Welcome to our brand new series. As huge video games fans, we’re always looking ahead to the next comic book game. In this series, we take a character or a group and try to organize what a video game could look like with this specific character or group. It’s up to you to decide if you think it works or not.
Ever since Iron Man’s first movie came out in 2008, he became one of the most popular superheroes in history. Even after his death in Endgame, he still remains a core part of the Avengers. It’s worth noting that Iron Man has had 3 games on consoles. Iron Man 1 and 2, and the PSVR version. All 3 have been decent games for the character.
Due to the fact that Iron Man remains a household name, even among non-fans of the MCU, a game with the current generation of engines, consoles, and graphics, Iron Man could easily be a powerhouse.
Out of all the Avengers, I believe that an Iron Man game would be the most fun and deserving.
Why this character/group?
As mentioned, he’s a household name. The character has many stories that the game could go down, which could immerse a player into the game, giving them full control of everything. It’s a bit different from a game like Thor due to how much the game could include.
After the monumental success of the Spider-Man games from Insomniac, if a developer put a lot of care into this in the same way, the game would be up there as one of the best superhero games to exist.
What type of game would you do?
I would do an open-world/adventure-type game, very similar to the first 2 games that were out on the previous generation consoles. The focus for the villain in this particular game would be The Mandarin, but the actual proper Mandarin and not the trash we saw in Iron Man 3.
The game would focus on the major aspects of Iron Man, including the game beginning when he builds the makeshift suit out of parts, you would control this, to begin with, and the game would bring you into the fold from there.
What would the game include?
The first part of the inclusions would be open-world, but in this instance, we would see Iron Man in a major city and not just desserts in the middle of nowhere. This would add the ability to include side-quests in order to keep the player engaged.
Adding to the open-world aspects, I would also include RPG elements. After all, Tony Stark is one with his ego, but also his courage to become a hero when he’s truly needed. You, the player, would get the choice in how specific situations or interactions are engaged resulting in the game ending in different ways.
One of the many things you would absolutely need for an Iron Man video game is customization options. Iron Man is known for 100’s of different types of suits, including the Bleeding Edge, Hulkbuster, Uru, and more. I.e The Hulkbuster would be great for grouped enemies, but you maneuver slower, and flying takes longer, but you can chill in it for as long as you want. You would be allowed to pick a suit from scratch or you can completely build your own to your specifications. Each upgrade and/or suit would have different abilities and skills, in order to play how you want to play. This would also add that theory crafting for the player.
As with the open-world, New York would likely be the best destination due to the layout, and the fact that’s where the Avengers Tower is situated, plus, if Insomniac was to develop this then they already have the layout specifically set. I wouldn’t mind another city, but it would need to be set there. The original Iron Man games did suffer as a result of this. I would have other locations in desserts, especially considering The Mandarin in itself, but predominately it would be set in a major city.
The Iron Man 2 video game allowed the player to also play as War Machine as well, I would re-add this feature into the game to allow players to switch up based on a mission, or have them fight side by side where required.
By adding that, I would add the Iron Legion into this, but more as a side project. You can send the Legion on specific missions in order to gather intel, which would be used to go on missions or go towards upgrades for the suits themselves.
There are many other things I’d add, but these would be the foundations in order to make the game fantastic. With the current technology behind video games, and how immersive and amazing they can truly be when the care and attention have been put into them, Iron Man is definitely one of them. Spider-Man became one of the best superhero games in history, by a developer with zero experience in these types of games. It’s easily done, but it would need to be handled by a studio that actually cared.
Is it likely to happen?
Maybe. In almost every Marvel game that’s released whether it’s mobile or console/PC, Iron Man tends to be the focus of attention. Marvel’s Avengers, Midnight Sons, Marvel Future Revolution, Marvel Strike Force, Marvel’s Future Fight all entice you into playing their games by using the Iron Man character, in some of them he’s actually one of the major focuses.
Due to the popularity of the character, I do believe it’s probably been discussed multiple times, and still most likely is. Marvel looks to be upping their strive when it comes to video games due to the future releases, so this would be a great one to add to their roster.
