The primary allure ofMarvel’s Midnight Sunsis its playable character roster. Because this game is its own original spin on the Midnight Sons namesake that it loosely adapts, Firaxis and 2K likely had free rein over which characters would make the cut.Marvel’s Midnight Sunsblends iconic Marvel nameswith others that may be lesser known to fans of modern Marvel media, but each of their designs is carefully considered.
Marvel characters need to be easily identifiable based on their traditional color palettes or features, butMarvel’s Midnight Suns’ take on them still gives each character their own unique design. This is aided through all the different casual Abbey clothing players can unlock for them, as well as other skins or color palettes that can be unlocked for their costumes in battle as well. However,Marvel’s Midnight Suns’ symbiote suits are in a league of their own, with the recent addition of Venom as a playable character being one of the best and most faithful designs of the character.
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Marvel’s Midnight Suns Takes Pride in Its Character Design
It is clear that Firaxis has a deep appreciation for the Marvel character designs that it reinterprets, whether that is through the authenticity of a character’s default appearance, in a character’s alternate cosmetic skins that hold reference to other appearances of theirs, or in the acting talent chosen for a character.
There are subtle references to other costumes that characters have, and how they are detailed under close inspection is fantastic. It is obvious, though, thatMarvel’s Midnight Sunscannot hold a candle to the graphical fidelity that other big-budget Marvel games have. It is possible that this is becauseMarvel’s Midnight Sunsinstead concentrates its efforts on ambitious tactical and social RPG mechanics, but it is a limitation nonetheless. Still, while characters’ facial animation may not be relatively superb, there is a lot of passion put into cosmetics.
There have been few interpretations of Venom in the last little while, butMarvel’s Midnight Sunshas managed to depict the character not only in a way that is faithful to his comic book source material, but also with a fidelity that fans might not have expected fromMarvel’s Midnight Suns.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns’ Symbiote Skins are Standouts
It is unknown if other interpretations were used as a chief influence on his design, but Venom’s default look seems to have drawn clear inspirations from how artist Clayton Crain illustrates him. Venom is one of the largest characters inMarvel’s Midnight Suns, exceeding even Hulk in size.
Venom’s massive stature is complemented by how enormously muscular he is, which harkens back to his roots in early Todd MacFarlane illustrations. Like Spider-Man’s own alternate symbiote skin, Venom’s appearance glistens with a wet tissue substance that distinguishes it from other garment material, and all of hissymbiote tendril effects are also well-animated. It is true that Firaxis has had a lot of time to develop the character since Venom was originally a boss that could be encountered, but his base look is still wonderful.
Moreover, one of Venom’s alternate skins depicts him as Anti-Venom with a reversed color palette, a spikier symbiote, and yellow eyes with a much more angular spider insignia stretching around his body. This isthe new golden standard thatMarvel’s Midnight Sunsshould strive to achievein its next two DLC characters, and this Venom design is what games likeMarvel’s Spider-Man 2should strive to achieve in their own approach to character design.
Marvel’s Midnight Sunsis available now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, with PS4, Switch, and Xbox One versions coming later.
