When rumors started swirling involving a Marvel project from XCOM developer Firaxis Games, few could have imagined what is now known as Marvel's Midnight Suns. The idea seemed to be dropping Marvel heroes into an XCOM package a-la Gears Tactics. Instead, Firaxis and publisher 2K seemingly want to take the road less traveled. While the newly announced superhero game is definitely still playing in the realm of tactics, there are aspects taken from other genres that should make for an exciting and wholly original experience.
For one, XCOM's signature combat is completely out of the picture in Marvel's Midnight Suns, replaced with a turn-based system that involves a deck of cards. It's not quite Marvel's answer to Hearthstone, but more like Slay the Spire. Teams of three heroes (including the player-defined Hunter character) enter each battle with loadouts of cards and draw them for each turn - just as someone would in a game of Magic: the Gathering. Each card represents abilities like Iron Man's repulsor cannon and Wolverine's Adamantium rage, and the random draws mean that no two battles will go the same way.
In a way, Marvel's Midnight Suns is an answer to something that players of XCOM and other turn-based games may have run into. When a character has a predefined list of attacks and abilities, players form strategies around getting the most out of every turn. This can lead to some great battles, but the variance comes in mixing up the enemies and maps. If left unchecked, each combat scenario could play out exactly the same way, and that doesn't lead to the most exciting combat. Even the best turn-based games sometimes drag toward the end simply because the developers run out of new obstacles to throw in the player's path.
A card-based combat system like the one in Marvel's Midnight Suns changes that considerably. Enemy variety isn't as important when players don't have the most optimal tools available to them at all times. While this may seem like a negative to someone who enjoys getting the most out of every turn, random draws can lead to new and exciting synergies between abilities. The same basic spells that get looked over in a classic RPG might have become more dynamic and useful if players only had them as a last resort and still emerged victorious. Time will tell if Midnight Suns can truly take advantage of this opportunity, but the potential is there. The gameplay reveal trailer can be viewed here.
Fans eager to see this new corner of Marvel's multiverse won't have to wait long, as Marvel's Midnight Suns arrives early in 2022. As promised by Firaxis Games, it's definitely not the XCOM experience many were expecting, but that could be to its advantage. Adding AAA production values and character conversations to the realm of deckbuilding roguelikes is a smart move, and that's even without the Marvel license.
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