Given the huge success of getting the perfect Batman game, I've been thinking: what, to me, would be the "perfect" Superman game?
Some quick background on myself: I've been a longtime Superman fan, dating back to the Death of Superman and have read, or at least casually followed, his comics ever since. I'm a big fan of his mythos in many different renditions, from the comics, the movies and my favourite rendition, The Animated Series. Last year, I actually took a course here in Tornto (York University) for Comics & Cartoons, studying his origins as a character. I've also played a number of Superman games, from the Death & Return of Superman on SNES, regretably Superman 64, Shadows of Apocalypse and have read up on or watched videos for the game based on Superman Returns. Some of my ideas borrow somewhat from the latter two, as you'll see.
I've given it a lot of thought and this is what my take on it might be. It's not perfect, but I think it has some great ideas behind it. Also, please note that a lot of these ideas were partly inspired from recently playing through Prototye:
Obviously, the first hurdle is his sheer power and invulnerbility. A lot of people, both gamers and comic book readers, believe that Superman is too powerful to work as a video game character. However, he's got some pretty powerful villains that are on his level. Darkseid (and everything involving Apokalips), Brainiac, Luthor (when handled properly), Mxyzptlk, Parasite, Bizarro, etc.
The second is how do you make a game that makes you FEEL like Superman and still be a satisfying game. So, here's my idea. And if anyone in the gaming world reads this, they're welcome to crib my notes. Just give me a free PS3 copy when it comes out. Deal? :)
Start the game right off the bat with all of your powers, similar to Prototype. BUT, like Prototype, the story causes almost all of your powers to be lost except for the bare basics of super leaping, some strength and some invulnerability. As the game progresses, you open up more of your abilities again until the end, where you're back to full power. Now, I know some might complain about not being able to use all of his powers right off the bat, but I use this system for three reasons:
1) It rewards the player to play through the game. As an added bonus, like Prototype and other games, you can replay the game with all of your powers intact.
2) It's partly an homage to his Golden Age origins, where he didn't fly or have even a tenth of his powers.
3) Allows room for usually left out ****c Superman villains that can now be a threat to the player, such as Toyman, Prankster and Intergang.
The story: Luthor finds a way to block out the sun using a number of satellites in orbit around the earth. Throughout the city are various buildings (with a satellite dish or controlling centre) where Luthor has placed a lot of key Superman rogues to guard them. So, as you defeat these various areas (the game is entirely open-ended ala Grand Theft Auto), you gain something, either strength or powers.
Powers: Some buttons would be designed for certain areas of Superman. For example, one button designed for his eye powers (X-ray vision, heat vision, telescopic, etc), another for breath (cold, powerful gusts). You can switch them out at your leisure either in a pause menu ala Mega Man or on the spot ala Prototype.
Villains to use in the game:
-Early in the game, for lower powers: Toyman, Prankster, Intergang (you would face them while touring with the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit, helping them fight crime), Bloodsport, Riot
-Higher difficulty/requires certain powers: Hellgrammite, Metallo, Parasite, Luminus, Lobo (taking over Bibbo's bar!), Volcana, Silver Banshee. For guys like Metallo and Parasite, maybe have the option of taking them out sooner, if you get a lead-lined suit like from the Animated Series (something you pick up doing STAR Labs missions or Clark Kent as reporter missions)
-For late in the game: Brainiac, Bizarro, Luthor (Lex tower; probably one of the last satellites to take down, as he has security measures out the yin-yang)
-Giant Monsters: These would come up as the story unfolds and would be a huge threat that would cause great collateral damage (and thus, having to save people at the same time as trying to stop the big thing). Some would include some giant Toyman-related robot, Chemo, Firebrand (using cold breath to put out fires!), Titano, etc.
-Finale: Throughout the game, there are hints and build up that Darkseid is coming. So, the finale is not only the troops of Apokalips on Earth (fighitng parademons and Darkseid's minions like Kalibak, but the big finale with Darkseid himself). This would be the ulimate test of using ALL your powers all at once.
-Saving people: I loved how in the Spider-Man 2 game, there were people you had to save. There were also aspects of this in Shadow of Apokalips. It just needs to have a lot more variety. So you have buildings on fire (saving people, putting out the fire by creating a flying vortex vacuum, your cold breath or a nearby fire hydrant), cats in trees (because that's just cute), people falling off buildings, random crimes like car chases and bank robberies, etc. Dependings on how powerful you are or what powers you unluck, these would slowly becomes either more frequent (because you can get there faster) or tougher. Plus, adding this into public boss fights like the giant monsters would be fun as hell. Not sure what the reward would be to save X number of people, though. Perhaps giving you the option to toggle the random events so you're not distracted by them in the middle of getting to a mission (something I hated in Spider-Man 2). This could be a great reward while fighting giant monsters, making those fights easier, when you don't have to concentrate as much on citizens.
-Side Missions: What open-ended game would be without them? How about a racing game where you race against The Flash? Touring with the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit to stop crimes around the city. A gladiator arena set up by Mongul or Roulette. Helping test out equipment for STAR Labs or helping them run tests on you (various challenges). Maybe various breakouts on Stryker's Island (the prison in Metropolis).
But best of all: Clark Kent missions. I was thinking it'd be fun to be able to switch back and forth and your leisure between the two, similar to the disguise system in Prototype (you can tell where I was inspired by this). So, you could go to the Daily Planet, get a story and investigate it. You could still have access to SOME of your powers while as Clark (various vision powers, strength, etc) but it'd be part stealth in that you don't want others to discover your identity. Do team-up missions with Lois where you two sneak in and you can use a lot of your powers in her presence. Again, not sure what the goal of this would be, but...huh, what if it helps alleviate the traps and security measures by Lex? Slowly taking him down by revealing to the public his dastardly deeds?
The nice thing is that, by the end of the game, you're rewarded for your hard work with all of his powers and are welcome to free roam again all you want!
So...what do you guys think?
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