What’s a summer blockbuster without its prerequisite movie tie-in video game? Well, its still a summer blockbuster but it… hmmm… I don’t really know where I was going with that but it doesn’t matter. So yes, we are here to talk about Superhero video games, but we’ll start with the movie tie-ins.
Now keep in mind that a lot of times these games are actually pretty bad. Spider-Man 2 was pretty good, but3 was not so great. The Matrix games were mediocre at best, Watchmen: The End is Nigh was terrible, even for a downloadable game. And the worst of the bunch is probably Superman Returns, which I couldn’t even bring myself to finish. But as always with a new crop of Next-Gen games there is some hope that they will be good.
Green Lantern came out last weekend and Captain America: The First Avenger comes out next month. So of course the games follow pretty closely behind them to maximize their sales.
Let’s talk about Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters. The first time GL stars in his own game. GL’s really only featured in a couple of games before this, Justice League Heroes which was playable but kind of boring. I only played to see what kind of costumes could be unlocked. He also made an appearance in Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe which was awesome. Then as a NPC in the fun-but-not-as-fun-as-$15-a-month DC Universe Online. So now we get to make our own constructs fighting alongside the Corps as Ryan Reynolds Hal Jordan.
Here’s the trailer followed by a look at the gameplay:
And some screenshots from Newsarama showing some of the constructs you can use:
Not bad. Give me a Gatling gun and a boxing glove and you can pretty much consider this game beaten.
Now we take a look at the game I’m most looking forward to, Captain America: Super Soldier. Cap has been in some other games, well, pretty much every Marvel game around he’s been in some form or another. Cap is a prolific member of the Video Game world, starting out back in 87, with Captain America in The Doom Tube of Dr. Megalomann. Then there were the Arcade classics, like Captain America and the Avengers, or of course Marvel vs. Capcom. And even onto the Next Gen with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 1 & 2 or Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects. But we’ve never had a solo game featuring Cap quite like this before.
So where does this one tie in to the movies? It’s WWII, and you’re fighting Nazi’s Hydra agents throughout a giant castle. Basically kicking ass and taking names whilst wielding a kick ass shield that you can use to deflect bullets back at the shooters, or just throw it around the room in a flurry of spatial geometry that will make your brain hurt. Here, just watch the trailers. Again, first the cinematic, followed by a look at the demo featuring a whole lot of gameplay:
Awesome. Check out some screenshots:
Very awesome. I don’t know why this game is speaking to me, but I want to play it now. Also I want my own Captain America shield, but that seems unlikely.
So moving away from the movie tie-ins, I want to take a look at the newest X-Men game to come our way. The last straight up X-game I can remember playing that wasn’t tied to any movies was X-Men: Legends 1 & 2, which I loved at the time. They don’t quite hold up these days, but basically what i’m saying is that it’s time for something new. Spidey gets a game seemingly every year, it’s time to see a new X-Men.
Which brings us to X-Men: Destiny. In Destiny you play out the origin stories of three new mutants to the X-universe. They arrive during a bad time for Mutantkind, and the game offers a new look at the different abilities your mutant has, as well as the choices you can make which determine your character’s allegiance. Check out the trailer and an interview featuring commentary from E3:
And some screenshots:
Not bad, but still not the X-Men game I really want to see. Definitely will be picking this up in September.
And finally, another trailer was released for Spider-Man: Edge of Time at E3 featuring a look at one of the villains showing up. I already gave you a preview of the game here, so here’s a look at the trailer:
Anti-Venom makes his video game debut, and I get a little more excited for this game. All because of Spidey 2099, I would play a trilogy of games featuring just him, that how majorly badass he is.
So that’s it! A good showing of superhero games to hold you over for the year. Don’t forget to drop any comments or ask any questions in the comments section below!
Grizzly Bomb 