MMOs are at their best when you're gallantly fighting alongside compatriots, using abilities with a group of friends (or strangers) to topple bad guys and win epic loot. But let's face it -- even in a massively multiplayer online game, you can't always have a full party of helpful members to with which to face your challenges. Sometimes you're up late, playing by yourself, and you've got to grind it out alone.

And that's where the road meets the rubber in an MMO: Is the game fun even without the multiplayer element? I got a chance to see Sony Online Entertainment's DC Universe Online in action at a pre-E3 event a few weeks ago, and played a combat-based level by myself. And while I did get to see some new features of the game by browsing through the menus and beating up Harley Quinn's henchmen with my Batman-alike, I'm sorry to say that DCUO's combat isn't quite as enthralling as it could be.