It's been almost 20 years since gamers were treated to a standalone solo title featuring Superman in the form of 2006's Superman Returns, a video game tie-in to the film of the same name. Why it's been so long since a game dedicated to the Man of Steel has been made is a question many gamers have pondered throughout the years. On paper, it seems relatively simple: Make an AAA game about Superman defeating some of his roster of enemies and saving the day. Marvel's Spider-Man did so in an incredibly successful fashion, so why can't the same be done with one of DC's most popular and powerful heroes?
The problem is that when it comes to a Superman game, there are specific challenges and limitations developers must deal with that no other character poses. To realize how difficult it may be to actualize the Son of Krypton in a competent video game medium, it's important to understand who and what he is. Then it becomes abundantly clear why it's almost impossible to develop a game for him.
Developing a Superman Game Is a Near-Impossible Task
Superman is an alien being from an entirely different galaxy whose physiology is just as foreign. Earth's sun gives him extraordinarily powerful god-like abilities such as super strength, lightning-fast speed, and the power of flight among a slew of other things. He also has minimal weaknesses and faults as a character. Because of this, Superman has often been seen as one of the most boring and indomitable superheroes of all time in the gamut of comic book characters. It begs the question of what makes a character interesting and worth rallying for. This is the same issue developers come across when attempting to make Superman a worthwhile video game protagonist. The answer is in the character's personal challenges.
A Superman Game Could Learn a Lot From Batman and Spider-Man
What makes Rocksteady Studios' Batman: Arkham Knight and Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man such terrific solo hero-focused games is how well the developers knew the characters and how to challenge them personally. In Arkham Knight, Batman is tasked with being the savior of Gotham City while taking down his own rogue's gallery of villains. Batman's limitations are tested since he's just a man trying to do the right thing while fighting his demons and coming to terms with his past mistakes. Rocksteady constantly challenged Batman on a psychological level, and this made him easily relatable to the player.
Relatability is an important aspect of an effective protagonist, and because of that, Superman needs to be made relatable for a game of his to work. A god-like being with very few limitations makes it difficult to do that. Developers can make Superman relatable by grounding him in his values as Clark Kent and what matters most to him, whether it be his parents or his love interest, Lois Lane.
NetherRealm's Injustice games successfully touch on this aspect of the character when Lois becomes the catalyst of Superman's rage, apathy, and pain. His character can also be grounded by his core values and what he stands for as a hero. Superman as a character has to be connected to something important to him. This creates vulnerabilities for a seemingly invulnerable character and weaknesses for a hero with very few.
Marvel's Spider-Man challenged the titular character, tasking him with saving his beloved city while balancing his normal life as Peter Parker. Spider-Man must keep his city safe from criminals and crime bosses along with nefarious villains from his famous history. His obligation to New York City and the safety of his loved ones affects his character's motivations and make him relatable. What Spider-Man does right, similarly to Arkham Knight, is managing the hero's personal responsibilities. This is a much more difficult task for Superman.
Although the character feels a moral obligation to protect Metropolis, Superman is a being of such immense power that he also has a responsibility to the entire planet. Developers can mimic other hero-focused games by restricting Superman to Metropolis like in Superman Returns, but when considering the character, it's apparent that this formulaic approach would be a disservice that would undervalue what he is capable of. Developers should want to take advantage of a character able to travel at the speed of sound and orbit Earth's solar system with ease. To accomplish that, they have to make a game where its challenges and limitations match the scope of the character. The stakes need to be as monumental as he is. Therein lies Superman's status as the quintessential superhero.
Why There Is Still Potential for a Great Superman Game
As difficult as it may be to develop a solo title for Superman, there is promise. By taking inspiration from games like Batman: Arkham Knight and Marvel's Spider-Man as standalone superhero-centric templates, there's plenty of potential. With the recent news that James Gunn's DC plan is to include interconnected games that correlate with the studio's new cinematic universe, fans and gamers alike may yet have a Superman game to look forward to. If developers can come to truly understand the character and the challenges that come with building a game around him, there's hope for Superman.