High Moon Studios did remarkable work with the Transformers franchise, wrapping it up with last year’s outstanding Fall of Cybertron. Following its success, the team moved on to a provocative new hero who knows how to raise a ruckus – none other than Marvel’s smarmy assassin, Deadpool.
Deadpool’s style is clearly one-of-a-kind. He’ll break the fourth wall and address his fans while using his guns and swords against foes. Now he’ll get the chance to do just that in his self-titled video game that arrives in stores next week.
Based on a story written by long-time comic book scribe Daniel Way, Deadpool accepts a mission where he’s asked to assassinate a corrupt media mogul by the name of Chance White, who oversees programming such as “Jump the Shark” – a show where contestants literally jump over a live shark for cash and prizes. He’ll also contend with a number of henchmen, including villains like Mister Sinister.
Though the plot sounds deadly serious, the game is anything but. Deadpool’s trademark humor is front and center. He’ll break the fourth wall and occasionally speak with you, the gamer, about the hassle you’ll put him through in each stage. He’ll also run into characters that interact with him in humorous ways, including the adamantium-clawed Wolverine, the sexy Psylocke and long-time adversary Cable.
Deadpool is built around action. You’ll have a variety of light and heavy attacks to execute with your swords. You can chain together combos to effectively turn enemies into bloody, gooey messes, including finishing moves such as a decapitation or some other slice-and-dice attack. He’ll also be able to use other weapons to mix up the combat, including a bo staff, blades and whatever else he can get his hands on.
In addition, Deadpool can dodge incoming attacks using a teleport. This enables him to get behind enemies with ease, along with dodging heavy strikes that would otherwise cause him harm – even with his somewhat questionable invincibility.
Finally, guns – lots of guns. There are segments throughout the game where Deadpool relies on his twin pistols, among other weapons, to get the point across. From what we’ve seen thus far, he’ll have no shortage of firepower, and some of the wanton destruction you’ll cause has to be seen to be believed.
Even though it follows a similar path as God of War and Metal Gear Rising Revengeance, Deadpool seems fun, and the way stages change will certainly keep things interesting. One minute he’ll mow down Mister Sinister’s soldiers while a buxom brunette cheers him on. The next, he’ll ride in a speeding rocket cart with bicycle horns.
Along with Daniel Way lending a hand in the project, Deadpool also has the benefit of talented voice actor Nolan North. He voiced the assassin before in animated Marvel specials like Hulk Vs. and seems right at home, chewing out gamers for “bad performances” during a level or telling a former compadre to stick it where the sun don’t shine. He’s a superb addition to the game.
One word of warning, though – Deadpool is heavy on the carnage. The game spills copious amounts of blood and the assassin laughs it off. However, comic book fans should feel right at home with this, and newcomers looking to fulfill their action fix should enjoy it as well.
We loved the Transformers games, so don’t be surprised if we greet Deadpool with an equal measure of praise. On that note, the game arrives this Tuesday for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
