Give the genre some dredd
Scott White
Guess what? That’s right, I’ve been playing Spider-Man. Just like everyone else. It’s been a while since we had a good non-Lego superhero and I’ve been having a pretty great time; the city of New York is brilliantly replicated, there’s a pleasing amount of easily located collectables and Spider-Man himself is beautifully realised. Like Arkham Asylum before it, the game is obviously the work of fans of the source material and that love and care shine through.
But, while Spider-Man and Batman fans have been reasonably blessed by recent video games adaptations, there’s plenty of comic book characters who have been ill-served or completely ignored. Well, maybe it’s time for some of Scott’s amazing marketing advice!
First up, we have a character close to my heart: Judge Dredd. Last seen on consoles a stunning 15 years ago in Judge Dredd vs Death, the Big Man deserves his time to shine.
Now, sticking him in a first/third person shooter would seem like the standard solution, but fuck that, let’s get Dredd serving up justice in a point and click adventure à la Snatcher/Detroit. That way you can still have some lovely ultra-violence, but the focus will be on speaking to perps, figuring out crimes and handing down judgements. You can even make it episodic and there’s 40 years of material to draw on.
Now that I’ve made my serious suggestion, here are the absolute dog-shit ideas I’ve jotted down while I’ve been working on other things:
A Superman and Wonder Woman game where Superman fights huge disasters and events, like volcanos or the sun exploding, and Wonder Woman does all the regular fighting. WW makes sense as a warrior and Superman is useless as a regular video game character.
A Green Lantern video game that’s like a cross between No Man’s Sky and Dragon Quest Builders. I love Green Lantern and he deserves his time in the sun. I don’t know how it would play, but that’s your job, not mine.
Lastly, how about a Watchmen dating game? Can you get under Rorschach’s mask? If you get enough points, you get to make love while listening to a track of your choice from Leonard Cohen’s Various Positions.
Me? I’d choose “Heart with No Companion”.
