Deadpool Preview

You know what’s awesome? WRONG! The answer is Deadpool. Whatever you were thinking of, Deadpool is more awesome. Were you thinking of Deadpool? Well Deadpool trumps Deadpool. He’s that damn good. It’s true, read Wikipedia.

For those unfamiliar with the foul-mouthed, mentally unstable, mercenary anti-hero, killing machine that is Deadpool: use Google! Who do you think I am? Your mother? Or, alternatively, read the following paragraph.

Deadpool, AKA Wade Wilson, is an anti-hero from the X-Men universe who scored his own line of comics after being so awesome in the X-Men comics. Deadpool is a genetic experiment gone wrong, causing him to be a touch mentally unstable and hear multiple voices inside his own head – including his own. He did gain super self-healing powers because of this experiment, much like Wolverine, but as Wade Wilson was suffering from cancer at the time the healing power accidentally accelerated the scar tissue on his skin that eventually totally enveloped his whole body.

Thus, he donned a mask and costume to kill whoever he decides he doesn’t like. He is best known for being totally badass, killing people in imaginative and highly skilled ways, and for constantly breaking the fourth wall. Everybody up-to-date? Guess it’s time to move on to the next paragraph about his new video game then. That’s how articles work.

Hey, guess what kids, Deadpool is now getting his own video game! It’s coming out in 50 days (from date of publishing) on June 28th for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. What more do you need to know? Nothing, that’s what, the pre-order email should already have arrived in your inbox. Go ahead and take care of that right now. I trust that you will do it. I’ll wait here… waiting… cool? Cool. Done. Now let me tell you why you will absolutely not regret that decision.

The game kicks things off in Deadpool’s apartment as he’s watching TV. This scene lead me to watching him, watching TV, for nearly two solid minutes as he came out with constant quips and one-liners, as a prompt on my screen sat idle saying “Push ‘LS’ to stand up”. I didn’t want to stand up, I wanted to hear Deadpool be snarky and sarcastic as he scratched his (rather large, literally) balls watching the boob-tube, so I didn’t. The fact that Deadpool continued on, for over two minutes, making funny observations and jokes without any repetition until I decided to stand up shows how much care and detail has gone into the atmosphere and writing of the game.

Deadpool’s apartment was fantastic, because you were able to interact with almost everything he owned. Want to make some pancakes? Go make some pancakes. What to play air guitar? Go play some air guitar. Want to make a massive turd pickle in the bathroom? You go right ahead, Deadpool will even personally create a nice black Sims-esque censor-bar so you won’t see his horribly scarred unmentionables.

Throughout the game both Deadpool and the environment he is in feel like they’re out of a Deadpool comic. Trying to get Deadpool to eat a slice of pizza with his mask on, and an elevator scene where Deadpool sings the whole way with your objective “enjoy the singing” were two of my personal favourites moments that really proved me to me that, as a massive Deadpool fan, that I was going to love this game more than my unborn children.

The entire tone throughout my playthrough of the first two campaign levels mirrored that of Deadpool and his comics as-damn-near perfect as anybody could hope to achieve. This is almost certainly to the credit of the game’s writer Daniel Way, who is a former writer for the Deadpool comics, along with the main “bad guy” of the game being Mister Sinister – who is a staple Marvel and Deadpool villain. See, developers making a video game about a comic? This is how it’s done!

High Moon Studios, as far as gameplay is concerned, are not trying to re-invented the wheel. They’re using the refined, tried-and-true, combat and movement system that we all know and love for games of the genres. X for quick attacks, Y for heavier attacks, combo moves, RT to shoot things, A to jump/double jump, and B to teleport – that’s used effectively as a dodge mechanic. When in combat, hitting B will quickly warp you out of melee range, or confuse shooting ranged enemies, as well as help get across larger areas at a faster pace.

If you’re able to sneak up on an enemy, you can perform a super-mega-uber-cool execution kill using either melee weapons or firearms, depending on your preference. They’re gory, over-the-top, and frankly anything but stealthy, but that’s why they’re in a Deadpool game, baby! Counter-moves during combat and bombastic finishing manoeuvres on stunned or badly damaged enemies are immensely satisfying. Ranging from slicing enemy heads off followed by both their arms, to kicking the soldier square in the daddy-zone.

‘Deadpool Points’ are the currency of the realm, because as we have established – Deadpool is awesome, and you earn these points by stringing together combos while engaging enemies, finding Deadpool Tokens around levels, and completing certain challenges. You can then spend these points to unlock Deadpool’s wide selection of weaponry and gadgets in the menu screen. Every weapon and gadget has its own skill tree of upgrades, so you’ll always have more to shoot for (and with). I personally went with the shotgun to be able to dismantle limbs to the beautiful sound of Wade’s glorious commentary.

A story campaign isn’t all you get; there’s a Challenge Mode too. This is a horde/survival/whatever mode for Deadpool to kill all the waves of enemies within a certain time. It’s not a terribly enthralling concept, but Deadpool helps keep it fresh with a plethora of witty dialogue. It’s actually pretty damn hard, at least the challenge available (“Great White News HQ”). The time limit is across all waves, and is not increased after each wave is complete. Meaning you face 3 waves of enemies, of increasing difficulty, in 3 minutes or less with no time top-ups.

I eventually nailed it on my 6th attempt with 5 seconds to spare. If nothing else it was a terrific training mode for chaining combos and mastering the use of gadgets, which included: a bear trap, mines, grenades, and stun grenades. Usually array of stuff for video games, but that is somewhat the point.

Deadpool is looking like it will be, in my humble opinion, the best comic-based video game to date. It’s so terrific that I currently expect it to place above Batman’s Arkham franchise, which is no small champion to topple. The tone is perfect, the attitude is great, and High Moon Studios have focussed on making the combat and level-design solid and fitting – rather than pushing too hard for innovation which may have been unnecessary.

Deadpool fans can put their worries to rest, it looks and feels to be everything you could ever hope for in a Deadpool video game, and those unfamiliar should check out the trailer below and mull over just how awesome Deadpool could be if he were in their lives more.

Deadpool will release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on June 28th, biatches.