After a rather unexpected announcement of a new game set in the Marvel universe at this year’s Gamescom, now we’ve got our first insight into the gameplay. It differs from initial expectations.
When it was announced that the studio responsible for the latest installments of the XCOM series was working on Marvel’s Midnight Suns, many people suspected the use of similar solutions in the superhero title. These expectations were justified as the game is to be a tactical RPG. The new trailer showed a significant departure from Firaxis Games from what we knew from the series about the fight between humanity and aliens.
The first and most eye-catching feature is the character’s rear view instead of the isometric projection (top view) that the XCOM series is known for . The clashes with opponents are still played in turns, but they are more like the solution from classic jRPG titles. Instead of moving around the map and using the environment to gain a tactical advantage, teams of heroes and villains face each other in a static arena. Ability cards are another interesting solution. Probably each of them is selected by the player before starting a mission or a fight. You can also safely assume that the cards are assigned to each character.
In the trailer, we also see a fragment with the location that serves as the headquarters of our heroes. The Hunter, i.e. a character created and developed by the player, moves around this place with the camera positioned behind his back, as in third-person titles, e.g. from the Mass Effect series . It is not known whether we will navigate the maps in the same way during missions and search for targets and enemies. If so, the influence of older jRPG games such as those from the Final Fantasy series is even more visible here .
In Marvel’s Midnight Suns, heroes known from comic book pages have to face Lilith, a powerful demon awakened by the Hydra organization. The antagonist’s goal is to release all the forces of hell into our world. The heroes in the fight against this dangerous enemy will be supported by a new character – The Hunter. He is a descendant of Lilith with his own set of superhuman abilities. Players will create this hero themselves and freely develop it.
The title is expected to be released in March next year on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X | S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and on PC via Steam and Epic Games stores.