In the wake of Batman: Arkham City, a game which has proven itself to be the best Superhero game yet if not the best game ever, I've been contemplating how other Superheroes could have games made that could be as good as or even surpass Arkham City.
So I ask you, if you were to make a video game about a specific superhero, how would you turn it into something that could give Arkham City a run for it's money? This is acting under the assumption that you could make the game exactly like you wanted to, unlimited funds, no deadline, etc.
This is going to be long, but for me, I might as well start off with what seems to be the hardest superhero to make a proper game for, Superman.
First problem, in the past, Superman games have had a very difficult time making you actually feel like the kind of badass Superman without going overboard one way or the other. Either Superman is too ridiculously powerful for any enemy they throw at you to have much chance of beating you, or Superman is so weak that you can get beaten by enemies that shouldn't stand a chance against even the weakest version of Superman.
Solution: A balance, only have enemies that could hurt Superman and even eventually defeat Superman with enough time and numbers, and several that fly would be good. For example, robots, mutant creatures, Iron Man rip offs, those kind of enemies. Only the bosses, (details on those later) such as Superman's Rogue's Gallery should be on Superman's level or stronger but not to an unbeatable level. There shouldn't be any machine gun or thug type bad guys except maybe at the beginning during the tutorial, where they shoot at/punch Superman to no affect, bonus points if they run out of bullets and throw the gun at you, which would hurt slightly when it hit (prize to anyone that gets the reference).
There should be Kryptonite, such as robots made of it, Kryptonite weapons, and so forth, but it shouldn't just "there" to justify enemies being able to hurt Superman nor as debilitating as in the comics where Superman is all but completely helpless when he's anywhere near the smallest chunk of it.
Kryptonite should lower your statistics (more on that later) based on how much of it is there, of course that means that a prompt of some kind to notify you would be needed. For instance, light Kryptonite radiation from a rock around the size of a pebble, would lower your statistics slightly. about 5%. A moderate amount, about the size of a fist or so would lower it by 15%. A heavy amount, about the size of an arm would lower it by 30% and very slowly drain your health but only to about 1/4th. Last, a critical amount would be the size of a person, like a robot made entirely of Kryptonite, or bigger, lowering statistics by half and draining health faster, again only to 1/4th. This would give the player a weakness that fits with Superman lore but not be either insignificant or create an instant lose situation at the same time. Throwing in a Kryptonite resistant suit that would lessen but not remove the weakness would be good too.
A leveling system of some kind is a necessity. As I've said, Superman should be badass but never unbeatable at any point, you should be strong but have room for growth, yet even at max you should still be able to find challenges. Whether it's numerical or not there should be some form of statistics that determine the damage you deal and take, how fast you move, and so on, and be limited to super strength, durability, and flight at the start, earning more as you level up. For this reason it would be a good idea for the story to start from the origin story, when Superman is still learning how to use his powers.
Now for the bosses: first, while Luthor would most likely be the main antagonist, like Arkham City there should be as many of Superman's Rouge's Gallery as they can manage to stuff in and fluidly fit into the plot.
Second, the bosses should range from one on one fights against human sized enemies with similar abilities like General Zod to massive monsters, robots, vehicles, etc. (I can't think of a Superman villain for those, though the bosses don't necessarily have to be from Superman's Rouge's Gallery), and at least one that screws with your head.
Third, regardless of the size, power, and identity of the bosses they should be out-thought as much as they are out-fought. It's always very boring to beat a boss simply by mashing buttons, it's always much more interesting to beat a boss with your brain with traps and such while there is still plenty of action going on, and in the case of a boss like Mr. Mxyzptlk a brain battle would be a necessity.
As for the combat, it should fluid combos with counterattacks like Arkham City's with Superman's powers thrown into the mix. For instance, suppose you're flying over the city and notice 4 robot enemies beneath you. First, you fly into one at high speed, crushing it against a wall, then you press the ice breath button, freezing another robot. By then another robot is trying to attack you, so you counterattack, blocking it's strike and hit it, then you press the grab button and pick up the robot by the leg and throw it at the robot you froze, shattering it and taking both of them out. Last, you dodge the 4th robot's and press the heat vision button to melt it, then you press the punch button while pointing the control stick at the last robot, knocking it down, then you mash the punch button and finish it off with a flurry of blows. When it's over, 4 enemies are down in roughly 15 seconds with a bunch of simple attacks that also avoid being tedious or mindless.
Last, a open world is essential, an open world ensures that there's more to do besides just the main plot, it's only bad if there's nothing besides the main plot to do. It would have to be world that wasn't too large or too small, about the size of Arkham City would be just right. Next, there should be collectibles, but they should not just be there to feed the collect for no reason crowd, they should have a point in being there and take brainpower to find, like the Riddler's riddles and tropies in Arkham Asylum/City, and if there's a villain in Superman's Rouge's Gallery a lot like the Riddler to place these around the game they could use it would be perfect (again, can't think of anyone). Oh, and like Arkham Asylum and City a means in game to find these collectibles without relying on a guide would make finding all of them enjoyable instead of tedious.
Whew! That's all I can think of for the moment.
So I ask you, if you were to make a video game about a specific superhero, how would you turn it into something that could give Arkham City a run for it's money? This is acting under the assumption that you could make the game exactly like you wanted to, unlimited funds, no deadline, etc.
This is going to be long, but for me, I might as well start off with what seems to be the hardest superhero to make a proper game for, Superman.
First problem, in the past, Superman games have had a very difficult time making you actually feel like the kind of badass Superman without going overboard one way or the other. Either Superman is too ridiculously powerful for any enemy they throw at you to have much chance of beating you, or Superman is so weak that you can get beaten by enemies that shouldn't stand a chance against even the weakest version of Superman.
Solution: A balance, only have enemies that could hurt Superman and even eventually defeat Superman with enough time and numbers, and several that fly would be good. For example, robots, mutant creatures, Iron Man rip offs, those kind of enemies. Only the bosses, (details on those later) such as Superman's Rogue's Gallery should be on Superman's level or stronger but not to an unbeatable level. There shouldn't be any machine gun or thug type bad guys except maybe at the beginning during the tutorial, where they shoot at/punch Superman to no affect, bonus points if they run out of bullets and throw the gun at you, which would hurt slightly when it hit (prize to anyone that gets the reference).
There should be Kryptonite, such as robots made of it, Kryptonite weapons, and so forth, but it shouldn't just "there" to justify enemies being able to hurt Superman nor as debilitating as in the comics where Superman is all but completely helpless when he's anywhere near the smallest chunk of it.
Kryptonite should lower your statistics (more on that later) based on how much of it is there, of course that means that a prompt of some kind to notify you would be needed. For instance, light Kryptonite radiation from a rock around the size of a pebble, would lower your statistics slightly. about 5%. A moderate amount, about the size of a fist or so would lower it by 15%. A heavy amount, about the size of an arm would lower it by 30% and very slowly drain your health but only to about 1/4th. Last, a critical amount would be the size of a person, like a robot made entirely of Kryptonite, or bigger, lowering statistics by half and draining health faster, again only to 1/4th. This would give the player a weakness that fits with Superman lore but not be either insignificant or create an instant lose situation at the same time. Throwing in a Kryptonite resistant suit that would lessen but not remove the weakness would be good too.
A leveling system of some kind is a necessity. As I've said, Superman should be badass but never unbeatable at any point, you should be strong but have room for growth, yet even at max you should still be able to find challenges. Whether it's numerical or not there should be some form of statistics that determine the damage you deal and take, how fast you move, and so on, and be limited to super strength, durability, and flight at the start, earning more as you level up. For this reason it would be a good idea for the story to start from the origin story, when Superman is still learning how to use his powers.
Now for the bosses: first, while Luthor would most likely be the main antagonist, like Arkham City there should be as many of Superman's Rouge's Gallery as they can manage to stuff in and fluidly fit into the plot.
Second, the bosses should range from one on one fights against human sized enemies with similar abilities like General Zod to massive monsters, robots, vehicles, etc. (I can't think of a Superman villain for those, though the bosses don't necessarily have to be from Superman's Rouge's Gallery), and at least one that screws with your head.
Third, regardless of the size, power, and identity of the bosses they should be out-thought as much as they are out-fought. It's always very boring to beat a boss simply by mashing buttons, it's always much more interesting to beat a boss with your brain with traps and such while there is still plenty of action going on, and in the case of a boss like Mr. Mxyzptlk a brain battle would be a necessity.
As for the combat, it should fluid combos with counterattacks like Arkham City's with Superman's powers thrown into the mix. For instance, suppose you're flying over the city and notice 4 robot enemies beneath you. First, you fly into one at high speed, crushing it against a wall, then you press the ice breath button, freezing another robot. By then another robot is trying to attack you, so you counterattack, blocking it's strike and hit it, then you press the grab button and pick up the robot by the leg and throw it at the robot you froze, shattering it and taking both of them out. Last, you dodge the 4th robot's and press the heat vision button to melt it, then you press the punch button while pointing the control stick at the last robot, knocking it down, then you mash the punch button and finish it off with a flurry of blows. When it's over, 4 enemies are down in roughly 15 seconds with a bunch of simple attacks that also avoid being tedious or mindless.
Last, a open world is essential, an open world ensures that there's more to do besides just the main plot, it's only bad if there's nothing besides the main plot to do. It would have to be world that wasn't too large or too small, about the size of Arkham City would be just right. Next, there should be collectibles, but they should not just be there to feed the collect for no reason crowd, they should have a point in being there and take brainpower to find, like the Riddler's riddles and tropies in Arkham Asylum/City, and if there's a villain in Superman's Rouge's Gallery a lot like the Riddler to place these around the game they could use it would be perfect (again, can't think of anyone). Oh, and like Arkham Asylum and City a means in game to find these collectibles without relying on a guide would make finding all of them enjoyable instead of tedious.
Whew! That's all I can think of for the moment.
