroes will fight for the safety of the Earth and its inhabitants, while Villains will want to defeat Brainiac and expand the influence of evil across the planet.

• Earth Powers – Rumble on to the scene and shake things up with DCUO's ninth power set. Earth Powers can be used for both Tanking and Damage and features an exciting new Tanking mechanic that defers damage to a player's constructs and automatons. Geokinesis abilities give players the ability to shape Earthen constructs to crush enemies and reinforce allies while Seismic abilities allow players to call mighty, Earth-shaking forces to rattle and daze opponents.

 

Sounds nice, right? Now with the pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sony Online Entertainment has announced that DC Universe Online is adopting a free to play model starting in October. This is good news for DCUO gamers, who have suffered everything from PSN outages and hacking to a move of several servers resulting in downtime and, in rare cases, data loss. Plus half of the events and set pieces of DCUO have been completely retconned out of the DC Comics Universe.

So, I think it's fair to say that it's been a bumpy ride for us early adapters.

It's still a great game with a bright future, however, and the free to play model is an excellent move, a great way to increase the games subscriber base, and in my opinion it's the inevitable future of MMOs. So Kudos to DCU Online, which beginning next month will offer the following three pricing tiers.

Free players

• Access to all current areas and missions
• Two character slots
• Can join guilds
• New game packs purchasable as microtransactions

 
Premium – if you spend, or have ever spent more than $5 in DCUO

• More character slots
• More invenory space
• Can hoard more money

 
Legendary – $14.99 a month subscription

• All new level packs included as part of the cost
• 15 character slots
• 80 inventory slots

The "Fight for the Light" DLC for DC Universe Online went free to play yesterday, down 100% from it's previous price of $10.00. Sony Online Entertainment made the announcement yesterday, and all US players will be able to download the Green Lantern-themed DLC for free when it goes live September 6.

From SOE:

Introducing DC Comics legend The Green Lantern and the game's seventh power set (Light), the "Fight for the Light" pack allows players to join the Green Lantern Corps or Sinestro Corps as reservist members while helping to restore balance to the universe.

Along with interactions with Green Lantern based favorites and foes, players will be launched into multiple action-packed scenarios, including an epic battle for control in S.T.A.R. Labs, a light-to-light showdown with the Red Lantern Corps in Coast City, and a chaotic prison break at Sciencells Prison.

The "Fight for the Light" DLC pack will be available as FREE download to all active subscribers as a way to thank its loyal players on September 6 in the United States.

DC Universe Online, an excellent game, has had a tough couple of weeks, what with Sony's massive service outage and data breach, the news of which just seems to keep getting worse. All this as Marvel announced their own upcoming free-to-play MMO.

DCU Online doesn't want to alienate the still-new fan base of their zillion-dollar budget game, and they're taking steps to make things right.

From the game's Facebook page:

"First, all impacted players will receive 30 days subscription credit plus one day for each day the service was unavailable. Also every impacted player will receive a Batman-Inspired mask appearance item.

"Please bear with us as the complexities of the subscription server dictate how and when this will be available along with pertinent details. We will be releasing more information this week. Thanks again for your patience!"

So... Braniac has infected the Batcave, and turned Batman into an OMAC.

Better come strapped for this one, or be prepared to have your ass handed to you on a platter emblazoned with the Wayne family crest!

DC Universe Online is doing the MMOPORG thing just right, keeping the excitement coming in the form of kickass new videos like this one: a trailer that takes you inside the Batcave!

Batman, and OMACs, and Brother I... this really, really rocks.

I actually bought a freakin' PlayStation for this game, and I can honestly say I don't regret it. Lookin' forward to fighting some OMACs.