Superheroes are everywhere. They are taking over our movies, our streaming services, and now, our video games. The good news is that superhero games have come a long way since Superman 64 and are actually fun to play. This is largely thanks to Insomniac Games, the minds behind Marvel’s Spider-Man, and Rocksteady, who developed the critically acclaimed Arkham games. Now, more than ever, there is a myriad of superhero games on the horizon; some are so close we can taste them while others are still in cinematic trailer territory. Whether you are a DC or Marvel fan, there are enough men in tights to go around. The future looks bright, but which game shines the brightest? Let’s find out. 6. Marvel’s Guardians of the GalaxyThe upcoming Marvel game from Square Enix captures the tone we’ve come to expect from Guardians of the Galaxy, but something about it seems off. Maybe it’s the sour taste left in our mouths from their previous superhero romp, which was plagued by greedy practices and a repetitive, grindy nature. Guardians of the Galaxy is a striking correction from Marvel’s Avengers with the developers boasting its single-player campaign and its lack of microtransactions. That’s all well and good, but the game looks severely outdated from a visual standpoint and the combat looks clunky, lacking any sense of cinematic appeal.Additionally, the dialogue and voice acting are too heavy-handed with the cheese factor, but, then again, maybe we’re all biased. The type of bias that seeps in after watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe for so long. The one that tells us we know how these characters should look and act. Above the unwelcome MCU comparisons, the game looks overly ambitious, combining the best aspects of other iconic games. It has squad-based combat from Mass Effect, the linearity of Uncharted, the dialogue choices of Telltale Games, and the combat of The Avengers. If Square Enix can pull all of this off then we may have a masterpiece on our hands, but right now Guardians of the Galaxy is shaping up to be a solid 7 or 8. Not bad, but not anything special. Also, Rocket’s goatee is hideous.
5. Midnight Suns
Midnight Suns presents an interesting case because excitement is largely dependent on your fandom for the genre. From the makers of the XCOM series, Midnight Sun’s delves into the world of tactical role-playing games, except, this time, there is a card-based system at play. While XCOM is a more difficult game with permadeath, Midnight Suns make players feel powerful through the dominating strength of various superheroes. To put this into perspective, XCOM was a slower-paced game where characters steadily grew more powerful. Midnight Suns, on the other hand, doesn’t take superpowers for granted, giving players immense strength from the getgo. As a result, one wonders where the challenge comes from, an essential part of XCOM’s success.
The one thing that’s rather impressive about Midnight Suns is the cast of characters, which dives deeper than the typical Iron Mans or Captain Americas. These characters are still in the game, but characters like Ghost Rider, Wolverine, Blade, and even Nico Minoru (from The Runaways) make a welcome appearance. Midnight Suns is going beyond the shield bashing and dipping into the more obscure sorcery-based world of Marvel. Along those same lines, Firaxis is tackling the more gritty, underground aspects of the superhero world, a welcome change of pace for sure. Suffice it to say, Midnight Sun’s has a strong theme and roster, but the tactical gameplay design still has a lot to prove.
4. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
Despite Rocksteady’s almost perfect repertoire, their next game in the Arkham series barely missed the first place slot. This is due to a few simple facts: the Suicide Squad and the game’s unknown genre. At this point, the ragtag team, who was once a hidden gem of the DC universe, is severely overdone. Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn has become the DC Extended Universe icon and, as some may argue, its saving grace. We already know the characters of Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang a little too well and their satirical, raunchy humor has grown tiring. There is a whole universe of intriguing characters for Rocksteady to choose from instead, but, to be fair, the game was probably in development long before the Suicide Squad craze.
Secondly, there is a stark fear of the unknown being that we’ve only seen one CGI trailer thus far. There is a decent amount of anxiety around the possibility of Suicide Squad being a live service game, being that Warner Brothers announced that upcoming projects will focus on the despised genre. At the same time, we have the utmost respect for Rocksteady and their masterful execution of superhero games. Hopefully, the studio can break through all our worries and deliver a game that’s better than anything we could expect. Besides, we’re suckers for evil Superman storylines.
3. Gotham Knights
Gotham Knights suffered from the same confusion as Suicide Squad, but WB Montreal got ahead of the controversy. The developers quickly acknowledged that Gotham Knights is not a live service game, but, instead a co-op game that can also be played solo. As a result of this news, we are even more excited than we already were. That initial excitement was due, in large part, to the game’s Court of Owls comic inspiration. For those who are unaware, the Court of Owls is a shadowy organization that has secretly governed Gotham City for centuries. They are some of Batman’s scariest and most formidable threats, breaking the caped-crusader both mentally and physically.
From a gameplay perspective, Gotham Knights look different than what we’ve come to expect, specifically when it comes to enemy damage numbers in combat. Whereas previous Batman games looked grounded, Gotham Knights is leaning into its video game medium. This change has made some fans uneasy but the gameplay demo looks far from bad, just different. The major question here is whether or not, the co-op will interfere with the intriguing storylines and streamlined gameplay we’ve come to love.
2. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Just showing the Spider-Man logo was enough to get us hyped. That’s because Insomniac Games has become a consistent beast of game development. The first Spider-Man game mastered everything we’ve come to love about the hero: the web-slinging, the agile combat, the breath-taking open-world city, a dorky yet smart Peter Parker, and a villain heavy storyline. Spider-Man: Miles Moralis continued that trend, but with some electrical and invisibility pizazz. In other words, Insomniac Games has never missed the mark, delivering stand-out games at a breathtaking pace.
The thing is, Insomniac Games went beyond a simple logo reveal and had a full CGI trailer to show fans. From what we can tell, the trailer will feature gameplay from both Peter and Miles (either co-op or solo) and introduce some of Spider-Man’s biggest foes. The horror-inducing symbiote, Venom, will surely be the new villain along with a possible appearance from Kraven: The Hunter. With these villains in the mix, Spider-Man 2 is going down a much darker tone than before and that’s a welcome sight. Only a CGI trailer is available, but Insomniac Games has our complete confidence, making Spider-Man 2 not only one of the most anticipated superhero games, but also one of the most anticipated PlayStation games.
1. Marvel’s Wolverine
When Insomniac Games announced Wolverine almost everyone’s jaws dropped in utter shock and gleeful anticipation. It opened with a cluttered bar decorated with unconscious bodies and a man sitting on a barstool. The hairy man notices someone walking behind him holding a knife, and three claws suddenly jolt out of his knuckles. This brief trailer coupled with Insomniac’s talented team fueled our excitement.
In fact, Wolverine adds an extra layer of excitement that even Spider-Man can’t achieve. The X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie was terrible but its video game adaptation was surprisingly well-made. It showed that Wolverine is the perfect character for a video game adaptation thanks to his healing capabilities and deadly agility. Wolverine could launch across battlefields and unleash an envoy of quick swipes at his opponents. The best part, though, was watching his wounds slowly heal over time, representing the player’s regenerating health. If the movie adaptation was so good then we can’t imagine what a studio like Insomniac is going to do with the property.
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Octopath Traveler first launched in 2018.
Includes over 1800 fixes.
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According to a recent report.
The video shows off the game's characters in combat.