Happy Flash Friday everyone! This week both Brandon and I have been glued to the Xbox thanks to the amazing Arkham City. It makes me want a Flash game. The Flash has been in video games before. You can see him in the horrible Justice League Task Force fighting game, Justice League Heroes, his own Gameboy Advanced game, in Mortal Kombat vs DC, and in the DC MMO. You can also find footage and
Roger Robinson’s concept art from the canceled Flash game.
The Arkham games get the concept of Batman and do it right. They respect the brawler, the detective, the gadgets, and the hunter. Because of years of Bat-God treatment, Batman is one of my least favorite DC characters. Playing these games make me giddy about the character, that’s how good they are. So how could we take this concept and modify it to the Flash character? I’ve got a few ideas.
Both Arkham games isolate Batman and cut him off from the rest of Gotham City. In the first he is locked in the asylum in the newer one he is confined to the prison area. These barriers make it easier to contain the story. Considering how quickly the Flash can be in another country, this would be very important in a Flash game. There is precedence for this happening in the past too, remember that Kobra once surrounded Keystone with a giant force field.
When news about Arkham City started coming out and we got information about how many villains were in it, I was worried. It seemed like there were going to be way too many. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Cut off from the outside world every villain is in it for himself. This could work so well in a Flash game. Maybe Grodd and his minions are in one area of town. Kobra might be holding another section. Cicada has cultist in yet another section. Maybe there is a full blown Rogue war. The possibilities are endless.
The most important thing the Arkham games do is make you feel like Batman. Anything you imagine he should be able to do, he does. Obviously in a Flash game you’d need to be able to move fast, but that isn’t all. Let us run up walls and across water. To make it easier in game terms put in certain types of walls that we can vibrate through. Let us create whirlwinds. Use the police radio built into the suit’s ear pieces to receive new information. Since Barry is Warner Brother’s go to Flash now days drop some crime scene investigation in there too.
As much as I love the family of speedsters, if the game did include a second playable character I’d really prefer it if it was someone that had a completely different set of powers. In Arkham City the difference between Batman and Catwoman is huge. I actually prefer running around as Catwoman due to the way she scales walls, it’s ridiculously fun. So if the Flash game does have a second character give us someone like Piper to play.
These are just the game ideas that have been in my head. What would you like to see in a Flash game?