When it comes to superheroes and MMOs, the two genres aren't exactly strangers. Gamers have been able to wear their virtual spandex in NCsoft and Cryptic Studios' City of Heroes/City of Villains MMO series since 2004, before Cryptic decided to break off and fly solo with its Champions Online title in 2009. While both games did a good job of capturing the feeling of a superhero world, they both lacked the marquee names that comic book fanboys like myself are instantly familiar with. Well, two of the biggest powerhouses in gaming and comics have joined forces in the biggest crossover of all time, as Sony Online Entertainment and DC Comics have teamed up for the release of DC Universe Online, available now on the PlayStation 3 and PC.

Like most great comic book events, DC Universe Online starts off with a bang. In the near future, the battle between DC's heroes and villains has decimated the landscape and left both sides dwindling. After one final push by Lex Luthor takes out the DC Trinity of Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman, Luthor discovers that he's been little more than a pawn in a bigger game. Behind the scenes, the evil Brainiac had been using his advanced technology to copy the powers and skills of the various heroes and villains, creating his own private invasion force and eliminating most of his resistance in one fell swoop. Realizing his mistake, Luthor steals Brainiac's nanobots containing the data of the heroes and villains, and transports himself to the present day DC Universe. After warning the Justice League of the Brainiac's plans, Luthor unleashes the nanobots in the Earth's upper atmosphere and bestowing a range of powers on many of the planet's populace. Now it's up to this new group of metahumans ... some good, some evil ... to help the DC mainstays fend off Brainiac's ultimate plan for world domination.

Right off the bat, players have a choice to make. Since you don't actually play AS any of the DC stable, you have to choose one as a mentor. Heroic types can choose between Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman as their mentors, while those looking to feed their dark side can choose between the Joker, Lex Luthor, or Circe to guide them on their evil paths. After choosing a side and a mentor, players then craft their custom DC hero or villain from a pool of available powers, skills, weapons, and movement abilities. Feel like playing a pistol-wielding, gadget-building speedster? DCUO's got you covered. Feel like a flying sorcerer with a penchant for shooting beams from his hands? Yep, it's in there too. And to get you started, there's a massive wardrobe of potential costume combinations to help insure that no two characters are ever caught fighting crime in the same spandex.

One of the first things you'll notice when you jump into world of DCUO is that the game deviates from the usual MMO formula. Gameplay is much more streamlined and action-oriented. In fact, the game almost plays more like an action-RPG than your typical MMO. DCUO is also debuting with the short game in mind instead of a long grind. Players cap at level 30, and they can reach that in less than a week. While this might seem on the surface like it would be to the game's detriment, it actually all comes together beautifully. Fast paced, high action experiences can be jumped into and out of with ease. Plus, it's a simple matter to create a handful of heroes and villains to play with until you find that one character that just "fits". Plus, despite the short nature of the initial experience, there's never actually a shortage of things to do. There's a range of PvP and Raiding options. And for the fanboys, there are the Legend PvP matches, which allow them to actually step into the utility belt or joybuzzer of their favorites from the DC stable in 2-on-2 or 4-on-4 battles.

Of course, even Superman has his kryptonite, and DCUO is not without its weaknesses as well. For starters, while the game appears on both the PS3 and PC, it's not actually cross-platform. PS3 players will only play with PS3 players and PC players will only play with PC players. For those of you that might want both, you'd have to pay for two games and two separate subscriptions. Also, the keyboard controls can sometimes feel a little unwieldy. On the upside, if you decide to go with the PC version, you can plug in a USB game controller and play DCUO nearly identical to the console experience. There are other random graphics and sound issues that can pop up on the PC version from time to time due to users' different hardware configurations, as well as other occasional technical glitches that can creep up during the game. Many of those can be attributed to the growing pains of an MMO launch, but hopefully Sony Online can work out those kinks in the coming weeks.

Standing toe-to-toe with the heavyweights of DC Comics' stable and rubbing elbows with the likes of Superman, Batman, Catwoman, The Joker, Scarecrow, and the rest is a dream come true for comic book fans, and DC Universe Online delivers. And while DCUO might have come with a few creases in the pages of an otherwise pristine first issue, there's more than enough for any budding near-mint hero to feel like they've got the starring role in the next big crossover event.

Final Score: B