Marvel games are jumping out of the woodwork, and while not all of them are quality, as we’ve seen with Marvel’s Avengers, Marvel’s Midnight Suns looks cool as hell.
We have gotten a few trailers and gameplay looks, so we know that the game exists and it is playable in some capacity already. If you’re a fan of XCOM and Marvel, then Marvel’s Midnight Suns might be the perfect game for you.
Here’s everything we know about Marvel’s Midnight Suns, from the release date and story to the gameplay and heroes.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns release date
We don’t have an official release date for Marvel’s Midnight Suns just yet, but we do know that it’s going to launch sometime in Q3/Q4 (July to December) of 2022. It’s set to launch on most available platforms, including PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
Previously, the game was scheduled to launch in March 2022, but it was delayed to its current release window. If 2K Games has any choice, it would be best to launch when there aren’t many AAA titles dropping.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns story
According to the developers, Marvel’s Midnight Suns is based on the 1990’s comic book series Rise of the Midnight Sons, but it won’t be a pure adaptation. Then again, the overall plot remains generally the same, with Ghost Rider forming a collection of heroes to take down Lilith, the mother of all demons.
The protagonist of Marvel’s Midnight Suns is called The Hunter, and they are the only person capable of killing Lilith because The Hunter is her child. The Hunter is a customizable superhero specifically designed for the game. The Hunter can be male or female and have from over 40 different superpowers to choose from.
From what we can gather from the trailer, it looks like this group of Avengers and X-Men raise The Hunter from the dead in order to combat Lilith, and this new hero looks hella angry and out for blood right from the get-go. Hunter even had a voiced line, which is cool to hear because most player-created characters don’t get voice acting.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns heroes
In total, Marvel’s Midnight Suns will feature 13 playable heroes, including Hunter. These are the heroes that we know are involved in the game so far:
- Blade
- Captain America
- Captain Marvel
- Doctor Strange
- Ghost Rider
- The Hunter
- Iron Man
- Magik
- Nico Minoru
- Wolverine
There are three additional heroes that have yet to be revealed. From what we know about the comics, it could be Morbius, the Living Vampire, or even Hannibal King (that Ryan Reynolds character in Blade: Trinity).
You can sign up for the Marvel’s Midnight Suns newsletter to get the Blade Nightstalker skin when the game launches.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns gameplay
Marvel’s Midnight Suns is being developed by Firaxis Games, who are notable for developing the Civilization and XCOM series. That should give you a slight idea of what this game will look like.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns is described as a tactical role-playing game. As previously mentioned, players will take the role of The Hunter, who will have over 40 superpowers to choose from. The combat will be turn-based, but players can upgrade their base — called The Abbey — between missions. They’ll also be able to walk around in it in third-person view and interact with the other heroes.
Apparently, there are also role-play mechanics that will influence the gameplay and certain hero abilities. At the beginning of every mission, you can choose three heroes (including The Hunter) to take with you on your journey.
In the gameplay trailer, we saw that the game is leaning more toward a third-person viewpoint rather than top-down, which is a nice touch. There are costumes, super moves and team-up moves. The combat looks pretty cinematic, and there’s even destructible environments.
However, there’s a card system that seems to determine your abilities at the start of the battle — I do not like that at all. The developers are advertising this as a strategic game, but is it really on the player if they’re dealt a crappy hand? I hate when games rely on luck.
Some of the maps we know about are Avenger’s Tower, Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorm, New York City rooftops (classic), underground Hydra installations, sunbleached deserts, and a hellscape dimension.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns PC requirements
Marvel’s Midnight Suns already has an entry on Steam, but it doesn’t detail any of the PC requirements, unfortunately. However, we can draw some comparisons to the developer’s more recent game, XCOM: Chimera Squad.
XCOM: Chimera Squad’s minimum requirements are a 2.4-GHz Quad Core CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 1GB AMD Radeon HD 7770 or NVIDIA GeForce 650 GPU. Those are pretty basic specs, which indicates that Marvel’s Midnight Suns might not be too graphically intensive despite it looking good.
The recommended requirements are a 3-GHz Quad Core CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 2GB AMD Radeon HD R9 290 or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 GPU. Those are also lightweight, so people who have one of the best cheap gaming laptops are probably not going to have an issue.
Outlook
From third-person action-adventure games to narrative-driven decision-making joyrides, there are plenty of genres in the Marvel’s video game lineup, and now Marvel’s Midnight Suns adds strategy to that lovely mix.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns looks exciting, but we’re still a bit worried about how this whole card system is going to work, and whether the writing will be up to par with the other Marvel’s games. From what we’ve seen so far, the dialogue is a bit cheesy, but that’s sort of on brand for Marvel anyway.
