Game On?

Even in this new world, Batman and Catwoman
still can't admit their feelings for each other

I'll happily admit I'm not a huge gamer; I have an XBox and own maybe three or four games. Those I do own, I'll play over and over - I'm still playing Red Dead Redemption even after gaining 100% in it months ago!

The thing that keeps pulling me back to it (along with several of the GTA games) is the freedom to pretty much do what I want in the world. I still find myself taking on side missions every now and then, but I'm happy riding around the place, doing my own thing. It's prevarication at it's worst in some ways (as there are many other things I could be doing) but it's a way of relaxing for me.

Green Lantern and Power Girl against some Na'vi.
Actually, I'd pay to see that.

With that in mind, I've been reading the numerous reports about the impending arrival of DCU Online with only slight interest. Yes, it'd be nice to have the opportunity to play as some of my favourite characters, head off and complete missions, using fancy powers and flying round cities but pretty much everything I've seen (including the photos here) seem to show it as little more than a fighting game.

Am I missing something here? Is there more to this game than teaming up with another hero on one side of the screen to beat the snot out of a bunch of villains on the other side? If so, it doesn't appear to be coming through to me.

Killer Frost and Heat Wave prove opposites
don't attract

Those sort of games bore the crap out of me, they really do, and I'm painfully aware that it's partly because of the ridiculous combinations of button pushes needed to perform the double backflip-elbow smash-face plant-gonad pull on your opponent that you're hoping to do to win some extra power up or something. I just never got the hang of those things, even years ago when I first tried them in my 20's, so you can't blame it on age. Give me a straight forward aim and shoot combination and I'm happy.

So, it seems unlikely that I'll be plunging into the digital world of DCU Online even to find the answer to the question: Why does Circe look like Tarot, Witch of the Black Rose?