Level Up Your Marvel Fandom: Must-Play Video Games

The Marvel Universe, or the MU, has become one of the most successful and popular franchises worldwide owing to its continuous development, counting well-known superheroes like Spider-Man, Black Panther, Wolverine, Hulk, and Captain America, to name a few. The narrative universe shares the same worldview across films, TV series, and other media. It’s an invaluable experience for fans, as they can watch all the works of the MU and understand the relationships between characters or appreciate the plot connections. The fandom is an active and vibrant community of enthusiastic devotees that spans different demographics, age groups, and cultural backgrounds.

Over the last years, we’ve been introduced to incredible characters and been on epic adventures. Take Dogpool as an example. Introduced in Prelude to Deadpool Corps #3, the brilliant Dogpool, also known as Mary Puppins, is the alternate universe version of Deadpool. His life changed when Deadpool from Earth-616 recruited him into the Deadpool Corps. Marvel’s adoption of interactive storytelling has given rise to a myriad of role-playing games that cater to various player preferences. While most games based on comic books are pretty bad, there have been some exceptions on the Marvel side. Please continue reading to discover the most amazing Marvel games.

The Punisher

The Punisher is a third-person shooter action game created by Marvel for the Xbox console that combines fun content, immersive storytelling, and an unforgettable experience. Even today, there are lots of people who play The Punisher from time to time. Each of the 16 missions plays exactly the same way as the first one you did: you have to get from point A to point B and kill every single thing in your path. Today’s games are incredibly difficult to play by most rational standards. The Punisher is simple, fun, and looks/feels realistic. Besides running around and shooting indiscriminately, you can grab opponents and use them as human shields.

Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, is an ex-Marine whose family was murdered during a brutal shooting, which forced him to take the law into his own hands, brutally stopping his enemies by any means necessary. The Punisher rids the streets of criminal scum, later becoming a terrorist leader. Though Frank Castle has his mind set on annihilating the world’s most notorious killers, he’s willing to stoop to their levels (or even lower) to do so. Special interrogation spots are scattered throughout every level. Early in the game, you’ll find a drill press – take an enemy, place his head in the machine, and lower the drill close to his eye until he breaks.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is characterized by special moves, evil villains, unstoppable action, blood and gore, and so on. You play Wolverine, who is hunting and being hunted by a mysterious military organization. From Adamantium claws to the ability to communicate with animals, Wolverine has a host of powers that allow him to bounce back from any type of situation. This Marvel game features a surprisingly large amount of blood. The man known as Logan was transformed into Weapon X, an unstoppable, indestructible killing machine with razor-sharp claws that can’t be contained by his captors. Wolverine has the reputation of an outstanding superhero as well as a lethal killer.

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions allows players to control four alternative versions of Spider-Man, each with unique characteristics and backgrounds, stretching across the Amazing, Noir, 2099, and Ultimate universes. There are roughly 180 in-game challenges to complete and 96 spiders to find in the 12 levels, not to mention the endgame boss level. The Tablet of Order and Chaos is broken into pieces during a fight between Mysterio and the Amazing Spider-Man, disrupting reality. The Spider-Men of the four universes must retrieve all the pieces, which have fallen into enemy hands, to restore the powerful mystic artifact.

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions may not be the experience you craved for, but it’s a must-have for any fan of comics, especially fans of the Marvel Universe. It’s like playing with an animated, classic comic book. Each level is different and brings some tough challenges and hard choices, and Spidey-skills range from being able to recover from mid-air hits to disarming your opponents with special “web fluid.” Some of the villains were created exclusively for the game, such as Doctor Octopus, a maniacal menace with a mad mind who stops at nothing. While all Spider-Men are the same, each has a different gameplay style. For example, Noir requires you to hide in the shadows and take down enemies furtively.

Deadpool

Before we had Deadpool in the theaters, we got a fun game featuring former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson. Before its official release in 2013, the action game was revealed at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2012; Deadpool himself invaded the High Moon Studios Convention. Deadpool does nothing but kill people and make crude jokes, often mocking pop culture references. A master of blades, guns, and breaking the fourth wall, Deadpool is capable of killing any hero in the Marvel Comics, including himself. While the game does an excellent job of showing his lethal combat skills, the comics present abilities that have yet to be shown off.

Wrapping It Up

There’s approximately a century’s worth of content that has come out of the Marvel Universe, which results in a very large number of games that provide healthy stimulation for your brain. Since 1982, countless video games have been developed based on Marvel properties and characters from comic books, which have more extensive worldbuilding than movies or TV shows. The metaverse allows for fans to compete, socialize, and explore a world that is different from their own, and Marvel meets fans where they are. With lots of exciting projects on the way, there’s everything from Spider-Man 2 to Marvel Rivals.

Consider your top favorite and select the game according to your preference – or what gives you the biggest thrill. Choose a Marvel game you think you’ll enjoy, one that can fill your spare time and relieve the boredom of daily activities.