Marvel's Midnight Suns shows off its card-based superhero tactics
This deck does more than just Magik tricks
Marvel may often be an action-based universe full of heroes with long legacies that you know and love. Upcoming Marvel's Midnight Suns is a little of both of those things but somehow a little the opposite. We already know that Midnight Suns is introducing a new, customisable hero called Hunter and that it's a tactical game by the folks behind XCOM. It's not exactly Marvel's XCOM though. A new gameplay reveal for Midnight Suns shows off its card-based battle system, a bit more of its story, and some friendly hangout time with your favorite supers.
As I gather is the case in the Marvel world, there's always a new big baddie to kick. This time around that's Lilith, mother of demons. Your custom hero Hunter is actually Lilith's kid, and apparently the only one known to have kicked her rear in the past. You'll be doing battle against her army of Lilin demons to save the world and all after the super squad resurrect you to help out.
Down here in the new gameplay reveal, Firaxis detail how you'll be taking on missions as a party of three super heroes. It's not just turn-based superpowers, it turns out. Marvel's Midnight Suns is also a deck game where you'll be drawing card abilities and moves to play.
Firaxis also get into some other tactical details. You'll use the environemnts in each mission as well. Classic expoding barrels and dangerous ledges are abound. There are instances of lining up enemies for big multi-target attacks. You can also spot totals for a player's remaining moves, redraws, and card plays during combat. Picking the right pairs of heroes seems to be relatively important for combo moves between heroes too. You'll also spend time forging new abilities and upgrading the ones you've got to add to your deck.
In beetween missions, you'll hang around and explore your hideout The Abbey. That's where you'll get to know your super pals, which can strengthen their abilities. Go on a nice walk with Tony Stark. Meditate with Magik. Go wild. Hold on—wait—not that wild. Firaxis say you can't go kissing your teammates. This is an RPG but there's no romance here, sorry.
If card games bring loot boxes to mind, not to worry. Firaxis have responded to fans after the gameplay reveal to say that there are no microtransactions related to getting more cards. "We will have purely cosmetic character skins for purchase that do not affect game balance in any way," they say.
Once again, there's already more on the horizon. Firaxis will be showing off a mission in which Hunter and Wolverine take on Sabretooth next week for an even closer look at combat. That'll be a livestream next Tuesday, September 7th at 7:30pm BST.