There was more than one interesting development during our absence but when writing our catchup one was so substantial that we felt it warranted its own space.

Raw Fury announced a positively brilliant looking futuristic action roleplaying superhero game called Superfuse and offered a preview at the Game Developer Conference.

What's so special about it?

To begin answering that question we need to give a quick history lesson.

Superhero Games

Prior to the Marvel Cinematic Universe juggernaut heroically propelling superherodom into the mainstream, superhero games were relatively niche and games which allowed you to create your own hero few and far between.

Massively online roleplaying game City of Heroes (2004 to 2012) was possibly the best of them though its power customisation didn't really go much deeper than selecting a primary and secondary powerset.

Followup Champions Online (2009) made by one of City of Heroes' co-developers promised big but didn't fully deliver and controversially was also the first online subscription game to launch alongside a cash shop.

Interestingly Champions was to have been a Marvel title but publisher Microsoft pulled out in February 2008 because of "an inability to compete", i.e. they didn't think it would be popular and make enough money.

Iron Man released in cinemas just a few months later and proved that mainstream audiences could enjoy and pay for superhero content.

In March 2009, a Marvel online action roleplaying game was announced, but playing as established heroes and villains from the comics rather than your own character.

Marvel Heroes launched in 2013 and was shut down in 2017.

Now five years later...

Customisation

Superfuse is of a similar top-down Diablo style as Marvel Heroes but you create and can customise your character to a heretofore unparalleled degree.

It looks and sounds like Morrowind or Oblivion's very popular spellcrafting system but bigger and better.

Shack News describe it like this:

The token slot layouts are different for everything you augment but the concept is basically the same. First you choose the context that triggers the augment; like does it happen when you kill an enemy, just when they’re hit, or when you instigate the attack? Next, you can choose what effect that initiates such as elemental damage, a ricochet shot, or multiple shots in various directions. These effects can also be stacked and you can even unlock special buffs by augmenting the right features. It basically creates an endless combination of augments that should be able to cater to anyone’s playing style. I personally ended up making a hammer slam attack that shot lightning waves out in every direction, basically melting everything in my path.

We don't apply this term lightly but this might truly be perfect.

Premise

It's not one we've seen before.

Humanity escaped the dying Earth with technology funded by the corporate elite. We spread across the solar system but, as the centuries passed, the billionaires that saved mankind retained their stranglehold on our lives. While most of us barely clung to life, the wealthy lived in luxury, extending their lives and augmenting themselves with superpowers. They made themselves Gods.

When the putrid beasts and terrifying shambling monsters emerged, we dubbed this new threat "The Corruption". Once again, our self-appointed Gods intervened and, in their image, they created Enforcers. Once-regular people were granted superpowers to fight The Corruption and became the fists of the Corporatocracy. Even now they patrol the solar system at the behest of their creators.

You have joined the ranks of the Enforcers and must do whatever is needed to maintain order and ensure humanity’s future. Welcome to the fight!

The idea of playing what amounts to a corporate thug isn't especially appealing but we are curious to see where this story leads.

And even if we don't love where the story ends up, we might enjoy playing our way to it customised precisely to our own special liking.

Marvel's upcoming RPG Midnight Suns looks interesting but if only allowed to play one of these, it would unquestionably be Superfuse.

Both superhero titles are expected to release this year.

[ Main Image: Superfuse screenshot. Credit: Raw Fury via Steam. ]

References

Gamespot (September 8, 2021). Marvel's Midnight Suns Gameplay Showcase Full Presentation. YouTube.

IGN (April 1, 2022). Superfuse Preview: Like a Superhero Diablo Game. YouTube.

Morse, Blake (March 31, 2022). Superfuse may be the sci-fi superhero Diablo we've been waiting for. Shack News.

Raw Fury (March 31, 2022). Announcing Superfuse - An ARPG Coming This Year. YouTube.

Steam. Superfuse. (viewed April 5, 2022)

Wikipedia. Marvel Heroes (video game). (viewed April 5, 2022)