Top 5 Superheroes that deserve the ‘Arkham’ treatment!

Now I read a lot of comics. Enough I would say to classify myself as a some sort of ‘expert’ when discussing them. I read enough to know in detail who the characters are, what their stories are, who the villains are and their overall positions within the fictional universe that they inhabit.

With video games I would also consider myself an ‘expert’ on since the N64 days. And like many self respecting gamers over the last few years I have played and enjoyed the Batman Arkham games, both Asylum and City. It showed that superhero games could be good (as most of you are no doubt aware the majority of them suck arse) if you allowed the developers room to create a game that could truly stand out from the crowd. Unrestricted by the imminent release of a summer blockbuster the Arkham games were a potential turning point for the entire genre. I say ‘potential’ because let’s be honest no other superhero game has come close to that level of depth and success that Rocksteady have conjured with Arkham.

This is why as I sat across from my collection of graphic novels something dawned on me. Which superheroes deserved to stand toe to toe with Batman and his Arkham games? Which of these heroes had the potential that with the right studio could become the new superhero smash hit? With this in mind I sat down to pick 5 heroes who I believed could take me up on my challenge and succeed. Of course we all have favourites but I decided that instead of just picking my top 5 heroes and selling them to you I would pick 5 that would and could mould well with a videogame genre to create a ‘must buy’.

And here they are, in no particular order:

Deadpool

There are many reasons why the ‘merc with a mouth’ would be on this list. So let’s get on with it then. Firstly Deadpool is a perfect fit for a video game lead character. He is skilled in many fighting styles which means a variety of combat scenarios when players use him. He would be able to wield multiple firearms and swords meaning a combination of third person shooting (no doubt with cover mechanics) and up close and personal melee encounters. May not sound original but with the excessive and immature nature of Deadpool it would be safe to assume that the moves and commentary while fighting would be up their with the best of gaming

Speaking of commentary, Deadpool is also hilarious which would mean that his one liners and overall dialogue would actually have to live up to the standards that the comics have set. This aspect is also helped by the fact that Deadpool can ‘break’ the fourth wall. For those of you who don’t know what that means let’s put it this way. When Deadpool is in a comic, he knows he’s in a comic and will often reference that. (A good example of this video game wise is Marvel vs Capcom 3 where on multiple occasions Deadpool will talk about him being in the actual game). This could be worked into gameplay as well where Deadpool could offer advice to players who are stuck on a puzzle or get lost. Imagine if the developer managed to incorporate Kinect or Eyetoy into the game and Deadpool could comment on what you were doing on your couch? Neat touch but probably too creepy for most.

The fact that Deadpool also has the power to heal himself would help to play into the idea of regenerating health that most action based games have nowadays (Wolverine: Origins did this quite well when it was released back in 2009). Deadpool could be shot, stabbed, ripped apart and still continue the fight. (Imagine a much bloodier, and no doubt better version of the recently released NeverDead).

Another interesting idea for a Deadpool game would be the inclusion of hallucinations. Deadpool has what he describe in one of his comics as ‘pool-o-vision’. This normal manifests itself in the comics when Deadpool is being hurt or when he is mightily distracted. If not a part of the game it could always be included as a separate game mode where Deadpool fights clowns, escapes from rampaging unicorns and escaping on the back of a weed smoking hippo. Don’t look at me like that it would be totally sweet.

Deadpool is of course a mercenary at the end of the day but what could this bring to the table? Well the game would obviously take place all over the world so there would be a great variety of locations to play through. Another thought I had was that the game could include side missions which would involve doing objectives for extra cash in previous locations and such. This might include assassination missions for specific targets, hacking into peoples bases for info, spying on people etc.

The idea of side missions would also help if the game had an upgrade system. Now I know many games nowadays have this feature but to a gun totting world class mercenary it would make sense. What else would he spend his pay on? Improving his weapons, buying new ones, ammunition, airstirkes etc of.

And that is why Deadpool should have his own game.