The whispers were true, then – but only up to a point. The XCOM team is making a Marvel game, but Midnight Suns isn’t quite what anyone expected.
In the latest issue of Edge, which you can buy here, we talk to the development team at Firaxis about how a Marvel universe deep cut proved the perfect pick for a very different kind of tactics game.
That shift makes perfect sense when you consider how many games the XCOM reboot has inspired since. Little wonder, then, that creative director Jake Solomon didn’t simply want to repeat the trick but with a Marvel skin. Still, he admits it took some time to come together: “I don’t want to be dishonest and say, like, oh it was so exciting. Because actually, it was terrifying for the first couple of years.”
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Still, what has come from that is undoubtedly exciting, and that extends to our cover, where Iron Man, Blade, and original creation The Hunter take centre stage.
Granted the opportunity to see more of the game than anyone else, we bring you a host of new details about this fascinating blend of strategy, deck-building and Persona/Fire Emblem-style socialising. And we find out how, in combat, it’s almost like XCOM in reverse: you are, after all, a team of superheroes, so it’s only right that you should be the ones on the front foot. “It’s not about, can I beat this guy?” Solomon says. “It’s about, how many guys can I beat with this one ability? How can I take out three guys at once?”
Elsewhere in E363, we turn our gaze to one of the most exciting publishers around: Annapurna Interactive. We examine the forthcoming slate of releases for this Hollywood-adjacent studio, and talk to both the publisher and the developers it’s working with about how the definition of an Annapurna Interactive game is changing. We also talk to the artists at Amanita Design about the meticulously crafted Creaks, and revisit Supergiant’s debut Bastion, explaining how it laid the blueprint for the multi award-winning Hades.
In our Hype section, we run the rule over Halo Infinite, take a first look at Volition’s Saints Row reboot, and talk to Eidos Montreal’s Mary DeMarle as the studio’s fresh take on Guardians Of The Galaxy nears launch. And in Play, we deliver our verdict on Psychonauts 2, alongside Naraka: Bladepoint, No More Heroes 3 and The Forgotten City. There’s plenty to – forgive us – marvel at, then, in Edge 363, which is on sale now.
Edge 363 is in UK shops now, and can also be ordered for delivery via Magazines Direct. To buy the issue digitally, head to Apple’s App Store or PocketMags.
