Comic book video games are just about as difficult to pull off as comic book movies. No pop culture fans are as difficult to please as the comic book “nerds”. I use that word as a term of endearment as I am the biggest nerd I know. With that being said though if a game developer manages to pull it off, no one will love you as much as the comic book scene. I think that was proven when Insomniac Games released a fun little indie game known as Marvel’s Spider-Man.
It’s between this game and one of the first two Arkham games, that I would have to throw in for the greatest comic book game ever made. In order to do it right, as these games have, you have to have a nice mixture of staying true to the source material, while also creating your own story that makes sense for the character you are trying to portray. I’d like to point out that a lot of the comic book games I’ve played in the past have had a decent story at the least. Where they fall off is the combat or gameplay.
I often find these games to be repetitive and to have not very inspired combat. A good example of this is Deadpool (2013); the game had solid writing, I found it to be pretty funny. The problem was the combat consisted of weak combos and little to no progression in your move sets or abilities. The games that do it right make the combat feel how you would imagine Batman or Spider-Man would actually kick the ass of criminals and villains. Many have tried, and only a few have succeeded. I always think of dream scenarios where the license of a character falls into the perfect hands. These are my hopes and dreams, to be a little dramatic.
Captain America – Rebellion Developments
You probably aren’t very familiar with this developer, I won’t lie to you, I had to look them up. I only knew about their work, the Sniper Elite series and Zombie Army Trilogy. This studio is one of the few remaining mid-tier developers, they make solid games that with a few more bucks, could turn into excellent games. If somehow they fell on the Captain America license and were given a larger budget, I see them doing nothing but right by good ole Captain America.
I like to picture open-ended environments in a WW2 setting. You as the Cap get dropped off in an area geeked out with Nazis (Hydra) and well, you do as Captain America does best, you get the job done the American way. You encounter classic enemies along the way like Crossbones and maybe even The Winter Solider, and of course, in the end, it’s the big bad, The Red Skull. Where you have to put an end to his constant planning for world domination, or whatever that tomato faced nerd is trying to accomplish.
With a little extra funding, Rebellion Games has the right formula for a great Captain America game.
Hellboy – Kojima Productions
I know what you’re thinking, perfect right? Kojima is only best friends with the director of the best Hellboy movies to ever hit the silver screen; albeit there is only one other director to compete against. Kojima and Del Toro don’t mind working together as they have shown us. So I believe if you combined these two men’s minds, and scaled back some of Kojima’s weirdness, you have yourself a game, my friends.
Picture a semi-open world in a city in the UK, where the Nazis have successfully created their usual super army. Their gross creatures bring havoc throughout the city, and Hellboy has to fight a smorgasbord of half original creatures, and half creatures straight out of Kojima’s funky mind. Seriously, wouldn’t you like to see Hellboy fight one of Kojima’s crazy demon children? Make it with the Decima engine like Death Stranding, a proven engine that was responsible for Horizon Zero Dawn’s beauty. One thing I’d like is for Kojima to reign it in just a bit, don’t do the 30-minute cut scenes; instead do 5-minute ones where a narrator talks over a comic book-inspired cut scene, almost Witcher 3 like. You could even include parts where you play as Hellboy’s buddies Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman.
I don’t see a project like this achieving anything but success if you put Kojima up to the task.
Spawn – Capcom
This is my personal favorite of these fictitious scenarios of mine. I love Spawn, he is my favorite comic book character ever and yes, I did like the movie; I’m fully aware that it isn’t that good. I remember seeing the movie for the first time when I was around 5 and what really got me was Spawn’s incredible cape along with his chains that he uses as a weapon. My dad also has a spawn tattoo so that piqued my interest as a curious and impressionable child.
Not many years later Spawn: Armageddon came out. I got my little kid hands on that game and quite honestly got stuck in it, it was a bit too confusing for me. I revisited it last year and it’s safe to say it did not stand the test of time. Now in a modern-day scenario, I couldn’t see a better developer to tackle the spawn IP than Capcom. I would like to imagine a DMC 5 like game that is made in the same engine, of course, the RE engine. The RE engine is one of the most graphically stunning engines out there now and as DMC 5 proved, the combat can feel very satisfying. You could give Spawn a skill tree that lets him gain new abilities for his chains, ax, and guns. Also design some disgusting creatures for him to slay, all the while looking doubly gross with these current-generation graphics. Of course, you have to throw in the Violator to give it a little Razzle Dazzle. With what Capcom has shown in the past, they have some developers who were born for a project like this.
Aquaman – Ubisoft
Take a second, think about Assassin’s Creed Odyssey; think about the Atlantis DLC packs. Now, imagine that, but Aquaman. Ubisoft and Aquaman is the video game equivalent to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Can you tell that I’m a little excited about the idea of this? The only thing is, I don’t know how to make a game entirely underwater all that exciting, but Ubisoft is a proven development studio with a whole lot of talent on their side. There is so much potential for them to come up with all sorts of ways you could kick ass as Aquaman. Think of all sorts of sharks, jellyfish swarms and giant squids that you could rain down on your enemies. You could also include some myths straight out of a sailor’s diary like a Kraken or a Megalodon. The possibilities are endless, and with the creativity of Ubisoft’s open world design, I could see this putting Aquaman back on the level of a bonafide superhero. Not some weird fish man that sort of helps the Justice League out as long as your problems are near a body of water, preferably the ocean as sending freshwater bass at your enemies doesn’t seem like it would be all that effective. I picture Ubisoft can hide all sorts of unique treasures all through the ocean, stuff that has fallen into the see and has been forgotten by whoever it was that lost it. You could discover famous shipwrecks or submerged ancient temples and cities.
I’ve said this already but I’ll say it again, the possibilities are near endless, and they’re right there for you to take Ubisoft. I don’t know how this would ever happen but anything is possible for the most part, and with the growing popularity of superhero movies and games, why not dip your toe in the pool too?
Joker – Ninja Theory
This may be even more far fetched than my Captain America idea. But then again, Microsoft does own Ninja Theory, and Microsoft has some pretty deep pockets. Microsoft also seems to be really pulling for what gamers want right now. When I was playing through Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice, their latest game, I couldn’t help but think this would be a great premise behind a Joker game. If there’s one thing we know about the joker, he’s crazy, and if I were to play a game starring the Clown Prince of Crime, I wouldn’t want it action packed; I would want it slow and methodical. Something very dark and eerie, I want a game that makes me feel like I’m going crazy, but also makes you root for the joker. That’s not something that many storylines including him have gone for, not to say there hasn’t been any.
I picture the Joker on a very lonely journey after he has just failed to conquer Gotham yet. Hypnotized by his anger of losing again, he is constantly being haunted in his head by Batman. You see where I’m going here? Make it freaky and dark, I don’t want to have any clue what the fuck is going on. To me, I couldn’t think of anyone better to do this then Ninja Theory. Other than Kojima maybe, but he already got a game. Batman could be the main antagonist, something that we are obviously not used to.
There has never been a standalone Joker game worth talking about, but with his popularity at an all time high, now might be the moment for someone to jump on the opportunity.
