DCandMarvelare the owners of some of the most lucrative intellectual properties on the planet. Their characters have become household names. IPs fromMarveland DC hold a strong presence across all multimedia. But for a long time, the video games that came out of both camps suffered mediocre quality due to their being forced tie-ins to live-action movies. Most Hollywood action blockbusters were supposed to be accompanied by a video game of the same name, especially if they were superhero movies. This practice stifled creativity and the games were rushed to be launched around the movie’s release, with most such titles being received poorly.
There were a few exceptions likeSpider-Man 2 (2004)andX-Men Origins: Wolverinewhich have become cult classics. By 2015, these video game adaptations were mostly reduced to mobile games, and even those have been very few and far between. But even while this trend was going strong, Spider-Man did see some decent games likeWeb of ShadowsandShattered Dimensionsthat were not connected to any films. Marvel and DC have diversified their game portfolios a lot since then, and while some future titles show promise and new ideas, not every recent release has left fans satisfied.
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DC’s Initiation and Its Future Games
Rocksteady’s take on the Batman universe took the world by storm in 2009. The gameBatman: Arkham Asylumrevealed the untapped potential of video games based on comic books. The game received multiple sequels and a prequel and the franchise garnered massive success overall, as did NetherRealm’sInjusticetitles. For a long time, there was no major DC game afterBatman: Arkham KnightandInjustice 2. In this regard, the most recent release wasGotham Knights, which didn’t quite manage to uphold the spiritual legacy of the masterfulBatman Arkhamgames.
Interestingly,Gotham Knightsdeveloper WB Games Montreal was working on aDamian Wayne Batman game dubbedProject Sabbath, for which some enticing artworks had surfaced online. Sadly, the team doubted the financial viability of the project and shelved it. Exploring near future Batman mythos from Damian’s perspective would have made for an enticing premise, with Bruce serving as a mentor figure. The artworks suggested that the game could have been set outside of theArkhamgames canon.
Looking ahead,Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, a 4-player co-op game is under development by Rocksteady, which is set in the Arkhamverse. It’s unclear how much time has passed since the events inBatman: Arkham Knight, but a lot seems to have transpired. Justice League has already formed, and the world is under invasion by a super-intelligent alien calledBrainiac, who is mind-controllingsome of the Justice League members. Amanda Waller has assembled a rag-tag group of villains to put an end to the Justice League threat. This unusual scenario will have the squad fighting off certain JL members while receiving support from others, which can set up intriguing dynamics between the characters.
The game will take place in open-world Metropolis and will offer the players bombastic means to cause destruction and death with high-mobility traversal options. The tone and setting has undergonea drastic change from theArkhamseries. Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and King Shark form the playable team. The game will also support single player option with bot-controlled teammates.
Another incoming DC game isWonder Womanfrom Monolith Productions of Middle Earth fame. The game has only received a teaser trailer, and there’s a high chance that it does not relate to the other DC games. It will adopt the patentedNemesis system from theMiddle Earthgames, a complex set of AI behavioral patterns for enemies which are procedurally generated. Previously encountered enemies would retain memories from their interactions with the player character and factor them into their subsequent encounters. This system would direct their personalities and actions to make for bespoke enemy encounters. It will be interesting to see howWonder Womanutilizes this system.
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Marvel’s Present and Future Games
Marvel only came into its own with its games with the release of PS4 exclusiveSpider-Manin 2018.Marvel’sSpider-Man, developed by Insomniac studios witnessed stratospheric levels of success and became the highest-selling PlayStation 4 exclusive to date. The spin-offSpider-Man: Miles Moralesfollowed about 2 years later. The live-serviceAvengersgame released to lukewarm reception despite featuring an all-star team-up – not unlike the troubledGotham Knights– followed byGuardians of the Galaxygame which fared much better.
Currently, Insomniac is leading the charge on the Marvel side of things. The team is not only working onSpider-Man 2which is up for release next year, but also expanding the universe with aWolverinegame. Both Peter Parker and Miles Morales look to be playable inSpider-Man 2.Kraven and Venom are confirmed for the game as of now.TheWolverinegameis in a similar state toWonder Womanright now, as its only trailer is extremely vague and doesn’t offer many details beyond some Easter eggs.
Notably, Neil Druckmann, co-president at Naughty Dog had expressed interest in directing aPunishergame. This could amount to nothing but seeing how Sony is pushing for more Marvel games, a futurePunishergame from Naughty Dog is not too much of a stretch.
Midnight Sunsis anX-COMstyle tactical RPG featuring a huge roster of Marvel characters from superhero teams like Avengers, X-Men, etc., set to release on December 2. A single player third person action adventureIron Mangame is being worked on by EA’s internal studio, Motive. EA has also confirmed that it will be releasing at leastthree Marvel related single player action games.
Newly formed Skydance New Media is making a narrative driven, ensemble adventure set during WWII. The game does not have a title yet but will feature 4 playable characters: Captain America (Steve Rogers), Black Panther (WWII- era Black Panther), Gabriel Jones of the Howling Commandos and Nanali of the Wakandan Spy Network. Amy Hennig, the President of Skydance stated in an interview that the studio is attempting to revolutionize the gameplay systems and cinematography techniques with this upcoming project
Marvel games are firing on all cylinders, and they are not going to lose momentum anytime soon. Relatively, DC’s advances in the video games space are a bit underwhelming. This could be attributed to the fact that Warner Bros. own the DC related IPs and DC games are currently only developed bystudios under the WB wing. Thus, WB properties are not outsourced to external studios, which means new ideas are a little harder to come by. Regardless, the next few years still offer plenty ofMarvelandDCcontent for fans of gaming.
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