Marvel's Midnight Suns review

Thanks to Firaxis for the keys provided for the PC version of the game.

This is the sixth decade in which Marvel's Avengers have been battling evil. Apparently, superheroes are not even going to retire. And you have to admit, people all over the world love them. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a franchise that brings in millions of dollars a year. Images of Marvel heroes are everywhere you can put up a poster and sell this brand. Marvel superheroes are also an integral part of video games. They have appeared in blockbusters like Spider-Man for PS4 and so on. With Midnight Suns , Firaxis has combined the superhero universe with classic tactical combat mechanics that have proven themselves in the X-COM series. Let's figure it out, is this a winning formula or is it still an unsuccessful recipe?

You are a hunter

Marvel's Midnight Suns is a tactical turn-based RPG. While there are some superficial similarities to Firaxis' earlier X-COM, the differences are significant. Instead of fighting aliens, your team is up against a powerful supernatural army of demons and soldiers. Despite the fact that in X-COM it was possible to carry out deep customization and customization of characters, in fact, they were all ordinary soldiers. And in Midnight Suns, you create your own unique superhero and fight side by side with your favorite Avengers, X-Men and other popular Marvel characters.

The biggest difference has to do with combat. Midnight Suns uses a card-based combat system that is as easy to understand as possible, constantly evolving, and yet deep enough to keep you engrossed throughout the game. How you grow and develop your hero cards should be the basis for future card battlers. More on this a little later. For now, suffice it to say that the very idea turned out to be a winning one.

While the narrative has some twists and turns and surprises, the premise is classic Marvel. Part of the plot and characters are taken from the Midnight Suns comic book series, released several decades ago. In any case, Dr. Faust from "Hydra" awakens the immortal demon Lilith from the centuries-old sleep. In a multi-mission tutorial sequence, Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Captain Marvel, and Scarlet Witch confront a newly reborn Lilith. Realizing that the heroes cannot cope with Lilith and her minions, Strange and company resurrect the Hunter from her crypt. That is the main character, which you are. There's a twist in typical Marvel fashion, as the Hunter is Lilith's child and your mentor is her sister. Family is what it is.

Hero uniqueness

As expected, your version of the Hunter can be a male or female character. There is a detailed character editor that will allow you to select ready-made body parts, faces. Ultimately, giving the Hunter a unique look comes with the impressive wardrobe you get as you progress through the game, and the armor upgrade at the Anvil. The amazing thing is that, against the background of all previous Marvel games, gamers for the first time can create their own unique superhero.

The Anvil is a workshop, one of the many rooms in the Sanctuary, in your base. Sanctuary is an ancient church located in a parallel dimension near Salem, Massachusetts. At first, you have access to a bedroom, a workshop, a “war table” on which you activate new missions, and training arenas. As you progress through the story and complete missions, you unlock new areas of the Sanctuary and opportunities.

The Sanctuary is where the Hunter builds relationships with the other members of the group, the Avengers and the X-Men. Spending time with the characters chatting, watching movies, or doing other daily activities will strengthen your relationship with the other characters, after which they can join you on the next missions. Surprisingly, most of Marvel's Midnight Suns focuses on the role-playing and narrative elements of the game. There are several hours of videos and cut scenes, over 65,000 lines of dialogue. The story and characters are in the spotlight, and, you see, this was not the case in X-COM.

Combat system

While the focus is on storytelling, there is no less emphasis on the combat system, in which the Hunter and his team take on the demonic forces of Lilith and the Hydra. You must choose a team of superheroes from a list of 13 people. Each character has strengths and abilities presented as a set of cards. Your task is to form a powerful squad and collect the best deck.

Cards are divided into three types - attacks, skills and heroic abilities. Attack cards are common offensive moves and can be upgraded to deal more damage or use powerful combos such as chain attacks against large groups. Skill cards essentially provide buffs: Blade's vampire ability adds a bleed effect to all weapons and moves. Heroic Abilities are impressive, game-changing special attacks that are more effective, but require charging. Unlike X-COM, your squad won't hide behind cover, but elements of the environment can be used to boost your damage output. As with all tactical card games, it takes time to learn combat and skills. Even the failure in Marvel's Midnight Suns is funny at times.

Sooner or later you will meet a mini-boss or a boss assisted by regular Hydra soldiers. There are different goals and powers of Lilith, and the card-based tactical gameplay is always fun. There are battles that feel unnecessarily drawn out when there are extra enemy waves. At the end of each battle, you are ranked and given rewards depending on the results. The rating drops whenever one of the heroes is knocked out.

So what about storytelling?

In almost all Marvel action games, the script and voice acting take a fairly high bar. Take a look at the Spider-Man games or, for now, one part of the Guardians of the Galaxy. While Marvel's Midnight Suns isn't the best of the best, it has a strong narrative, well-defined characters, and a cast of talented, experienced actors including Nolan North. Marvel's patented "bitter" humor is present.

The story gradually picks up pace, although the first few hours are heavily overloaded with exposition, cutscenes, and character development. There is a lot of dialogue here, and some of it seems redundant. I think it happened because of the writers' desire to tell a complete story.

Marvel's Midnight Suns has a clear art direction, but feels a bit retarded graphically. Probably due to the fact that the game was released on consoles of different generations, new and old. Combat animations and effects are well done, but - and this is true for every turn-based game - they soon become repetitive, and some take a long time to play. In addition, spells and weapon attacks are made in the style of heavy metal - colorful and sound great, like the music of composer Tim Wynn. The music is dramatic and loud, as is customary in big-budget blockbusters.

Verdict

The ability to combine familiar Marvel superheroes with a character you create is just one of the compelling features of Marvel's Midnight Suns. The card battle system perfectly combines ease of learning and depth. Marvel's Midnight Suns emphasizes storytelling and character development - it's so much more than your average X-COM clone. Despite the tactical RPG genre, the Marvel gang feels at ease. You will never get tired of fighting legendary heroes!