Marvel’s Midnight Suns stream shows what a battle actually looks like
Since 2K and Firaxis first revealed Marvel’s Midnight Suns, we’ve had a ton of questions about how the card-based tactics game would actually play. Thanks to a new developer livestream, we’ve finally got some of the answers we’d been waiting for.
The new 20-minute video shows off a good chunk of combat, culminating in a boss battle that sees the Hunter and Wolverine taking on Sabretooth, who’s sporting the most extreme sideburns we’ve ever seen in a video game.
Despite the earlier gameplay reveal videos, this is definitely our closest look yet at how battles will actually play out. In essence, you have a hand of cards tied to character abilities, some of which are attacks and some of which take on more of a support role, like healing or buffing the team.
In addition to using these cards, you can also move your characters around the battlefield. Movement seems especially useful for lining up environmental attacks that do a lot of damage, like knocking enemies into one another, or knocking pieces of the environment into groups of enemies. In the video, we see Wolverine shove a dumpster into two enemies at once, knocking them out of the fight, and later on he topples a light pole on top of Sabretooth.
The final main component of gameplay is the Heroism meter, which fills up throughout the battle. You’ll need to spend some of your Heroism points to execute certain powerful attacks, like Hero Combos that let two of your characters team up to lay a serious smackdown on the bad guys.
There are a set number of actions you can take each turn, split between card plays, moves, and redraws. Once you’ve used them up, your turn is over, and the other side has a chance to hit back.
The stream also offered more insights into the other side of the game, which centers on controlling the Hunter in an over-the-shoulder view as you explore the Abbey. As the Hunter, you’ll be able to customize your quarters, pet your Hellhound, Charlie, hang out with different heroes on your team, collect crafting materials, and uncover secrets. Conversations in the Abbey will feature branching dialogue choices, affecting your “light/dark balance” and impacting relationships.
We also see how you’ll transition between this hub world and combat. Essentially, the Hunter will walk through a portal, into an interdimensional space called Limbo, and then out another portal onto the battlefield. From the looks of things, you won’t be traipsing around environments while out on a mission, which should keep things fairly fast-paced and action-packed.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns releases sometime in March 2022 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
