Writing a review for Marvel's Midnight Suns proved to be a daunting task. This is partly because of how much fun there is in this tactical RPG, but I also can't stop thinking about how to play it. After spending about ten hours playing the superhero game, I can't wait to get back to creating new maps, chatting with my super-powered friends, and enjoying the fact that I'm having a lot of fun beating Hydra thugs like fascist piñatas.
These itchs form the basis of gameplay in Marvel's Midnight Suns. You prepare your team for the upcoming mission by buffing their decks with upgrades, heading out to the battlefield to kick some wicked asses, then returning home to chat and relax before repeating tomorrow. It's an addictive loop that should feel familiar to XCOM fans, and while this game does bear some resemblance to its predecessor in this and other respects, it's by no means a copy of it.
Character and gameplay overview of Marvel's Midnight Suns
For starters, instead of running the show from the sidelines as a faceless, voiceless creature, you will participate in battle along with your squad as the “Hunter”. You are one of the last remaining members of an ancient lineage, awakened from centuries of sleep to aid Earth's mightiest heroes in their fight against Lilith, the mother of demons.
Firaxis proudly describes the Hunter as "the first customizable hero in the Marvel Universe," allowing you to customize his appearance, personality, and playstyle to suit your liking. The ability to put your stamp on the Hunter is best demonstrated during conversations with teammates, as your dialogue choices will often affect the relationships between the heroes. There's also a degree of joyful wish fulfillment in the game as you join childhood favorites like Blade and Spider-Man on the battlefield. Framing the villains to finish them off or saving their skins with one of your own tricks is a surprisingly exciting and satisfying experience.
With all that said, I wish The Hunter's character creation tool was more robust. In my case, I couldn't create the superhero I had in mind due to the lack of sliders to help fine-tune its appearance. As a result, I opted to go with their stock look, which is admittedly pretty cool. And while some may complain about the lack of voice acting options, I personally find that the actors for every body type are good enough.
In fact, the quality of voice acting and writing for each character is very good, which is very nice considering you will spend as much time talking to these characters as fighting alongside them. Each superhero's personalities are pleasantly varied and well-executed, making Doctor Strange's warm and eccentric nature a perfect contrast to Magik's harsh and cold.
I was pleasantly surprised that Marvel's Midnight Suns has a great sense of humour, the conversations often put a smile on my face and often make me laugh. This came as a bit of a relief to me, as I was worried that Firaxis might be taking on the same overly humorous tone as it did in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thankfully, the developer opted instead to let both the characters and one-liners breathe, deftly balancing between quiet moments of reflection and silly demonic soufflé references.
The dialogue sequences would be even more fun if the game's visuals were clearer. The game looks good. by her own, but compared to XCOM 2 it's not much better. It has a definite "last generation" feel to it despite modern graphics technologies like ray-traced shadows and ambient occlusion, and Marvel's Midnight Suns system requirements reflect that.
These bumps are most evident in character models and animations, with Tony Stark suffering the most: skin textures reminiscent of plasticine. Elsewhere, your teammates may appear a little stiff during dialogue, their bodies repeating the same idle animation in a circle with each new line.
Issues like these are perhaps symptomatic of Firaxis' lack of experience with RPGs. However, to the studio's credit, it has managed to find the most important building blocks, and what it lacks is more than made up for by its experience in the most important element: creating thoughtful tactical combat systems. Like XCOM before it, combat in Marvel's Midnight Suns requires a good degree of strategy. They are like an evolving puzzle that requires you to evaluate the battlefield each turn and figure out how best to use your resources to survive the current round, which sometimes turns them into a real puzzle.
Marvel's Midnight Suns Ability Overview
Abilities in Marvel's Midnight Suns come in the form of cards, five of which are available to you at the start of each turn. These abilities are randomly generated based on the decks you build for each of your heroes, and are divided into three types. The attacks are mostly self-explanatory, allowing you to deal damage to enemies and also occasionally apply negative effects such as bleeding. Skills include a wide range of effects, including buffs, debuffs, the ability to play additional cards, and more. Heroic abilities are the most powerful tools in your arsenal, giving you an advantage in battle through massive damage or giving you a powerful advantage.
It will take you some time to adjust to this style of randomness, especially if you come to Marvel's Midnight Suns with no anti-XCOM prejudice at the door, but it won't take more than a few minutes for the combat to start working. What I like the most is that I feel more in control of the situation, knowing that my abilities will always hit the target. It doesn't make sense for superheroes to deal low damage or miss, and it's a lot more satisfying than having to succumb to the whims of 69% chance to hit despite my character facing the enemy.
And that doesn't even take into account how cool these abilities look. I especially love it when Ghost Rider literally blasts your enemies into flames in his Hell Charger muscle car. Given the spectacle of these initial heroics, I'm looking forward to building relationships with everyone as much as possible to unlock their ultimate ability, Midnight Sun.
Trailer for Marvel's Midnight Suns
Conclusion
My sense of anticipation extends to the game as a whole, as I can't wait to see when other superheroes will join the Midnight Suns and what equally awesome supervillains we'll face together. I feel like now, after a long period of learning, I'm really getting into the groove, and if things continue like this, Firaxis could very well have another of the best strategy games.
You can expect our full Marvel's Midnight Suns review to arrive shortly before the game's release date, so stay tuned!
