Everything You Need to Know About Marvel’s Midnight Suns

Midnight Suns tasks players with assembling a team of superheroes and supernatural warriors to fight against the Mother of Demons’ apocalyptic threats. Marvel has had many adventures in the gaming world. Do you know what this latest game is about? Come with me, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know!

Marvel’s Midnight Suns – Everything You Need to Know

Let us start with the most basic question: what is Marvel’s Midnight Suns?

It’s a turn-based tactical RPG from Firaxis, the same developers of the acclaimed XCOM series. This time, we’ll use hands of cards instead of aliens and hit-chance percentages.

The initial release date was March 2022, but the game got delayed to December 2, 2022. You can play it on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC platforms (via Steam or Epic Games Store). PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch will land somewhen in 2023.

What’s the story?

Loosely based on the Marvel Midnight Sons comic series which ran from December 1993 through to August 1994, Marvel’s Midnight Suns aims for a darker tone than we usually see in the publisher’s stories.

There will be a five-part Midnight Suns comic series to rebrand the team’s name and line it up with the game.

Hydra scientist Doctor Faustus wields dark magic to summon Lilith, the Mother of Demons, to wreak havoc on the Earth. Her plan is to awaken her Elder God master, Chthon, which would spell even greater problems for our poor planet.

Here enters the Hunter, a character created for the game and Lilith’s child. Despite this relationship, the Hunter’s goal is to stop their mother. To that end, they team up with the heroes we know and love.

So far, the confirmed heroes are: Captain America, Blade, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Magik, Dr Strange, Scarlet Witch, Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes), Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Nico Minoru, Deadpool, Venom, Morbius, and Storm.

The last four won’t be available at launch, and we’re still unsure whether they’ll be unlocked through playing the game or by purchasing DLCs.

You can choose between a male or female Hunter and customise their appearance and abilities.

But Lilith also has her team of fallen antiheroes, including Venom and Red Hulk. On the bright side, you have a pet hellhound named Charlie who can help you find treasures!

If you wish to know more about Lilith’s origin, you can check out their beautifully animated short trailer:

The devs describe the game as “pretty long.” According to interviews, you’ll still be recruiting heroes to the cause even after a dozen or so hours.

What’s the gameplay like?

As mentioned above, the main departure from XCOM’s gameplay is that Midnight Suns is a card system.

Each turn, you’ll be offered a hand of cards randomly drawn from a deck you’ll compose for each of your heroes. Those cards boost defensive and offensive commands, provide functions such as healing and protection, and unleash special abilities unique to each superhero.

If you’re a fan of the genre, you’ll recognise gameplay keywords like Taunt, used to draw enemy attention when played.

There’s also a Heroism counter that builds as you play abilities, which lets some cards cash in specified amounts of Heroism to unlock additional effects.

Another departure from XCOM is that character movement is no longer locked to a grid-based system. Firaxis also got rid of the chance-to-hit mechanic and the permadeath.

It’s worth noting that the game is single-player only.

The Abbey

When you’re not out on missions, you’ll be at the headquarters known as The Abbey. Here’s where some of the RPG elements appear.

You can interact with your teammates through dialogue tree conversations and hangout sequences, which build friendships. There’s mention of crafting and some discoverable lore too.

As a respectful superhero game, there are also costumes to choose from, both for the heroes and the Hunter. The Abbey can also be customised.

We know there’s a Season Pass, which includes 23 premium skins for the base game and 4 post-launch DLC packs, each featuring a new playable character, new missions, new enemies, and additional character skins.

There are no loot boxes in the games. Players will not be able to buy new Gamma Coils to get more cards. However, it’ll be possible to purchase Eclipse Credits, which are used to buy purely cosmetic skins.

You can secure an “Exclusive Nightstalker skin” for Blade by signing up for the Midnight Suns newsletter on the game’s official website.

That’s it for now. I hope you’ll have lots of fun with Marvel’s Midnight Suns if you decide to give it a chance!