Marvel’s Midnight Suns first gameplay footage shows it’s not an XCOM clone

Firaxis has shown off the first in-game footage from their new supernatural Marvel game and it’s not just XCOM with a new coat of paint.

The idea of a Marvel strategy game, focusing on the supernatural side of the comic book universe, by the makers of Civilization and XCOM already had us sold before we saw any gameplay, but now that we have it looks just as good as we hoped.

Although an initial trailer was released by Marvel, IGN has a longer one featuring commentary from developer Firaxis – although you don’t really learn much more than what was already announced, especially regarding the storyline.

Seeing the combat in motion though it’s obvious that, while it is also a turn-based strategy, it’s very different to XCOM, with much more unique characters and a random element introduced by collectible cards that confer specific buffs and abilities.

There might be occult hexes in the game but there aren’t of the strategy game sort on the floor, with Firaxis clearly trying to make the game as fast-paced and cinematic as possible.

As well as famous (and obscure) faces from the Marvel universe there’s also the main player character, called the Hunter, who you can customise and upgrade as you go, which is another thing that until now has only been described and not seen.