Pre E3 rumours are rife, and one that has many people talking is the rumour that XCOM’s studio Firaxis may be making a turn-based Marvel superhero game.
This is possibly good news for super Marvel fans as XCOM is considered the highest tier of isometric turn-based strategy games. With Gears of War launching their own version of this for Xbox Series X and PC recently, it does show this template can be made to work well for other IPs.
Though a top-notch game, you may be quite unaware of Gears Tactics, and despite being a huge Gearhead myself, I can’t claim to have even completed it. Why? Because turn-based strategy games don’t exactly blow my socks off.
While a new Marvel game is bound to get many a MCU fan hyped, it’s important to remember what happened to the last super team game we got, to avoid further heartbreak.
This of course being Square Enix’s Avengers, which was so underwhelming Square posted huge losses that quarter.
If you’re a big fan of XCOM and the like, then it’s more the merrier. But with turn-based strategy games being a niche market I’m not super optimistic about this game doing well, even with the Infinity Cash marketing appeal of Marvel heroes.
It might be that the game play is simple enough that this could bring in a younger audience who love the MCU but aren’t yet dexterous enough to deal with real time games yet. For those slightly older however, I don’t see the patience and tactical appraisal required for these games keeping it appealing.
Despite Marvel being the biggest thing in the world right now, it seems to almost never get a hit with its video games. The only exception being Insomniac’s Spider Man. At least with this new XCOM like, it is something different, and from a site with pedigree in this area.
One thing I am intrigued about though, is in searching out Firaxis’ website, a symbol they use that throws me back to a game reveal that Jez Corden has been teasing with an Emoji on Twitter. With what’s being referred to as Project Typhoon, could this be the game he’s hinting at.
Those versed in Emoji and the upcoming games will read this as:
Forza Horizon Mexico, Starfield, Halo Infinite … project typhoon and project Dragon.
Project Dragon has already been confirmed to be a dragon themed RPG in development by IO Interactive.
The Project typhoon, however, has been kept secret. Though Jez has dismissed the idea that it’s Ubisoft.
Looking at Firaxis’s logo, it certainly fits.
With less than a week to go the start of E3. We wont be waiting long to find out.
Want to give XCOM a go, pick up your copy here. For the hyper gritty Xbox take on the game, I'd suggest Gears Tactics.
And if you want to set your Marvel expectations up front, try Avengers for the PlayStation or Xbox.
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