Warner Bros Montreal’s Attempts At A Superman Game

[Vordan]

Since some stuff like concept art has started to come out I’d figure I’d make a thread and post it here:
7DB376FF-7282-41B4-BEF4-4978EA027674.jpg

Some backstory: WBM has been silent since Arkham Origins. The reason for that is they’ve had a number of games get cancelled, some of which got pretty far along in production, others of which didn’t get that far before getting canned. Known projects include a Suicide Squad game (rumors say Rocksteady has taken over this project), a Damian Wayne Batman game which got cancelled the day before it was supposed to be revealed, and a couple attempts at Superman. Now WBM is working on a Batman reboot which will kick off a DC Gaming Universe. They’ve got a second DC project in preproduction and rumors have said it might be Superman.

Source for all this info is here: https://t.co/kro5sMZRGd?amp=1. Might all turn out to be a bunch of bull but I’m bored under quarantine and I’d thought we could use something to talk about lol. Apparently the reason a lot of the Superman projects failed was they couldn’t get flying to work in UE3. Hopefully with UE4 they’ve fixed that problem.

[Vordan]

Here’s a brief history of all the failed Superman projects: https://twitter.com/jsig212james/sta...670886913?s=21

[Ascended]

Doesn't DCU Online use UE3? Flying works just fine there.

I mean, it'd be crazy nice to get a good Superman game. PS4 Spidey was great, we finally have the Final Fantasy 7 remake (oh moy gods, so good!), PS4 Avengers looks like it'll be alright, maybe even great. Adding Superman to the list would be just swell.

But I'll believe it the day the game is in my hands.

[Vordan]

Doesn't DCU Online use UE3? Flying works just fine there.

I mean, it'd be crazy nice to get a good Superman game. PS4 Spidey was great, we finally have the Final Fantasy 7 remake (oh moy gods, so good!), PS4 Avengers looks like it'll be alright, maybe even great. Adding Superman to the list would be just swell.

But I'll believe it the day the game is in my hands.

I wouldn’t call it “great” flying though. And the Arkham games use a heavily modified version of UE3. Really the best flying I’ve seen was in Anthem (too bad the rest of the game was trash).

[Frontier]

If WB is really committed to a new shared universe of DC games, then hopefully they deliver entries for non-Batman major IP's as well like Superman, Wonder Woman, and maybe some of the other Big 7.

With E3 gone I wonder when they'll finally announce the new Batman game.

[Vordan]

If WB is really committed to a new shared universe of DC games, then hopefully they deliver entries for non-Batman major IP's as well like Superman, Wonder Woman, and maybe some of the other Big 7.

With E3 gone I wonder when they'll finally announce the new Batman game.

Soon I’d wager. The guy whose Twitter thread I posted seems to think not every JL will get a game, due to WB wanting Games as A Service (not sure if you know what that term means). So Batman will obviously get games, Superman/WW might get games, beyond that though? Maybe the Flash? But the rest of the JL won’t get individual games. Team games are totally possible, Rocksteady is said to be making Suicide Squad.

[Frontier]

Soon I’d wager. The guy whose Twitter thread I posted seems to think not every JL will get a game, due to WB wanting Games as A Service (not sure if you know what that term means). So Batman will obviously get games, Superman/WW might get games, beyond that though? Maybe the Flash? But the rest of the JL won’t get individual games. Team games are totally possible, Rocksteady is said to be making Suicide Squad.

I thought the main rumor was that Rocksteady was doing a games as service game featuring teen heroes, but I hope the games as service model is less prevalent for solo games.

Flash was so close to a game before that he seems like the perfect fit for one now.

[DochaDocha]

Considering most review sites treat Arkham Origins as the weak link, maybe it's just as well WB Montreal didn't come through with a Superman game. Maybe it'd be a bad look for Superman if WB/DC give Batman to the big league squad and ship Superman over to the JV.

I wouldn’t call it “great” flying though. And the Arkham games use a heavily modified version of UE3. Really the best flying I’ve seen was in Anthem (too bad the rest of the game was trash).

Yeah, you can fly, and it works, but it's not exactly all that enjoyable. Maybe it's a consequence of the trope in comic books. Every other hero can fly, so flying is not exciting, and therefore DCUO's flying isn't that exciting. I feel like 25-30 year old Mario games did flying a whole lot better, but that might just be the nature of platforming game.

[Patrick Gerard]

As a game, I'd have adapted the 2000s Return to Krypton with elements from Godfall and other game franchises like Bioshock.

You could work in Brainiac, Eradicator, Phantom Zoners...

The powers would be rationed given the plot of being under a red sun. If you follow the comics, Lois tags along.

I know, I know -- you want the full powers. I'd say save that for a sequel and use the limited/dwindling powers on Krypton to workshop play mechanics while getting a game to market faster on the Arkham engine and to establish Superman as a badass. The sequel would have people excited to get the full powers. Leave them wanting more.

Well, what about Lex, you ask? Well, there's the twist. I'd have him orchestrate Return to Krypton either with a mad plan to destroy Superman with Krypton or save Krypton and erase Superman. The latter could play well with him orchestrating the various Kryptonian villains through Zod, Mala, and Jax-Ur -- since they all naturally want to save Krypton.

[Vordan]

As a game, I'd have adapted the 2000s Return to Krypton with elements from Godfall and other game franchises like Bioshock.

You could work in Brainiac, Eradicator, Phantom Zoners...

The powers would be rationed given the plot of being under a red sun. If you follow the comics, Lois tags along.

I know, I know -- you want the full powers. I'd say save that for a sequel and use the limited/dwindling powers on Krypton to workshop play mechanics while getting a game to market faster on the Arkham engine and to establish Superman as a badass. The sequel would have people excited to get the full powers. Leave them wanting more.

Well, what about Lex, you ask? Well, there's the twist. I'd have him orchestrate Return to Krypton either with a mad plan to destroy Superman with Krypton or save Krypton and erase Superman. The latter could play well with him orchestrating the various Kryptonian villains through Zod, Mala, and Jax-Ur -- since they all naturally want to save Krypton.

One of the attempts at a Superman game had it take place in the Bottled City of Kandor, so they’re at least aware of that option. Frankly I think rationing out the powers is fine. It’s not like there was any in game reason Batman wasn’t armed to the teeth in Asylum and he had to wait until certain plot points had been complete before he could increase his array of tools. Personally I would just set the first game in the Phantom Zone or whatever and have Clark be at his Golden Age/Early New 52 power levels. No flight until later in the game or maybe even the sequel. Some people would complain but people complained about not getting to drive the Batmobile.

Considering most review sites treat Arkham Origins as the weak link, maybe it's just as well WB Montreal didn't come through with a Superman game. Maybe it'd be a bad look for Superman if WB/DC give Batman to the big league squad and ship Superman over to the JV.



Yeah, you can fly, and it works, but it's not exactly all that enjoyable. Maybe it's a consequence of the trope in comic books. Every other hero can fly, so flying is not exciting, and therefore DCUO's flying isn't that exciting. I feel like 25-30 year old Mario games did flying a whole lot better, but that might just be the nature of platforming game.

Well WBM might still be working on a Superman game as a second project to their upcoming Batman game. Honestly at this point I’ll take it because Rocksteady is on Suicide Squad, and the odds of them ever even wanting to try Superman are slim to none. Frankly storywise? Origins may have been another groan worthy Joker story, but it was way better than Knight ended up being, and WBM did try to expand the gameplay with stuff like crime scene investigations and boss fights.

[Gaius]

Would be nice to have Superman or Wonder Woman video game where they aren't the villains.

[DochaDocha]

Thinking back about flying mechanics in DCUO, I don't think flying in that game is remarkably worse than, say, Lego Batman 2, but the latter game's flying just feels a lot more satisfying. Maybe it's because you play through much of the game as an earthbound Batman or Robin, and the moment you take flight as Superman, you get a rush of freedom. I also think it helped LB2 that there were dedicated flying levels that incorporated action sequences better. I guess atmosphere and how you incorporate game elements makes a huge difference. DCUO is a fine game, and on a technical level it's way better than LB2, but the gift of flight just doesn't add a lot.

[Ascended]

A lot of that likely comes from the need to balance player's characters against everyone else. Flight can't offer more, from a technical standpoint, than acrobatics or super speed.

I still think flight is just fine in DCUO. Could it work better in a solo game where balancing against other player's builds isn't a problem? Sure. But my point was that UE3 seems perfectly capable of achieving quality flight mechanics. We could fiddle with the details but I don't see why the engine couldn't make flight work in a solo game since it does so in a MMO.

[Vordan]

A lot of that likely comes from the need to balance player's characters against everyone else. Flight can't offer more, from a technical standpoint, than acrobatics or super speed.

I still think flight is just fine in DCUO. Could it work better in a solo game where balancing against other player's builds isn't a problem? Sure. But my point was that UE3 seems perfectly capable of achieving quality flight mechanics. We could fiddle with the details but I don't see why the engine couldn't make flight work in a solo game since it does so in a MMO.

Wasn’t so much UE3 as it was the Arkham version of UE3 which Rocksteady heavily modified. That said, it’s only one guy’s word that was a major problem so who knows?

[Vordan]

Well, looks like Rocksteady DID pitch a Superman game, but WB passed because of course they did: https://twitter.com/jsig212james/sta...304431105?s=21

Makes sense, AK was definitely teasing Superman with all those Easter Eggs. An even bigger downside is I doubt WBM’s second game is Superman now. I don’t see WBM having a better Superman pitch than Rocksteady. Poor Supes, stuck in the hands of those dumbasses at WB who can not get him right at all and refuse to allow anyone competent to work on him.