Culture

Rating: 8/10

Just when you thought Marvel had adapted every single one of their heroes, here comes Deadpool, a character I believe has been under-utilised and misrepresented thus far in Marvel’s attempts to take over the world … or at the very least the entertainment industry. For those of you who aren’t avid comic book readers, the only places you may have run into Deadpool before now is either in some brief cameo in one of the many Marvel games, or being butchered (in a figurative sense) by Ryan Reynolds in the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Anyway, for those of you unfamiliar with Deadpool, he is an ex-mercenary who was taken hostage and turned into a mutant with the power of regeneration. But it is not his powers that make him interesting; it’s his personality. Nicknamed “The Merc with the Mouth,” Deadpool is undoubtedly the funniest comic book character of all time. Deadpool has hilariously mental traits such as his multiple personalities with whom he often converses. It is traits like this – and his penchant for breaking the fourth wall – that make him a good pick for a video game adaptation.

Developed by High Moon Studios (the same studio that handled the Transformers: War on Cybertron series), Deadpool is well written, superbly performed, but sadly averagely executed.

The game begins with Deadpool kidnapping the staff of High Moon so that they make a video game about him. Essentially, therefore, the rest of the game is meta as it sees Deadpool playing through the game he is forcing High Moon to make. This fourth wall break is classic Deadpool and gives the whole game not only a hilarious take, but a really fresh perspective. The plot itself is minimal, but that is kind of the point. Deadpool doesn’t fight for a cause, but because fighting is fun for him.

The writing is the undeniable highlight of this game. The cut scenes and in-game action are riddled with hilarious one-liners and running jokes that alone make the game worth playing. The dialogue is only made better by having Nolan North (Nathan Drake from Uncharted) voice Deadpool with fantastic variety and perfect comic timing.

Despite the fantastic writing, this game is really let down by its gameplay. Deadpool is the epitome of the Hack and Slash genre, requiring an awful lot of button mashing. The gameplay will see you using swords and firearms to dispatch a variety of faceless enemies, intermingled with a few elite-type bad guys. The game encourages combo combat, but the combos all do essentially the same thing (although going from hack and slash to dispatching ranged enemies with your guns is vaguely satisfying). The combat gets very repetitive very quickly and, even worse, poorly schemed controls often make it quite frustrating. Repetitive and frustrating are never a good combo.

Combat and exploration reward you with “Deadpool points,” which can be used to buy new weapons as well as upgrading both your existing weapons and Deadpool himself. At first glance there seems to be a wide variety of upgrades and weapons, but as you get your hands on each one they feel too similar to really matter. In the end the swords and pistols you begin with are the most satisfying.

I’m wary about warning people away from this game because it is the most entertaining and original video game narrative I have seen in a long time. So instead I will just say that once it’s in the bargain bin, you should snatch this one up. You may have to mash your thumbs off, but you will laugh your ass off in the process.