Years ago, there was an attempt to bring The Flash to video game consoles in a solo title. Sadly, the game was canceled before it got out of beta testing. Now, the character is returning to consoles in the hit multiplayer game Fortnite. While this is a significant first step for the Flash in gaming, he is long overdue for his own solo adventure that captures his decades of history.
Many aspects of the Flash make him the ideal protagonist of a video game. Putting his iconic superspeed in the palms of the player's hands would be as exhilarating as swinging for the first time in Marvel's Spider-Man. Plus, fast travel and indoor movement could have different speed tiers than regular traversal. Fast travel could let the player run from Central City to Keystone City, and indoor speed could be used as a more acrobatic/parkour style to move, once it's activated.
With so many characters in the Flash family and the DC Universe, cameos would be a welcome addition to the game. Some heroes that could join could be Wally West, Bart Allen, or Justice League members like the Green Lantern or Superman. A fun side mission could be racing either Wally or Superman around the world.
Combat would admittedly be tricky but far from impossible. Players could have various abilities at their disposal like throwing lightning, creating twisters, or putting out fires. Similar to Marvel's Spider-Man, street-level villains would be easier to take down than other speedsters or gravity-based enemies, who might require more creative thinking.
There are countless amazing stories in the history of the Flash, but they are only as good as their villain -- and Reverse-Flash is one of the most challenging in his rogues gallery. A story where he torments Barry Allen could open up some amazing moments for a video game. Players would be able to engage in a battle through the speed force and feel all of the drama Barry has gone through at the hands of his arch-nemesis.
With an open-world map that features at least two cities found in the comics, there would be countless side missions. Much like the Arkham games, this would be a perfect opportunity to have levels dedicated to Flash's less threatening bad guys, like Captain Cold and the Top. The final sidequest could feature them teaming up to form the Rogues and attempting to take Barry down as a group.
Finally, a Flash game's alternate costumes could cover his entire history from games, movies, TV and comics. With so much history to uncover, the extras and items found in the game could lead to the much larger DC Universe and potentially even lead to more games set in it. The Flash has the potential to be DC's next big video game star, and next-gen is the time to explore this idea.