More People Should Be Playing This Heavily Underrated Marvel Game

There have been countless games over the years adapting superheroes to the world of video games. It’s a natural fit, and one that different publishers and developers have approached from different perspectives. Action-adventure games are the norm, but there have also been plenty of fighting games, beat em’ ups, and narrative-driven stories released under the Marvel or DC banner.

One genre that works very well with the superhero archetypes is strategy games, which are able to reimagine the various heroes and villains as special units. One of the best examples of this was Marvel’s Midnight Suns. Developed by Firaxis Games and released 3 years ago, Midnight Suns forces the player into the role of a magical warrior awakened in the modern day to confront their demonic mother alongside heroes of the Marvel Universe. I’m still playing it regularly, and it’s become one of my favorite console strategy games.

Midnight Suns Is An Addicting (And Surprisingly Difficult) Strategy Game

Midnight Suns is an easy to learn and hard to master strategy game that incorporates a lot of different elements into the turn-based combat. The core mechanics of the gameplay remain the same for each character, with players having a certain number of moves, redraws, and card plays each turn. However, each hero’s specific deck (which can be customized for better synergy with other characters) grants them unique flavor and abilities in battle. The decks highlight different strategies, ranging from Spider-Man’s heavy maneuverability and Magik’s teleportation abilities to Iron Man’s onslaught of attacks or Captain Marvel’s heavy bursts of damage.

Experimenting with different team compositions is half the fun, giving players plenty of reason to try different approaches with each new mission. The actual combat can be tricky, especially when enemy reinforcements begin to swarm in increasing numbers as the missions get harder. Responding in kind can be difficult, requiring inventive approaches that take the environment, location, and power set into mind.

Stringing the pieces together in the right order to take down an entire platoon of enemy soldiers or corrupted demons is very rewarding, paying off several tricky plays with the superheroes deploying their signature attacks in quick succession. For fans of turn-based combat and tabletop strategy, this mix of deck building and unit placement is a delight.

The Real Adventure Is The Friends You Make Along The Way

One of the other key ways that Midnight Suns stands out is in the way it puts emphasis on creating relationships between the player character and the rest of the heroes. The custom character will have plenty of opportunities to discuss and debate the other heroes over everything from the morality of their mission to their favorite art. Book clubs can form, and players can push characters like Blade and Captain Marvel into a potential romantic relationship. Getting characters to open up and reveal more about themselves is crucial to unlocking their full battlefield potential, but it’s also a great way to make sure the players become invested in the storyline.

While the bare bones of the narrative are fairly straightforward, having multiple interactions with different heroes and mediating their very different views on the team can be surprisingly engaging. Siding with some heroes over others can ruin a budding friendship, forcing players to respond in kind with a specific gift to ease tensions. It’s an effective way to reflect the interpersonal relationships and dynamics that are often at the core of any good superhero story, especially one from the House of Ideas.

I’m Still Playing Midnight Suns, And I Will Be For A While

In between new releases, strong remasters, and random multiplayer, I find myself gravitating towards a handful of titles as the games I decompress and relax with. MARVEL SNAP is the big one, something I’ve written about before — and Midnight Suns is one of the others. I’m a lifelong Marvel fan, have a soft spot for deck-building, and love strategy games. Both titles were made just for me. While MARVEL SNAP is ideal for short bursts of gameplay when my day allows it, Midnight Suns has become my go-to relaxing game when I’ve got a bit more time to kill.

The constantly generating missions keep me on my toes, while the DLC pack (which included four new heroes and a number of enemies to face off with) introduced new mechanics that have been fun to experiment with. Midnight Suns has become one of the best modern examples of a strategy game designed for consoles, with a straightforward layout and set up that invites all sorts of complex and unique planning. Stringing together combos or knocking an enemy off a rooftop with a well-placed kick to the face is just as fun now as it was when I first got the game, and it remains one of my personal favorite releases from the last few years. While players who are tired of superheroes or don’t care for strategy games won’t get as much out of it as I do, Midnight Suns is a must-play for anyone who has ever wanted to create their own mini-Marvel movie.