Saturday, May 9, 2015

You Wanna Play Games?

Comic books! Video games! Their both awesome, so let's put them together! With the success Batman's "Arkham Series" has gotten, why doesn't DC Comics try to cash in their other notable superheroes? Well, I got some ideas. Here's The Panel Biter's Top 5 Wanted DC Video Games!

#5. The Birds of Prey
An easy start to this list would be a spin-off game from the "Arkham Series" starring The Birds of Prey. I imagine this game would go through a mission-by-mission play style, giving the player four characters to choose: Huntress (your shooter), Black Canary (your hand-to-hand), Zatanna (your magician) and Katana (your hack-n'-slash). Missions would be given by Oracle (your guide) and include stealth, combat and rescue operations all tying into a overarching plot. Heck, if Harley Quinn can get DLC, why can't these lovely ladies?

#4. Amazo vs The Justice League
Let's get retro for a second, remember Megaman? Classic, side-scrolling, jumpin' n' shootin' Megaman? Well, DC has their own Megaman, the power-copying robot known as Amazo. The plot could show The Legion of Doom sending their new Amazo robot into a virtual world were he'd battle Superman, Black Canary, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg, Martian Manhunter, and Shazam. Each Leaguer he defeats gives him a new weapon to defeat another Leaguer, but after taking their powers Amazo would also adopt their moral codes and betray The Legion of Doom. A short and sweet take on one of DC's coolest villains.

#3. The Emerald Archer 
What if you could take the style of classic Green Arrow and infuse it with the action of CW's "Arrow" show? Pepper in a little "Assassin's Creed" and you got a Green Arrow video game! Upgrading the size of your quiver, customizing your set of specialized arrows, and roaming the streets of Star City for your own collection of villains. You could even include three other players for a multiplayer vigilante experience featuring Connor Hawke, Roy Harper, and Mia Dearden. With a few modern games taking advantage of bow combat, a Green Arrow game could expand that gameplay much further.

#2. CorpsCraft
So I've been playing some Dungeons & Dragons lately-nerd credit acknowledged-and I thought of a way you could adapt that kind of game for a comic book fan, through DC's Lantern Corps. Imagine a video game-or board game-where you could select any alien from DC (Kryptonian, Martian, Thanagarian) along with any Lantern Ring (Green/Will, Red/Anger, Pink/Love) and set out on adventures through the galaxy. Your Yellow Lantern Tamaranian and your buddy's Blue Lantern Czarnian could take on a slew of Manhunter Droids and rescue Adam Strange! The lore could be as deep as a DC fan's imagination is!

#1. The Next Superman
Next to Batman, Superman is DC's most marketable superhero, the problem is that Superman's video game career has been less than desired. How do you fix a game with a godlike hero? You take the guy out of it! Setting the game after Superman's death at the hands of Doomsday, a clone of Superman was created by Lex Luthor to become the next Man of Steel, one he could control. Rather than being a perfect copy, you-the player-would have limited superpowers and would need to gain experience from fighting villains and gaining the affection of Metropolis. As you level up you upgrade from powers like super strength, super speed and super jumps, to powers like heat vision, cold breath and flight. And because the comic version of Superboy has a form of telekinesis, you could incorporate that ability (akin to "Star Wars: The Forced Unleashed") and control your target's positioning. Powers like multiple visions and enhanced hearing could be used on puzzles and multiple Superman supporting characters could appear in the story. When you start the game you'd feel very limited in power, but by the time you reach the end you'd feel every bit as powerful as Superman should feel!

I really do hope DC Comics gives us more than just "Injustice" and the "Arkham Series" because recently they've been on a real multi-media kick. Any of these game ideas or anything else would be much appreciated. Do you approve this Top 5? Do you have any characters you'd like to see get video games? Do you like being questioned!? Well!? Do you!? Thanks for reading!

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