Aside from one big outlier, Marvel’s video game offerings have been smashing it out of the park in the last few years. Both of Insomniac’sSpider-Mangames have been met with universal acclaim, and although they weren’t perfect,Ultimate Alliance 3andIron Man VRwere pretty fun experiences while they lasted. Last year saw the release of another big budget Marvel game, and while it may have its flaws,Guardians of the Galaxyshowed some real potential.
Along with its strong focus on character relationships, one ofGuardians of the Galaxy’s best features was its squad mechanics, whereby players could use the other team members to assist with combat and puzzles. With the Fantastic 4 already confirmed to be heading to the MCU soon, a game centered around the team seems inevitable, and it could take some inspiration fromGuardians of the Galaxy’s squad mechanics.
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The Fantastic 4 have never really had the chance to shine in the video game medium. Despite one solitary original PlayStation game, the Fantastic 4 have only ever appeared in a few tie-in games to the early 2000s movies, and as additional characters in team-up games likeMarvel Ultimate Alliance.
In all of these cases, the team dynamic is, confusingly, never really emphasized. The furthest these games go is allowing the player to bounce a combo off another Fantastic 4 member for a more powerful attack. Teamwork is never really the focus of the previous Fantastic 4 games, which goes against the very nature of the comic book group. For a modern Fantastic 4 game, the developers would have to really hone in on the team dynamic, much likehow Eidos-Montreal handled it inGuardians of the Galaxy. InGuardians, players could only control Star-Lord, but could command the rest of the team via some, admittedly, clunky squad mechanics.
With a few presses of the shoulder and face buttons, players could command Gamora to dash between targets with her sword, tell Drax to charge an enemy, encourage Rocket to throw a gravity grenade, andask Groot to heal the team. The abilities themselves weren’t overly innovative, but marrying the narrative’s core themes of family with actual gameplay mechanics was a pretty smart move.
A potential Fantastic 4 game should take heavy inspiration fromGuardians of the Galaxy, obviously improving on the squad mechanics where it needs to. No matter which member of the team the player controls, they should be able to use a similar squad system toGuardiansto command the rest of the group, such as askingThe Thingto rampage through the arena or telling Mister Fantastic to wrap himself around an enemy, thus immobilizing it.
A theoretical Fantastic 4 game should also borrowGuardians' evolving ability trees, whereby each member of the team unlocks a new combat ability at certain stages of the campaign. It’s a pretty simple mechanic, but it does keep the player more invested in the combat when more complex abilities are unlocked.
Guardians of the Galaxy’s squad combos are also a must-have for a Fantastic 4 game. InGuardians, some team members' abilities worked in tandem with one another, such as Rocket’s gravity grenade that would drag opponents together so thatDrax or Gamoracould unleash an AoE attack and damage all the enemies at once. This mechanic rewards players for taking the time to think about their team’s abilities, and how they’re best used.
A Fantastic 4 game should definitely steal this concept. Having the team’s abilities compliment one another in certain situations not only rewards the player for being more tactical, but also emphasizes the team dynamic that should be at the heart of any Fantastic 4 story. A Fantastic 4 game may be a ways off, but it definitely has a good foundation to draw from.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxyis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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