Hey there! I'm a huge Superman fan and I've longed for a great game starring him. I thought I'd share my ideas on the subject! I'd love to know what you all think, but before we start:
Brainiac has bottled Metropolis and empowered super-villains in order to finally get rid of Superman! Drained from your fight with Doomsday, you need to find other means of regaining your strength. As the Man of Steel, you must stop Brainiac and his allies, restore your beloved city, and save the day!
I won't be too specific here and will update this when I've developed it more.
George Newbern hands down. His voice is iconic to Superman, nearly in the same sense that Kevin Conroy's is to Batman. He is also capable of showing more than enough emotion for what I would like to see in a Superman game.
I believe either Rocksteady or Avalanche should make the game. I trust Rocksteady with it due to their past with Batman, making fantastic story/gameplay driven tales for one of the most iconic superheroes of all time. But, I also feel Avalanche could do it thanks to their experience with the Just Cause games. They build enormous open worlds accompanied by gameplay that is fun, over-the-top, and destructive.
This is Avalanche's work in action. My favorite part of this whole trailer is definitely the beginning. I love how the environment around him looks as he's falling through the sky. I can just picture Superman's cape raving around while soaring through beautiful, sun drenched clouds.
In Arkham Asylum, Batman had his own look given to him that is original to that game, while also being inspired and looking like Batman should. When I think of how Superman should look in this game, I lean towards something like this. I'm mostly talking about his face/hair and the perfect size of the "S" symbol. The suit of course would be something original, but inspired.
The gameplay will be centered on feeling like you are Superman; a very powerful force of good that uses your abilities to save lives and to go toe to toe with other strong enemies in epic combat, such as Livewire, Metallo, Parasite, Doomsday, and more.
I'll reference Superman Returns: The Videogame (2006). Many think the game is horrible. I'd say it's slightly below mediocre. Tons of elements in that game work when you actually think about it and could be improved upon in order to make a superb Superman game. We'll discuss problems, improvements and ideas that could be implemented.
Many people think it isn't possible to make a Superman game because they feel he is invincible or overpowered. This is false, as Superman has a number of villains in his rogues' gallery that can harm him. Superman is also always holding back so he doesn't hurt anyone, which gives reason as to why you wouldn't be able to do anything super intense in the game unless it calls for him to use such power. Even if this was a problem, a developer could make him something akin to "Man of Steel" Superman, still powerful but not ridiculous.
I think Superman should have a health bar, but only in certain situations. This provides tension during certain points in the story and forces players to be on their toes when this becomes part of the gameplay. I could see this occurring more often when fighting certain bosses.
Something Superman is famous for is switching from Clark Kent to Superman in a phone booth. I feel this can be a very powerful feature in the game, going from Clark Kent to Superman at will. His transformation could be done at almost anytime (certain missions would prevent this feature) via super speed. When becoming Superman, an animation could occur where Clark pulls his shirt apart to reveal the S symbol, then spinning into a blur that quickly changes outfits. It'd be a cool reference to give players the option to switch in a phone booth too.
With "help" from Luthor, you will restore your powers to their normal state throughout the game. Powers will become more potent as you progress and you'll unlock skills tied to those powers.
I personally feel it shouldn't take you the entire game to unlock your full power-set. Instead, I'd like to have all my powers back at around 25 - 35% through and after that continue to upgrade with damage, skills, health etc.
Regular combat will mainly be a sort of block/retaliate. You can block/dodge incoming attacks and then counter your with what you feel necessary to get the job done. A powerful boxing/brawler kind of feel that he's shown in the comics. Ground Takedowns are especially helpful in fighting as well.
Ground Takedowns - This is useful against enemies who are knocked down. Superman will deliver a formidable blow that will KO or destroy the opponent. Animations could vary greatly.
This will come in the form of a meter that you can expend decent fractions of in order to use your Amped Powers. It will slowly deplete when using powers that draw from this resource and regenerate by itself. It will fill even faster depending on your altitude (after city is restored). This is endless for a period of time after you Sundip.
Unlocked near the end of the game, you can fly towards the sun while in Space (See "Space" near the end of the post) via seamless cut-scene from there. This will make your Solar Power Meter endless for a period of time while increasing damage and durability.
Superman can perform a Super Move when he's reached a certain amount on the hit counter, which he can use on the following.
This power will allow you to punch enemies long distances, into buildings, beat them into the ground, and knock them senseless. You can utilize your surroundings by picking up objects whether it's a car being thrown, or hitting them with a light pole. Your charged punches will create large shock waves because they deal more damage. They will also send foes sailing through the air and into objects or obstacles, doing damage and leaving them open to Flight Combat (See below). When your hit counter is charged, normal punches will deal more damage and make small shock waves. These punches make your enemies airborne.
This seemed to be the best thing about Superman Returns, as it's what made us feel most like Superman. The feeling of traversing through the air at supersonic speeds averaging at 800 mph is a rush, especially when you break the sound barrier. Though, I feel it could be kicked up several hundred mph throughout the game via "upgrades". This is so flight feels more intense and empowering, gives a sense of progression, all while simply getting you around quicker. When you achieve faster speeds for flight, I think it should built up over time, making you faster and faster till you reach the cap. Flight will also play a part in combat as well as be your fastest choice for travel. I think an optional 1st person perspective that's toggled would be really cool.
I believe this video illustrates perfectly what how I'd love for this to feel in a video game:
This simply allows you to launch skyward and continue flying when holding down the button for toggling flight. The longer it's held, the faster you'll fire upward.
Flight Combat is performed by using "Up, Up, and Away!" while locked on, which will activate your flight and launch Superman towards his enemy so you can continue through the air with them. Throughout the game, upgrades will allow you to fly faster. This will impact Flight Combat as well, allowing you to fly faster with your opponent. When crashing enemies through buildings or into the ground, faster flight speeds will increase damage. Upgrades will allow you to punch your enemy at super speed during Flight Combat, eventually being able to use "Heat Vision" at the same time. You can fly through buildings with your adversary but when doing so it will limit you to a single floor. You have the options of dragging them across the floor, ceiling, or through objects and walls before exiting through the other side. Your opponent can retaliate via Quick Time Event (ala Shadow of Mordor's death QTE). If you fail the QTE, your enemy will free themselves of your grasp and knock you downward. Succeeding with the QTE will result in your choice of continuing with the Flight Combat or using a different attack your enemy (charged punch or Heat Vision, etc.)
This power can be used while running, flying, or to enhance your perceptions. When running, you can essentially use the shoulder buttons to shift into a higher tier of speed.
This is toggled and will draw heavily from your Solar Power Meter, allowing the player to witness actions around them in slow motion.
"Heat Vision", "Freeze Breath", and "Super Breath" will be bound to the D-Pad. Selecting the same power twice will switch to a more powerful version of that ability (ala Superman Returns).
While "Perception Speed" is active, powers will become more abrupt and lighter versions of themselves. "Heat Vision" becomes "Heat Blast", while "Freeze/Super Breath" turns into "Freeze/Super Gust".
This power will draw from your Solar Power Meter.
This power will take from your Solar Power Meter.
This power will take from your Solar Power Meter.
Much like Arkham City's "Detective Mode" this will serve the purpose of seeing through walls to view enemies and solve objectives. This will be an important ability when doing missions as Clark Kent. It should look far more natural than "Detective Mode" and seem less technological.
This will be the power used to alert you of dangers throughout Metropolis. Situations that require Superman's attention will ping the player to a location somewhere in the city. The noises being heard can help describe what is taking place at the pinged location.
Ordinary crime could be handled with little effort from the boy scout, so many deem this boring. Whether it's a thug robbing a bank/store, beating up a civilian or snatching a purse, I personally feel it could be made empowering, fun, and even humorous by having Superman's actions "behave" differently against normal thugs in the sense that his physical attacks and his powers will become more delicate, making it possible to use your powers lightly on regular criminals.
1. Freezing a thug in place, and using a light melee or other action to K.O. (refer to point 4.)
2. Heating up their weapon/freezing their hands if they attempt to take a hostage as leverage to get out of the situation, and continue with light melee or other action to K.O. (refer to point 4.)
3. Blowing them down with a firm gust of wind (chance of K.O.)
4. Making Superman interact with them differently than he would meta-humans. For instance, instead of punching them through a building, have Superman capable of performing light takedowns at the push of button. This could include flicking them, slapping them, or shoving them back several feet with a light touch of the palm. The player could go on to take them to the MPD (Metropolis Police Department) or leave them for the police. The latter could be done via super speed animation that has Superman run off-screen and back, typing the criminal up too fast for us to see.
5. If a thug does fire a shot at a civilian, the player could use Perception Speed to stop the bullet with Heat Blast, Super Gust, or Freeze Gust. You could simply move in front of the bullets before they reach the civilian, having them bounce off of your skin.
Enemies with super speed can require toggling "Perception Speed" to defeat, otherwise they're practically blurs hitting you and can't be locked onto. To rebuttal, players could do a number of things, like toggling "Perception Speed", and using Heat Blast, Freeze Gust, or Super Gust on them. Amped Powers can also do the trick due to the fact that they cover more ground if you aren't locked onto a target. A well placed/timed Super Slam or Thunderclap can slow them, and knock them down or back into objects, dazing them. There are different ways that these fights could be handled, it's simply up to the player on how.
1. Using "Freeze Breath" with "Perception Speed" toggled to halt them in place, and proceeding to strike them however you'd like.
2. "Heat Blast" will knock them back so the player can overpower them afterward while they're dazed. .
3. "Super Gust" will blow them off their feet so Superman can finish them off with a Ground Takedown.
4. As stated before, a well placed/timed area attack will slow/daze them as well.
Enemies possessing super strength and durability will give some of the most fun fights I've had the pleasure of thinking about. They will be able to grab, punch, and throw you at buildings, while also being capable of stomping you into the ground. They will be able to take your blows and deal some back to you. Their greater durability will allow them to take a lot more damage compared to other enemy types. Players should encounter no more than 2 at one time.
1. You could start punching them and hit them with an uppercut (Liftoff) mid combo or wreck them with a charged punch. This sends the enemy into the air. You can continue by locking on and launching yourself towards them for some Flight Combat. You could go on to slam them into the ground or through a building.
2. You can chain combos together with your powers. From hitting your enemy with a gust of "Freeze Breath" mid combo that chills them to a standstill. This allows you to chain along another combo (This will be balanced and won't be spammable) or knock them in the air and finishing them with an amped power.
3. Your punches will have a chance to knock certain enemies down, while specific powers could be used to do so as well. After that has been done, it's lights out after a Ground Takedown.
4. Having enemies who can fly can require flying into your adversary or hitting them with your powers to slow or stop them.
After much thought, I feel Metropolis should have health (possibly divided into sections) much like in Superman Returns. The city's health can be invigorated by stopping crimes, natural disasters, super powered foes, and rescuing the city's inhabitants.
Superman Returns: The Videogame did a very poor job here. In size, the map was good but was clumped together and surrounded by a mountain range. When I envision Metropolis, I see something like a great city that is possibly divided into parts, some being bigger than others. The map must be very large. Superman Returns had an 80 sq mi. map, which is big but can definitely be outdone. Something 1/4 the size of Just Cause 2 (Would be 125 sq mi.) but with more city sounds great. This allows the player to not feel like they can fly around the whole city in 10 seconds while also making sense of natural disasters, etc.
The A.I. for the civilians of Metropolis needs to of course, be relatively smart, but also very capable of running and getting away from dangerous fights between Superman and his opponent most of the time. Ideally, I would have a Superman game try to keep hurt citizens between 2 - 3 unless under certain circumstances. Superman Returns had injured civilians, which is good if you don't have 10 people needing to be carried to the ambulance. Cases like this influence the player to maybe carry 1 or 2 of them to the emergency vehicles, while leaving any others behind because they feel it's too tedious. This takes away from the experience of feeling like Superman. Honestly, it made me feel kinda bad, even when I couldn't help it because sometimes the EMS would be far away, and the injured victims would disappear off the map. It would do nothing but refill the city's health, which is a great idea but I think there should be something extra in it for the player, so it's more rewarding to do good.
1. Civilians who are in their cars should stop what they're doing, and start running when danger is close or can be seen from a distance. The same goes for pedestrians.
2. Citizens cannot be harmed/targeted by Superman's powers (ala Arkham series w/gadgets against citizens).
3. Carrying the injured to a hospital or close EMS should yield an experience bonus to spend towards upgrades while also regenerating a fraction of Metropolis' health.
4. Civilians can help each other get away from danger, to a nearby ambulance, or call an ambulance to help. This is a good idea which allows for more citizens to be injured to improve immersion, while leaving some for the player to save if there are any.
Now, Superman Returns needed more common occurrences. You'd get the occasional building on fire, but nothing else that seemed rather typical or "everyday." Only the first and last levels are natural disasters, something that I believe should arise, but somewhat rarely while playing.
1. I could see Metropolis having something much like New York's "Central Park", and under certain weather conditions, there's a chance lightning could spark a wildfire which could call for your Super Breath or a way of supplying large amounts of water. Building fires would also be a random occurrence.
2. Metropolis lying close to large body (or bodies) of could render it prone to tsunami's or floods. Large waves which can be taken care of via Super/Freeze Breath.
3. Earthquakes occurring and resulting in unavoidable damage to the city, but causing dangerous situations for some of the populace.
4. I feel meteor showers should also transpire, but very rarely. The player could destroy them in different ways depending on their size. Brute force by flying straight into them can destroy small - big meteors, while heat vision can destroy small - medium. Flying into one and slamming it into another could save time.
5. Tornadoes. Of course, these can range in size. The player could get rid of them in different ways depending on how big or small they come. A powerful thunderclap could dissipate it. Switching to the "amped" super breath and blow it away. Building up a very high speed while flying and then soaring through the vortex could also get rid of it.
These are jobs for Superman that yield experience to be used toward skins or damage/health boosts.
⦁ Ping to Superman via "Super Hearing" by a sinking submarine calling for help. Player must dive into the water and lift the submarine, placing it safely upon land.
⦁ Super Hearing will ping Superman to a falling plane in the sky somewhere on the map. The player must get to the plane, grab it and level it out or put it gently on land, depending on whether or not the plane is on fire (simply a visual indication of what action needs to be performed.)
⦁ Ping to a train that has been sabotaged and Superman must stop it before it crashes, killing innocents.
⦁ Hearing a getaway car and subduing the bad guys before they can manage to get away.
I do not feel that buildings should topple and be destroyed as a result of the player fighting. But the buildings that do get damaged can be repaired via super speed animation, providing XP to the player if they choose to take the time to go to the damaged building and perform the repair. When fixing the building, Superman flies around it after insane speeds, covering the whole thing in a red blur before stopping to reveal the structure looking good as new. If the player does not do this then construction teams will be shown at that building later, fixing it in a fair amount of time. The construction workers will call out to Superman and ask for help with the work load, leaving the option to fix the building and gain XP open for you unless the player decides to leave it to the A.I.
(Flying into most objects won't stop Superman. They will be destroyed/deformed and damaged.)
You will assist Ms. Lane with low-profile objectives as Clark Kent. As Superman, you are able to take Lois out on brief dates in the city. These side quests will entail Lois wanting to go to a certain location in Metropolis. The player will fly to her desired spot while flying through (Rings anyone?) hearts with the House of El symbol in them. Depending on where you are in the story, the characters will talk about certain things pertaining to your current progression. The player will fly Lois back to her apartment and emotionally wish the lady goodnight. I have not decided whether or not Lois should know his secret identity.
I think of this as a special place for Superman. The player can fly here by heading skyward and possibly hitting a point that activates a seamless loading screen of the them flying out of Earth's atmosphere and having Superman float there. I feel this could be much like Bruce's Crime Alley feature in Arkham City. Very inspiring music playing while floating above Earth and maybe having a slight green glow off in the distant of space that represents Krypton. Flying towards the North Pole will take the player to the Fortress, while flying towards anywhere else will send them back to Metropolis.
I feel players should be able to get here from Metropolis or space by flying towards it or through the pause menu. Costumes and challenge maps could be accessed through a Crystal Terminal or through the main menu (ala Arkham Knight).
Using PlayStation controls. When flying with an enemy the player must use the left analog stick to fly.
⦁ L2: Lock-on
⦁ L1: Hold for Perception Speed/Speed Tier Down
⦁ R2: Use selected power
⦁ R1: Super Speed/Speed Tier Up
⦁ Square: Attack/Hold for charged punches
⦁ Triangle: Toggle Flight/Hold for Up, Up, and Away!/Hold while locked on for Flight Combat.
⦁ Circle: Grab/Throw/Pick up or Put down civilian
⦁ X: Block/Dodge
⦁ D-Pad Up: Heat Vision/Amped Heat Vision
⦁ D-Pad Left: Freeze Breath/Amped Freeze Breath
⦁ D-Pad Right: Super Breath/ Amped Super Breath
⦁ D-Pad Down: X-Ray Vision/Put Civilian/Object Down
⦁ Left Analog: Move
⦁ Right Analog: Move Camera/Aim/Flight Control/Press for 1st Person during flight
⦁ Touchpad: Map
⦁ Super Hearing is passive
R2 + Square: Ground Takedown
Holding Square + Circle w/charged hit counter: Liftoff (Powerful Uppercut)
Holding Square + X w/charged hit counter: Super Slam
Holding Square + Triangle w/charged hit counter: Thunderclap
This sounds really good! Who would you get to write the game? I would get Morrison or Johns.
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