Marvel's Midnight Suns was announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live today. The newest tactical RPG from the developers of XCOM features a dozen popular and lesser-known Marvel heroes, as well as a customizable original character called the Hunter — a first for the Marvel Universe.
Marvel's Midnight Suns is a loose adaptation of the 1992 cross-over event Rise of the Midnight Sons by Howard Mackie, Andy Kubert, Len Kaminski, Ron Wagner, Christian Cooper, Richard Case, Dan G. Chichester, and Ron Garney. The story follows Doctor Strange on a mission to assemble a team that can defeat an ancient evil called Lilith, the Mother of Demons. Strange gathers a group of occult heroes including Ghost Rider, Morbius the Living Vampire, Blade, and five others to form the Midnight Sons and battle Lilith. The Midnight Sons are not the most well-known team of superheroes, but their legacy of combating the dark forces in the Marvel Universe has formed the basis for Marvel's Midnight Suns.
In this new version of the story, Lilith has a child, known simply as the Hunter, who her centuries ago and was laid to rest. Now, the Hunter is resurrected by the Midnight Sons to help them put a stop to Lilith's evil plan. According to Jake Solomon, creative director for Marvel's Midnight Suns, the Hunter will be a fully customizable character with more than 40 powers and abilities to choose from. The Hunter must "balance the powers of light and dark" and learn how to master their abilities to overcome the threats that Lilith puts in the way of the heroes. The Hunter will fight alongside established Marvel characters and will serve as the player character in between missions while exploring the hub
While the story between Lilith and the Hunter will play out through the campaign, players will also have the opportunity to explore a hub zone called the Abbey in-between missions and develop relationships with the other Marvel heroes. Players can move freely through the Abbey as the Hunter from a third-person perspective and interact with the various heroes you encounter there, chatting with them, spending time doing hobbies, and giving them gifts.
Marvel's Midnight Suns will launch in March 2022 in every major system and PC. Tune in to the livestream on the official Midnight Suns' website on Wednesday, September 1 to get a first look at the gameplay.