This month sees the release of Batman: Arkham Asylum, the hugely promising noir adventure that may well put the 'super' back into the super hero videogame. For years we've had to suffer mediocre movie tie-ins, with the Watchmen, Fantastic Four and Spider-Man 3 all proving as useless as the films they were based on. The only truly bright spots (that I can instantly recall at 21.30 on a Thursday evening) have been Neversoft's original Spider-Man title on PlayStation and Capcom's series of Marvel-themed fighting games. I have great hopes for DC Universe Online, but that's several months away.
So anyway, with Arkham Asylum on the way and super hero movies crowding the box office charts, which comic book heroes should have their own games, and who should make them? I've come up with a few to get you started; some of these may have made the odd cameo appearance in the distant past, but none have stood astride the current consoles.
Excelsior! And all that...
Daredevil
Okay, so Marvel's blind vigilante exists in a similar milieu to Spider-Man (New York, King Pin, endless neuroses, etc), but image what fun developers could have in simulating his heightened sense of hearing, as well as giving us occasional radar-like impressions of how the cityscape is viewed through his eyes. Also, Elektra. Enough said.
Developer: Maybe Epic or Ubisoft Montreal for that Sam Fisher vibe.
Swamp Thing
Alan Moore's version, of course. The vegetative warrior could be rendered in luscious organic detail on modern consoles, while his ecological battles against the corrupt Sunderland Corporation are so zeitgeist-friendly it's ridiculous. Sort of Resident Evil meets a Green Peace advergame.
Developer: Shinji Mikami, Fumito Ueda or perhaps Naughty Dog who've shown their flair for forest environments with Uncharted.
Emma Frost
The telepathic mutant who first fought then joined the X-Men. Has enjoyed a colourful biography throughout the series, with plenty of juicy abilities (and glamorous costumes) to build a videogame around. Well, it was either this or Wonder Woman...
Developer: Sucker Punch or Radical Entertainment who handled offbeat, but powerful super powers well in inFamous and Prototype respectively.
Sandman
Neil Gaiman's series of dreamy metaphysical adventures would work brilliantly as a surreal open-world adventure. Each mythological domain could be depicted as an ever-shifting psychological landscape, in which Morpheus must battle demons, serial killers and gods.
Developer: Irrational Games (aka 2K Boston) or Bethesda Softworks's Fallout team.
Dr Strange
Marvel's cosmic magician employs a range of supernatural abilities and bizarre artefacts to battle pan-dimensional bad guys - frankly it's a crime that he's never enjoyed more than the odd videogame cameo. Just think of what a modern graphics processor could do with Steve Ditko's psychedelic visuals.
Developer: Monolith Productions (F.E.A.R) or for the surreal twist Platinum Games, the chaps behind Mad World and Bayonetta.
