Who would have ever imagined seeing Marvel taking a massive plunge into the 18 rated market of video games? Well they have for one reason and one reason only, the man they call Deadpool. The self titled “Deadpool” is developed by High Moon Studios (famous for a few Transformers games) and published by well known Activision; can they pull off such a risk with the “Merc with a mouth”? Or will he be all talk and no substance?
I am by no means a Deadpool expert; however I know enough to say he’s a hybrid mutant that through a Weapon X project has acquired regeneration, teleportation and various superhuman physical attributes. Oh yeah and he never shuts up. Talking cr*p is another special ability of his, whether he is offending allies and adversaries or simply sweet talking (not very good at this) women he knows no boundaries. This is what makes the guy special though in the Marvel universe and being famous for speaking to you the reader or in this case the gamer (breaking the fourth wall).
So where can a video game take him? Anywhere he wants apparently as the campaign goes along with the story of Deadpool wanting to make a game and has managed to squeeze a script for it from High Moon. From here on out he makes his own unique edits to it, purely unnoticeable (unless you can see the giant random bouncy castle), to improve the game as we make progression through to the finale.
It is rather difficult to nail down exactly what game type it is; I would call it a mixture of hack ‘n’ slash and third person shooter. Throughout the entire game you can use a combination of these action styles to cause the demise of your enemies. For the slashing side you have blades, sais and hammers and once these are upgraded can cause hellish damage to all in your way. There are a few lovely combos that can lead to grim looking executions and when there are many bodies in your path it will scythe through them simultaneously.
Fire power comes in the form of pistols, shotguns, SMG and a pulse rifle, with the latter supposed to be the most coveted... and the most costly to unlock. Which style you wish to kill the enemies in is up to you which keeps the action a fresh for a while but obviously it does start to feel repetitive in the later levels.
Each level mainly consists of travelling from point A to point B with you clearing the places out on the way and sometimes a mini boss to end it. Speaking of bosses they have pulled out one of my favourites in Mister Sinister to be the main man who is in charge of all whom you will face, known as the Marauders. Deadpool will be ripping a shed load of low rank clones to pieces as well as a few less known villains like Vertigo (with the power to make you dizzy, lame eh?) and Arclight.
I’d like to say you have the help of a few friends, but DP finds it difficult to bond with the exception of the one man wrecking machine Cable. He gives a helping hand at times, even motivating you to hunt down Sinister... using the power of a female to lure us, crafty sod. Add to that a couple of cameos from a small sub team of the X-men (yes Wolverine makes an appearance, leading to a who’s “blank” is bigger style conflict) and we have a nice selection of mutants.
Although the fighting can sometimes drag on a little even with the weapon and ability enhancement unlocks (using points earned through combo chains and pickups you find), I found it all worthwhile once the next cutscene kicked it. The thing is that you have to expect the unexpected and then times in by utter outrageous thoughts, then you may be close to what will actually happen. Humour is the strongest point throughout, I am not sure I have giggled so much at a video game, but I must stress they aren’t jokes for the family!
A few less positive things to add, firstly the difficulty is strange especially later on it becomes horrendously difficult to stay alive (despite regenerating he still has a limit) to the point where you just have to run and hide. The campaign itself doesn’t break any new grounds graphically and despite being entertaining it is extremely short (taking around 6 hours). There’s no replay value, all the jokes which makes the playthrough enjoyable are one time only deals. The only other mode is Challenges, which has you fighting waves of enemies in a time limit and that did nothing for me.
Overall the insanity of the mentalist known as Deadpool makes this game interesting and fresh, they know no limits. It is one that I’d recommend fans to try and even you casual Marvel guys wanting something a little more hardcore, it will blow your mind with randomness. Don’t pay full price though just either wait for it to drop a little or give it a rent, you won’t be disappointed with this psychotic motor mouth.
