The other day we discussed the game Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 and I lamented about how I wanted a better comic book based video game. This week’s wish list is dedicated to fleshing out that idea. Comic books are awesome, and if some people would think outside the box a bit they would make better video games.

I’d like to first recognize Arkham Asylum as a great game and an example of a comic book video game done right. They didn’t over do anything and they made the game make sense as far as the comic book narrative went. However, Batman stands virtually alone in the landscape of comic book based video games. 

The problem.

The problem is that people forget that comic books provide an unparalleled amount of source material, that they have tons of characters that can be used to tell a story. Game developers rarely take advantage of the material that is available for them to use, instead choosing to either use the material from a movie or making up their own story for the sake of a video game, both of which typically end in disaster.

The other problem is that gameplay mechanics rarely convey the abilities of the hero being featured in the story, and developers show a great inability to create a challenge suitable for the character that gels with the comic.

Possible solutions. 

The first idea I had was better use of the race against time. Spider-Man should be able to take down countless thugs without breaking a sweat. This is rarely displayed in a game where taking down random thugs is made to be somewhat challenging instead. Instead of having to focus on fighting thugs I would figure that the challenge of Spider-Man should be navigating the room before the time runs out. The thugs are just there to slow the hero down, just like the comic book.

The other possible solution is to forgo normal videogame conventions for the sake of the story itself. One of my biggest pet peeves is when some weak super villain like the Shocker takes on four legitimate super heroes and holds his own, completely going against anything you’ll see in the comics. Why do we need to stick to the same stage to boss formula? We’ve been at this for a long time now, you would figure that by now we wouldn’t have to be so formulaic. 

The wish.

Here is a list of genres that I think would be great for a comic book game, and what characters I think would work out best.

Action: Spider-Man, Daredevil, Batman, etc.

Action games would seem like a no-brainer but alas they are usually amongst the worst. How come Assassins Creed II can feature such great movement but I can’t get that out of a Spider-Man game?

RPG: Any super team

With games like Final Fantasy out there what is the hold up on my X-Men RPG? Action RPG’s are cool and all but a turn based game would be the bee’s knees. 

FPS: The Punisher

Punisher actually has one of the better comic book video games, and did come out with an FPS in July but that was a lackluster effort. What they need to do is come up with a Punisher game based on the Unreal engine or something along those lines.

The bottom line is simply this, comic book videogame developers often go too far in one direction or the other when making comic book videogames and it really hurts the genre. If they would focus on the content and stop messing with the gameplay they would likely make better games.