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Marvel’s Midnight Suns includes deck-building, XCOM influences

Otto Kratky
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After being revealed during the recent Gamescom Opening Night show, developer Firaxis has already shown off what Marvel’s Midnight Suns will be like in action with a gameplay reveal stream. As it turns out, the game will share some DNA with the XCOM franchise, which shouldn’t be a surprise considering that Firaxis has been the developer behind the series’ modern titles. However, Marvel’s Midnight Suns will change up the XCOM formula by introducing deck-building mechanics.

Marvel's Midnight Suns Gameplay Premiere Live Stream

Midnight Suns will still have players move heroes across a battle map, but instead of an action economy, players have to manage a deck of abilities that their heroes can use. Beyond simple attacks, cards will also let players buff heroes, debuff enemies, and unleash special and team attacks. Some cards will impact the environment — one will smash an enemy through a wall, for example.

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However, team attacks will be dependent on which heroes players decide to take with them on missions. Midnight Suns‘ player character is The Hunter, a new hero that can be fully customized. On missions, two other heroes from the Marvel universe, including The Avengers, The X-Men, and Marvel’s Runaways, can join the player.

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To figure out the best pairings for heroes, players will be able to interact with them outside of missions. In the game’s main hub area, The Abbey, players can chat up Marvel heroes and do short activities with them, like train or meditate. The hub is also where players will be able to upgrade hero abilities, either at a forge or on a training field with Blade.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns doesn’t have an exact release date yet, but will launch in March 2022 on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and PC.

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Otto Kratky
Otto Kratky
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Otto Kratky is a freelance writer with many homes. You can find his work at Digital Trends, GameSpot, and Gamepur. If he's…
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