st218

FEATURE GAMING

40 to 60 hours, depending on the player. We do have a New Game Plus, which is important because Marvel's Midnight Suns features a friendship

system where you can develop your relationships and level them up with each playable hero in the game. There are 13 playable heroes in the base game, and four more coming with our Season Pass. It's basically impossible to maximise your friendship with every single hero in one playthrough, and New Game Plus carries forward your previous Friendship levels, so completionists will find themselves diving back in again. And being a Firaxis game, we have a LOT of difficulty levels to suit the player. Whether you're looking to just experience a great supernatural Marvel story or you want to really test your tactical skills, there’s something for everyone. Being “set in the darker, supernatural side”, how much of the Marvel universe will feature in Marvel’s Midnight Suns character wise? It’s set in its own universe, with our own lore and backstory. That said, fans of the comic books and movies will feel right at home and, looking at our roster of heroes, we have characters from across the Marvel universe - we've got Avengers, X-Men, Nico from Runaways and more. Just like the original comic run in the 1990s, Marvel's Midnight Suns is very much a classic crossover event. Please tell us more about the hot voice cast… We've really got a stellar cast of voice actors in Marvel's Midnight Suns, including some familiar voices for Marvel fans. You may

If you're a Marvel fan but aren't so sure

about tactics or strategy, I think you might be surprised at how good you will naturally be at Marvel's Midnight Suns .

How closely did you work with Marvel in developing the Hunter? The Hunter is someone we knew we wanted from the very beginning of the game - as I mentioned before, we wanted to be able to drop you directly into the Marvel universe. We didn't want you to be Iron Man or Blade, we wanted you to lead a team with Iron Man and Blade. So, we worked super-closely with Marvel when creating the Hunter to ensure that they felt like an authentic Marvel character that everyone could feel connected to, and get excited about seeing their story unfold, as well as stand toe-to-toe with the heroes that you're leading into combat. In particular, Marvel had invaluable feedback across things like colour blocking and characterisation that make the Hunter feel truly authentic as a hero. After numerous action adventures and beat- ’em-ups, a tactical RPG is quite a departure for the world of Marvel video games. Have you made any concessions to ease Marvel fans into your world of strategy? We know we have a huge opportunity to expand tactics to new audiences. But we're also Firaxis, which means we make the types of games we make – they're deep, we have turn based tactics, lots of systems to dive into. I actually think this is where the benefits of having card-based combat come into play. Everybody’s already familiar with the concept of cards, whether you watch poker or play pinochle with your grandma. You already have some idea

of what it means to have a hand, or that you’re drawing cards at random and, as a designer, anything we don't have to teach the player is worth its weight in platinum! Marvel's Midnight Suns plays fast, combat is dynamic, the attacks and skills and heroics are very flashy - and the system behind it has a ton of depth for veteran strategy fans to sink their teeth into. If you're a Marvel fan but aren't so sure about tactics or strategy, I think you might be surprised at how good you will naturally be

at Marvel's Midnight Suns . Who knows? Maybe you'll discover a lifelong passion for tactics games while you're at it! How long can players expect a playthrough to last, and what sort of “replayability” options are there? Marvel's Midnight Suns is the biggest game we've ever made. It's a full-fledged tactical RPG that clocks around

TIP SERVICE New to tactical RPGs? No sweat, Jake’s given us some hot tips: You've got three Card Plays per turn, effectively meaning you can use three abilities during your turn. Tactics in Marvel's Midnight Suns revolve around answering the question, ‘How do I take out as many enemies on this turn as I can?’ If you have a card with Quick on it, use that against any weak Minion enemy or someone you know you'll KO. Quick abilities refund the Card Play if successful on KO, which essentially means you take out an enemy for free. Pay attention to your positioning! Almost like a game of pool, Marvel's Midnight Suns features abilities that have Knockback. Use Knockback to blast your foes into each other, into hazards on the map, or even off ledges!

have heard Yuri Lowenthal's voice for Spider-Man during our Darkness Falls trailer, or you might have caught Steve Blum's Wolverine. Lyrica Okano, who played Nico Minoru in Runaways , is voicing our Nico. And Michael Jai White is voicing Blade, who might be the coolest character in the game! Ultimately, what do you most look forward to players gaining from their experiences with Marvel’s Midnight Suns? I hope that players have fun! Marvel's Midnight Suns is a true dream project for me and the team at Firaxis. It's something that we think feels and plays really fresh, and I can't wait to hear what kind of strategies, moves and experiences players have when they get their hands on the game.

• Marvel's Midnight Suns is out on Dec 2

Images: © 2022 MARVEL

9