A Lookback at Marvel’s Midnight Suns – The Most Faithful Marvel Game Yet

by Annika February 10, 2025

On the eve of Firaxis Games’ release of Civilization VII, we wanted to look back at one of their best strategy games that went underappreciated: Marvel’s Midnight Suns. Since the dawn of superhero video games, developers have struggled to balance gameplay with the deep lore and character richness of comic book worlds. Many games have successfully captured the spectacle of being a superhero—swinging through New York as Spider-Man, smashing through foes as the Hulk—but few have embodied the heart and soul of Marvel Comics as well as Marvel’s Midnight Suns.

This game isn’t just another superhero action brawler—it’s a tactical masterclass, a love letter to Marvel’s supernatural and street-level heroes, and a strategy experience that redefines the genre. By bringing together beloved icons like Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Captain America alongside deep-cut heroes such as Nico Minoru, Magik, and Blade, Midnight Suns delivers a roster that feels as if it leaped straight from the comic pages. More impressively, it refines the formula that Firaxis perfected with XCOM, while eliminating the crushing punishment of failure.

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One of Midnight Suns’ greatest triumphs is its embrace of Marvel’s vast and intricate lore. Where other Marvel games focus on the Avengers or the X-Men in isolation, this game draws from every corner of the Marvel Universe. Fans of The Runaways will be delighted to see Nico Minoru play a central role, while X-Men readers will revel in Magik’s prominence. Ghost Rider, Blade, and Doctor Strange add supernatural depth to the lineup, making Midnight Suns feel like a proper love letter to Marvel’s more mystic and lesser-known properties.

At its core, the game is about more than just assembling a team—it’s about building relationships. The Abbey, the game’s home base, serves as a hub where players can engage in dialogue, train with heroes, and deepen bonds. Every character has a unique personality, drawn from decades of Marvel Comics, and the game treats them with the reverence they deserve.

A Lookback at Marvel’s Midnight Suns – The Most Faithful Marvel Game Yet

Firaxis Games, the minds behind XCOM, took a bold approach with Midnight Suns, abandoning the franchise’s signature “percent-to-hit” mechanics in favor of a card-based system that emphasizes creative strategy. Rather than relying on dice rolls or punishing the player for missed attacks, the game encourages adaptability and clever card combinations. Each hero has a deck of abilities that can be modified and upgraded, offering a near-limitless number of strategic possibilities.

This approach transforms every battle into a tactical puzzle. Positioning, environmental interactions, and synergy between heroes all matter. Do you send Captain Marvel to absorb damage and build up her Binary form, or use Doctor Strange to manipulate the battlefield? Do you let Blade stack Bleed effects on enemies, or do you prioritize Nico’s unpredictable magic? Midnight Suns forces players to think beyond raw damage and embrace tactical depth, making every battle feel dynamic and engaging.

Unlike XCOM, where every missed shot can lead to a cascade of failure and an inevitable restart, Midnight Suns removes the traditional “lose state.” There are no do-or-die timers forcing players into reckless moves. Instead, the game encourages experimentation. Missions are designed to challenge, but failure doesn’t mean losing everything. Even if a mission doesn’t go as planned, players can return to the Abbey, rethink their strategies, and refine their decks without the fear of permadeath or total defeat.

This design decision makes Midnight Suns more accessible than XCOM while retaining the deep tactical gameplay that Firaxis is known for. It removes the frustration of losing hours of progress due to a single bad decision, allowing players to focus on refining their strategies and enjoying the moment-to-moment combat.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns is more than just a great superhero game—it’s what happens when developers treat source material with respect and combine it with innovative game design. It showcases the depth and complexity of Marvel’s characters beyond the mainstream Avengers lineup, giving fans of the comics a reason to celebrate.

By perfecting the XCOM formula and removing the punishing loss mechanics, Firaxis has created a game that welcomes both casual players and strategy veterans. The rich story, deep roster, and intricate combat mechanics make Midnight Suns feel like a playable Marvel crossover event, capturing the spirit of the comics in a way that few games ever have.

While other superhero games like Marvel Rivals focus on fast-paced action, Midnight Suns is proof that strategy and storytelling can be even more compelling.

Unfortunately, despite its innovation and critical acclaim, Midnight Suns failed to find commercial success. Sales underperformed, and Firaxis has confirmed that a sequel is unlikely. It’s a shame, because Midnight Suns proved that Marvel games don’t always have to be action-packed brawlers—they can be smart, strategic, and deeply narrative-driven.

Sadly, this might be the last time we see this unique take on the Marvel universe in gaming.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns was released on December 2nd, 2022 and is available for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X, and why it’s not on Switch bring us sadness (maybe Switch 2??)