SUPERMAN: WAR ON CADMUS

Setting:

Metropolis, Fortress of Solitude, Smallville

Metropolis will serve as the main free roam area. The city in itself with be massive. It will have destructible environments will have many interactive citizens and be filled with various side quests. One idea I had for this was that buildings cannot be fully destroyed in one blow, meaning that they are structured soundly and it will take a lot for a building to crumble. It would be cool to have a building stay broken up for a certain period of time after a big boss battle before it gets rebuilt. It will really help add to the realism. Another idea I had was that you can't really smash into a building and walk around in it, rather there is a rush system implemented in the game where you fly through the building. Kind of similar to MKvsDC. It should be triggered by holding down the attack button for a certain amount of time to charge the attack, and then the opponent goes flying. Whether it be into buildings, through them, or into the ground.There should be no reason as to why this shouldn't be possible. With next gen now available we should be able to create a city on a massive scale. Destiny is creating an entire solar system from scratch to accompany it's game. Battlefield 4 has shown that there can be destructible environments in real time. There are full scale parts of the map being destroyed. Entire skyscrapers can collapse. And this has all been shown not only in campaign, but also in their MULTIPLAYER. There's no reason we can't get a full scale metropolis. And with a city like in GTA coming out on current gen, that just makes me have even more faith in it.

The Fortress will be sort of what the Batcave was in Arkham Asylum and Arkham Origins. You will be able to upgrade certain things, interact with collectible, and talk to Jor-El ala Alfred in Origins. One thing that I came up with was what if Superman kept various collectible items from his big boss encounters throughout the game within the fortress and you can see them and upon interacting with them, it allows you to relive and replay those big boss battles without having to go back and play through the main game all over again. It will allow you to relive those moments at your will.

Another idea I had was using Smallville as kind of a training center. In the beginning of the game you could have Clark learning his various powers as kind of flashback scenes that not only serve a narrative purpose in telling the origin story, but also help give the player a tutorial of his powers.

Abilities:

One issue many people have is that they think that Superman is way too overpowered, and he can't translate well into a video game. What most people don't realize is that a Superman game can exist without that problem. Take the new 52 version, he is not entirely invulnerable and actually wears a Kryptonian armor suit. That should play some factor within the game. He can have incredible strength and stamina but it should be nowhere near that of his former incarnations. His power levels should be that of the Superman in the movie Man of Steel. He not only was vulnerable, but also was shown to struggle at times being able to lift an ample amount of weight.

Strength should be on par with the one from Man of Steel. He wasn't OP and he still had enough strength to make you feel like Superman.

Speed should be fast, but not to fast where you're going from one end of the map to the other within a second. Superman Returns had the ideal speed of travel for a Superman game. I think it should be replicated for any future Superman games. There should also be a minimum threshold for any of Superman's speed powers.

Flying should be something that is the most simple and pleasant thing to do within the game. The moments outside of the battles that should truly make me feel like Superman should be the flying. Superman Returns was good with it’s flying mechanics but there was some fine tuning that could have been implemented in there if the game wasn’t rushed for release. One thing that could have been better was controlling Superman as he turned while going super speed. If any of you have played Superman Returns then you know exactly what I’m talking about. Once Superman went into his mode of super speed, it was near impossible to steer him. Superman has complete control of his body and should be able to steer himself even when he is going that fast. Plus it will probably get annoying if I keep running into buildings while trying to zip through them.

Heat vision is something that should be present from the beginning of the game. This is one of Supermans earlier superpowers and should be treated as such.

Freeze breath/ super breath are powers that I believe should be unlocked sometime throughout the game as you progress as being superman. In AA and AC batman got a few gadgets throughout the game that he relied on later, and also helped propel gameplay so that it didn't become to repetitive and it helped drive along the story as well.

X-Ray vision and Microscopic vision should work just like they did within AA and AC. Visually it should differ from those two and have a more natural feel to it. Both should serve as devices in searching for hidden artifacts, and solving puzzles.

Structure:

Superman should not have a health bar, but rather a stamina bar and a power bar for when he uses abilities. The abilities bar is constantly regenerating and is only used when the player uses the heat vision or freeze breath. It can deplete a little fast so the player doesn't feel like it is OP. If it is used too much after it is drained, it will start to drain the health bar that superman has. The health bar should really only get worn down by super powered beings or kryptonite. Just like the thugs in AC, it took a lot for them to be able to knock batman out. When the stamina bar is depleted then superman should become unconscious and therefore lose the mission or battle. And the only way the health bar can refuel is if superman doesn't get hit for a certain amount of time.

Another thought I had was to not have a health bar, but rather have a system where it showed through the screen whenever superman was too hurt aka COD. But I figured that this would get too problematic for the player and would become too annoying so I decided that it probably wasn't for the best.

The camera would be a little farther behind superman and instead of over his shoulder, it would behind him.

The super powers would be structured exactly the same as in Superman Returns, but also have a quick power system that may not be as powerful, but very quick and effective for mid battle use just like in AC. There will also be a button that will be specifically for super speed. It will be used to make superman sprint while one the ground, and make him fly at supersonic speeds while in the air. The super speed should be held exactly the same as in superman returns, and have more of a feel of rush and power put into it. One idea I had that would vary it up a bit was switching the control scheme for super speed. Instead of pressing down on RB/R1 like in Superman Returns, why not switch it to the RT/R2? It would add a different sense of control to superman in allowing you to judge how fast he can go while using the super speed. And instead of using the heat vision/cold breath/super breath for RT, put it on the bumper buttons.

One last idea that I mentioned earlier was the attack charge button. Superman is all powerful so in order to feel like it you should have the ability to produce those all powerful moments. Above I talked about how superman would be able to bash people through buildings and smash them into the ground with overwhelming force. In order to do that there should be an implementation in the game that allows you to charge your attack or "x" button to perform this. It can be done solo, or even mid combo which would allow for some great variety.

The city in scale should be very very huge. The buildings should tower over people and should feel like you're within NYC. Superman should be able to go way above all of these buildings and fly through them over the streets easily. Each building should be destructible, but not void of detail. The buildings once hit should have some brick, stone, or adobe fall off of it. Glass should shatter and chunks of the building should fall down when I throw someone into it. On a regular day citizens should walk the streets, interact with each other and be happy to see superman in the skies. The sun should always be shining bright and have beautiful skies. But, once a battle begins the civilians should run away for their lives. People should abandon cars and office buildings. Not only would that bring about a perfect reason for the destruction, but it now offers you a playground to wreck havoc on your opponent with no remorse.

Button Configuration:

RT: Super Speed. Works similar to a car in any video game. Hold all the way down to speed up or hold midway to stay at the same speed. Release to go back to normal speed. While in lock on, use for rush attack a la Dragon Ball Z. No matter if the opponent is on the ground or in the air, you go straight to him.

RB: Super Powers- Heat Vision/cold breath/super breath

LT: Lock on

LB: Quick Power (+X=heat vision, +B=super breath, +Y=freeze breath)

Left Analog: Move Superman

Right Analog: Adjust camera, flick to switch targets while in lock on mode.

DPAD: Up-heat vision, right-super breath, left-cold breath, down-x-ray vision

X: Attack

B:Grab/Throw- exactly what it says. Can be used to throw objects at people using the lockon or grab people and punch/throw them

Y:Land/Take off flight

A: Dash/Dodge/Block: Hold down on the button and use the left stick to point in the direction to speed dash in. Hold down and stay still to block.

The Story:

This story takes place within the Arkhamverse with an already established Superman. The Story will begin with Superman in his home, recollecting this journey he has gone through to become this hero that saves the world. It is his now deceased father’s birthday and he is having flashbacks of his time with him in Smallville. These scenes will serve as flashbacks and a tutorial session to teach you how to control Superman in the basics. After the flashbacks, he hears a distress call coming from a nearby bank and quickly gets into his uniform. (The main one will be a version of the New 52) The game begins with you outside his apartment in the air, and you must race to the bank to stop the crime. Upon arrival you find what appears to be some sort of humanoid monster wrecking havoc amongst the citizens and you must defeat him. Upon defeating the monster you scan his DNA and its revealed that some of it matches Kryptonian DNA. This is when the story starts to unfold and the game really progresses.

Overarching Story: Lex Luthor has just become president of the United States and his main goal is to now use the country’s resources to create his own superhuman that could destroy superman, and ultimately to make himself into one. He ensues the help of Cadmus Labs, and funds them to find a way to create their own Superhuman with Superman’s DNA, and will destroy him. Throughout the game these superhumans will serve a similar purpose as the TITAN(more on that in a moment) thugs did in AA and AC. the major bosses could include any number of foes from his regular rogues including parasite, volcana, livewire, and metallo. Superman figures out that Luthor is fusing his Kryptonite DNA with something called TITAN(Arkhamverse reference) and needs to find a way to stop it. He foils Luthor’s plans, but not before he can finish creating the perfect superhuman. One whom he calls Superboy. He is half Kryptonian and half Human, infused with Luthor and Superman’s DNA. Luthor and Superboy team up against superman in the final battle.

Boss Battles:

Each boss battle will revolve one of Superman’s primary foes including Parasite, Volcana, Livewire, and Metallo. In this universe each of them are creations of Cadmus and their extensive research to create the perfect superhuman using some of Superman’s DNA, each one focusing on a certain aspect of his super abilities.

Volcana: Specializes in flight and heat abilities. Able to consume energy from the sun and expel that energy in fire blasts.

Parasite: Specializes in strength and durability. Able to consume energy from people that he touches including Superman. Can make Superman weak the more he grabs onto him.

Livewire: Specializes in the control and manipulation in the electromagnetic field. Able to consume and expel energy from the field in electric blasts. Control of the field enables her to fly and have tremendous speed.

Metallo: Specializes in Strength and Invulnerability. Has superhuman speed and durability as well. Due to the enhanced state of his genetics, his bones and muscle become so dense they turn into metal, and requires a kryptonite radiation reactor in his chest to survive.

In the Final boss battle against Superboy, he will encompass all of Superman’s powers but only be at ¾ strength. Luthor will only be able to inflict minor damage with his fists, but his array of gadgets can do harm to superman.

Side Quests:

When Superman foils a bank robbery, he notices mysterious weapons and armor by a new gang in town. They call themselves INTERGANG. He must investigate where they came from and how they can hurt him so much. This will be used for the sequel game.

Someone going by the name of Toyman has kidnapped a family and placed each one in separate places throughout the city. The buildings are covered in led and there are too many to search. He has scattered toys for you to collect throughout the city and will reveal their locations after a certain number is collected.

Many more to come but this is all I could dome up with at the moment.

Alternate costumes:

One of the things that people love is having alternate costumes within the game that you unlock. There should be one for Superboy, supergirl, superman prime, golden age, action comics, new 52, man of steel, last son, kingdom come, and death and return of superman.

DLC:

There should be multiple dlc characters but one I would really like to see would be Shazam. You wouldn’t have to change anything except for his look and a couple super powers. It would be satisfying to see that with a possible Black Adam skin.

Game Modes:

One game mode I really think a superman game should incorporate is something I call Battle Mode. It works similarly to the danger room in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. You choose which bad guys you want to go up against and it places you inside of metropolis at your selection of 5 drop points, all at different parts of the city. The battle starts with you facing the opponent from about 100 yards away and a countdown ensues. Once it hits zero you do battle. Everything is still destructible and the environment is still very well alive. Another option besides going up against the regular bad guys would be to replay your favorite bosses. This will help boost replay value exponentially. New bosses can be added throughout time with DLC.

Well this is my idea of the perfect Superman game(to start out of course). Hopefully someone can make this happen soon. I don't care if they use every idea on this page, I won't try and take any ownership of it. (you could pay for my tuition though). Please comment and leave any thoughts on how I could have made this better and what you liked about it. Thanks in advance everyone.