I understand fully that Developers listen to Gamers, it's how games have evolved, We suggest things or ask for new ideas and Developers do listen to the masses. I'm not delusional enough to believe this will change anything. I am delusional enough to think that maybe I have some good ideas, and i am delusional enough to think that I could help. I'm delusional because I hope. Superman is my favorite Superhero, always has always will. And I care about the Superman fan base because we all strive something better, vicariously through this character. And as a Superman Fan I think it's important to hold with Honesty, a sense of hope that we can get that interactive experience.
I hope all the Internet agrees that these are ideas that can take us in the right direction for a Superman Game, and I understand even that is stretching it thin.
All in all I think if you take the Game play and story templates as designed by Rocksteady Studios in their Arkham Games, there is a recipe for a definitive Superman experience. So here are my ideas for Story, Game play, Bonuses, and Even a suggested cast for this epic.
Main Quest: Superman Must stop the Intergang war. It's starting to rack up too much collateral damage. While also using compounded evidence Superman has to try and bring each member down, with proof of connection to intergang and proof of the intergang civil war. Seeing the darkness in theses villains tests Superman's Resolve to see the good in people and to help turn them around. Superman Must face the dark truth that some villains can never be redeemed and must choose to continue to see the good, or accept the soulless monsters he faces are unable to change for the better. The Main Quest/Storyline should be Chapters separated into 6 Sub-Chapters.
"Chapter One" - Clark and Lois receive the anonymous tip to check out an "Unlisted Lexcorp Warehouse", A stealth mission, where players as Clark investigate the warehouse, trying not to be discovered. Covering the ground of 3 large buildings in multiple rooms. Looking for evidence of Intergang's leaders - showcases Metallo executing a Parasite Minion for ripping his boys off. This conflict leads to Superman approaching and confronting Metallo, Saving the thug only to get information about an oncoming war Among Intergang Members.
"Chapter Two" - Superman has to track down Bruno Mannheim, who is the easiest Intergang Figureheads to track down. Located at Mannheim's club "Moxxy". Uncovering an underground casino, Mannheim escapes the clutches of Superman via Motherbox to Apokolips. - Cutscenes Show Mannheim consulting with Kalibak, referencing Darkseid and him having a deal to help Control all Crime in order to help Turn the Earth over to Darkseid. Kalibak agrees to help, assisting by giving Mannheim a horde of Parademons.
"Chapter Three" - Setting has changed in Metropolis, Parademons rove the streets in secret watching out for Superman. Superman, with No lead to Mannheim, Superman has to confront Luthor on the Warehouse. Superman has to systematically go through a Lexcorp Factory, facing different stages of Enemies. Getting knocked out towards the end. Lex has kidnapped Superman, with a golden Opportunity to kill Superman, Lex relinquishes as he needs Superman's Help taking down other Intergang members in order for he Himself to gain control, Superman refuses while Lex points out Superman will whether he wants to or not.
"Chapter Four" - Superman wakes up, a clue from the same source that dropped the tip on the warehouse on where to Find Parasite. Pointing out Parasite has been controlling the organizations Illegal Sex trade {with Parasite getting some on the side to feed}. Superman has to enter and investigate 3 Different Cargo liners to Find Parasite confronting the New array of Thugs. Parasite Escapes, almost as Usual. Thanks to the help of Atomic Skull. In a glorious Boss Battle Superman has to take down Atomic Skull, who squeals that Parasite is seeing Livewire on the Side.
"Chapter Five" - Superman has to investigate Livewire's Whereabouts. Players take control of Clark, as they search the city for different leads, finding out where Livewire is With Lois Lane's guidance.
"Chapter Six" - Superman speaks with Luthor, on the Livewire drug. Lex explains she had forced Scientist to create it, and give Superman a List of different scientist who know how to cure the addiction. Superman has to go confront the Several different Drug dens and force the Scientist to create an anti-addictive property to help the people addicted to Livewire. Finding Livewire's Domain at an underground domain. Livewire Reveals she hasn't seen Parasite, Superman battles and takes her down.
"Chapter Seven" - Parasite thugs begin causing mass panic along all manner of Livewire thugs, causing several super-riots. Superman has to stop each one of them before being told Parasite's Location at a Hydro-electric plant Where Superman Battles Parasite.
"Chapter Eight" - Parasite and Livewire Down, Superman is tipped off by the mysterious source once again as to where Mannheim's Parademon Army will Attack allowing Superman finds a way to track him down at an abandon Dominatrix Club "Lashina" A multi-layered Club where Superman Battles Parademons, Lashina and Trained Furries, and Finally Steppenwolf. After defeating Steppenwolf Superman demands Mannheim turned over in his Custody - Kalibak attacks Superman in a Boss Battle. With Superman victorious, Kalibak retreats back into the Motherbox to Apokolips and the trail for Mannheim is officially cold.
"Chapter Nine" - The Intergang war grows fiercer, only two sides remain: Metallo and Lex Luthor, with the forces left behind from Livewire and Parasite's forces having to join Metallor or Lex Luthor. Together the Forces start riots and shoot outs in Crime-In-Progress sub-missions. Superman has to battle out the Metallo faction, hitting different Clubs and Factories before finding Metallo's Lair at a Scrapyard. There Superman Battles through and takes on Metallo in a Boss Battle. Finding a Clue, this time With Lex's Name on it Superman Deduces that Lex had orchestrated the entire Plot to take control of all Intergang activity.
"Chapter Ten" - Superman Seiges at all Lexcorp affiliated buidlings, tearing down Lex's Criminal empire before confronting him at Lexcorp. Facing Lex and his Monsterous Doomsday Thugs Superman battles them to a glorious fight that leads to the top of the Lexcorp Building. The Full boss Battle comes in 2-Parts Where Superman Battles Lex in the Armor and Lex, injected with the Doomsday Virus and the Armor. Beating Lex and Causing a violent Chain reaction That tears Lex Apart. Time Freezes!
"Chapter Eleven" - Mxyzptlk comes forward, having applauded Superman for having saved Lex at the end of all this. He comes forth as having been the inspiration for all this chaos and having tipped Superman off at every end to see if Superman would kill them for being evil, or see enough good to let them live. This culminates in a Super-Epic Boss battle Between Superman and Mxyzptlk.
Side Quests: Most, if Not all Side Quest have some sort of Connection to the Daily Planet. From Cold Cases connected to Super Villains, Murder, or Continuing Stories that Lane, Kent, and Olsen would be working on. Such Missions might Include Supervillains. Mxyzptlk is a character all but built for Side Missions. In insane levels bending Superman's Reality, and even taking away his powers in some hypnotically crazy levels. This would allow an element of flare for the game.
"Side Quest 1" - A Document in Metallo's Warehouse leads to a murder, committed by Bruno Manheim, who asked for Metallo to cover it up. With the assistance of some of Metallo's thugs, the body was hidden in mysterious locations. You have to go through a gauntlet of different thugs that have helped dispose of the body so Kent and the Police can pin the Murder on Manheim pending a proper autopsy.
"Side Quest 2" - Mxyzptlk teases Superman with delicate knowledge of the Intergang war, inbetween levels, pending Superman can Solve various puzzles. Leaving only clues as to the true intentions of the war and what is happening.
"Side Quest 3" - Parasite is running a slave trade out of Metropolis Bay, Superman has to find it and rescue the women who've been enslaved by this faction of the Organization, cutting Parasite from a constant "food" supply.
"Side Quest 4" - Luthor is using underhanded resources to build next gen weaponry and sell it on the Black Market. Making a mint from illegal arms deals, Superman has to try and find evidence of this and stop Luthor's general, Mercy Graves.
"Side Quest 5" - Livewire's drug distribution is gaining momentum with a new Drug named after the villain, causing death, homocidal outrages, and various other dangerious Side effects, Superman would have to find a number of distributors, suppliers, then finally attack the building where it's made and destroy the recipe.
Metropolis Landmarks: Areas of the Game that signify that this is certainly Metropolis, and not any other average Superman game.
Daily Planet - Clark's Workplace, a center for attention among the Story as the reporters there are dedicated to getting the truth, whether it means life or death.
Clark and Lois' Apartment - Superman's Home, Where he uses investigative skills as a reporter to connect the web of violence Intergang has caused. Also an area were players could change any bonus costumes.
STAR Labs - A Resourceful scientific reserve that assists Superman with basic Upgrades including enhanced armor to help Superman against enemy attacks and assist Superman in Honing his abilities and learn some creative uses for them.
Lexcorp - Lex Luthors infamous company, where Superman and Lex Have Many antagonizing Meetings, perhaps in game There would be moments where Superman Could Visit and talk to Lex as he stands in his Office.
Supporting Characters: The Main Group of Protagonist Players would be Likely to Interact with.
Clark Kent/Superman - Main character of the game, the Last Son of Krypton. With a Multitude of Powers, Players take control of Superman to stop the Intergang Civil War. On a power scale of the same level as Clark was at the beginning of the New 52 Action Comics Arc, The Superman Animated Series and the John Byrne Man of Steel Reboot in the 1980's.
Lois Lane - Superman is a man of many friends, and certainly Lois Lane would Classically become a very famous Damsel in distress, but when kidnapped and featured in Boss Battles, she would serve as a guide or as a helping handing setting up the proper conditions for Superman to defeat the Enemies. while also investigating various parts of the city and talking to Superman, either directly or through a cell phone {maybe located on Superman's Belt.}
Jimmy Olsen - While Jimmy and His Signal watch would be a way to send the player to the proper Level, when activated, similar to how the Bat-Signal operates for Batman in the Arkham games.
Perry White - Clark's Boss, a figure of advice when Superman comes as Clark. Always one for Concern and to motivate Clark, maybe hint that he knows Clark is Superman.
Dan Turpin - Officer of the MPD, He's the detective Superman contacts to arrest Enemies.
Dr. Emil Hamilton - Emil is the premier scientist at Star Labs, He assists Superman in missions giving him advice on how to defeat certain enemies and what Superman might need to look for.
Enemies: Superman is a nigh-Invulnerable character. We're taking that image and changing it, he's a more human character than most would honestly give credit for. He is going back to the Power scale set for him in both the Animated Series and The John Byrne Man of Steel run. With that In mind it's Understood Superman is Powerful, so while the scale of Power is getting cut back, Enemies are being upgraded so that they pose a threat to Superman. For the Enemies there are going to be 5 Enemy Levels:
Standard: Intergang Thugs, and basic thugs. Their are four sub-classes of the basic enemies:
Shielded Enemies - Enemies who carry various objects to shield them from enemy fire, and attacks, most of them have hyper-technological shields, mostly designed of some type of raw energy at a highly fatal to normal people when hit with a direct charge. Dangerous to Superman at a direct charge or rush. Blunt
Weapon Enemies - Enemies who carry energy rods, lead pipes, or other basic hand held weapons that cause damage. Knife's Lead pipes will break against Superman, While energy rods will stun him and leave him open for attack for a very brief moment and will cause minute health damage.
Projectile Weaponry Enemies - Enemies who carry Kryptonite rounds, that can really hurt or even kill Superman. Most are scatter-shots unless at Point-Blank range. Distance is the best policy, but being that the guns carrying the rounds are lead lined, it allows Superman to get in close to attack them, but it's going to take more than one hit to hurt him, as the faint traces of Kryptonite bring his power down a bit. Still highly dangerous.
Armored Thugs - Thugs with Alien tech or Hyper tech armor that allow them to take a bit more of a punch than Superman is willing to give. Sure he could punch through their chests, but Superman doesn't kill so he pulls his punches, the armor theses thugs where takes a lot of the pulled punches, so combo and counters to break the armor are necessary to crack the armor and take out the enemies.
Power 1 Enemies: Powered Enemies, all Influenced by Superman's Enemies, and Altered via different methods. These are Enemies who can punch Superman and Hurt him, like the way the average Thug hitting Batman can really hurt him. Since their are Five Main Intergang Bosses at war, their are Five Variations of the Power 1 Enemies:
Parasite Thugs - These guys drain Superman's Energy, but can easily get overfed and destroy themselves when absorbing too much power. They can Damage Superman and Superman has to use inventive means to stop them.
Metallo Thugs - Not Robots, but Humans with mechanical enhancements and Kryptonite Hearts. They're only level 1 so they're an average threat of Metallo's forces.
Livewire Thugs - Enemies who can send a static charge through Superman, damaging but hard to kill Superman unless it's a strong group of them.
Doomsday Thugs - Much like the Bouncers in Arkham Origins, theses are basic thugs, enhanced by Lex Luthor to look similar to Doomsday and are all force. You can't counter their attacks, only Dodge them. Best way to take them out is to Stun them and Hit a high combo.
Parademons - It's known well that Bruno Mannheim and most of the Intergang Bosses have made deals with Darkseid to stay in Power, Now Bruno has made the ultimate commitment to Darkseid in exchange for the flighted Parademon enemies.
Power 2 Enemies: More Powerful than Power 1 Enemies, these thugs can only be taken down by Medium Combos, they're about as powerful to Superman as the Venom Criminals in Arkham Origins are to Batman. To give them a leg up, these villains have a projectile ability.
Parasite Enemies - Power 2 Parasite Enemies have a limit to how much they can take in but handle it very well. They Don't explode, so the best way to beat them is to get them to their limit and expose their openings for attacks, once they hit full power they take damage and can be frozen.
Metallo Enemies - Larger and more powerful versions of the Power 1 Enemies. These versions are able to launch projectiles to really change things up among power levels.
Livewire Enemies - More powerful electrical-themed Villains powerful enough to Knock Superman down.
Doomsday Enemies - Able to shoot out Bone-shards, These thugs can cut and bruise Superman. Causing some serious damage.
Lashina Enemies - Lead by the Femme Furry Lashina, these are female power-housed parademons that use crackling Whips that can pull Superman down and hold their own against him.
Power 3 Enemies: Sub-bosses, One under the Big boss Battles. Theses are closer to Insane Criminals, who can only be controlled by their intended bosses. These are the equivilant to the Titan sub-bosses in the Arkham series.
Parasite Sub-Boss - Like Parasite they're monsters, Unstable and unable to control the surge and need for Power they're, highly dangerous and take some quick thinking in game to beat them.
Metallo Sub-Boss - Large Machined Hunks of insanity. An Enemy with all the resource of Metallo, some of them improperly used. It's there a player would need to expose an advantage to attack and take them down.
Livewire Sub-Boss - An ticking bomb of Electricity. Able to kill Superman, these thugs are constantly surging and need to be stunned before you can attack them.
Doomsday Sub-Boss - Mindless killing machines who's primary means of attack is a powerful rush and throwing enemies at Superman, Superman can use them to his advantage when faced with large groups of thugs and allows him to rest while tricking something else into attack the enemies. They carry a powerful Punch.
The Steppenwolf Parademons Sub-Boss - Lead by General Steppenwolf, These parademons are more intelligent and pose more of a threat than other mindless parademons as they have combat training and can counter Some of Superman's attacks unless stunned.
Boss Enemies: Boss characters that Superman Must face to beat the game. These are the toughest enemies and the most damaging opponents. Where Applicable boss Battles are divided into 3- Parts. Others might be divided into more parts, causing the fight to really get an edge of your seat reaction.
Atomic Skull - Joseph Martin's superhuman powers manifested after exposure to the Dominators' gene-bomb, the film buff began to hallucinate that he was a 1930s movie hero called the Atomic Skull and that Superman was his nemesis.
Steppenwolf - Steppenwolf is one of Apokolips' most higest-ranking generals, and an uncle and mentor to Darkseid. To beat Steppenwolf the best strategy is to out match him. Given Superman's dedication to all things Kryptonian this allows Superman to flex some of his Alien Martial Arts while also using some teachings from Batman.
Lashina - Lashina is raised a warrior in Granny Goodness' orphanage, and takes over leadership of the Female Furies when Big Barda leaves Apokolips for Earth. Though the Furies go to Earth to aid Big Barda and her lover, Mister Miracle,they soon return to Apokolips to take their punishment for their betrayal of Darkseid. Lashina is then given leadership over the Female Furies by Darkseid, much to Bernadeth's annoyance.
Kalibak - Son of Darkseid and the most vicious Soldier, While Darkseid doesn't make an appearance, his Son is a main threat of the game, while Bruno exits Metropolis to be protected by Darkseid on Apokolips.
Bruno Mannheim - Vicious Co-Figure-Head of Intergang, In charge of Racketeering and Arms Deals.
John Corben/Metallo - Like Mannheim he is a figurehead of the Intergang involved in the murder-section of Intergang involving taking hired contracts and Keeping others inline with Intergang's process. The Kryptonite Fueled Android, he's a monster who can hit Superman with Focused Kryptonite blasts, where Player's point of attack.
Leslie Willis/Livewire - A Femme Fatal who can control and manipulate Electricity, she has risen through the ranks of Intergang and become one of the most vicious Enemies Superman has faced. The Figurehead of Intergang in control of the drug trade. With a new Synthetic Drug, co-developed by Lex Luthor's crew, making Massive waves, Livewire has been affecting all sorts of different marks.
Rudy Jones/Parasite - The vicious monster who can drain Superman's Power, a Serious threat. Intergang's Human Trafficker, in control of the bodies that go through Metropolis for prostitution, with a number of Bodies kicked up to Parasite for him to feed.
Lex Luthor: Dangerous by himself in the Exo-Suit Lex Luthor in a desperate attempt to out-muscle and out Smart Superman, Injects himself with the Doomsday Virus to enhance himself, that matched with The Exo-Suit make him one of the most Dangerous Bosses in the game. In control of all of Intergang's Money via Laundering it through his numerous companies, and assisting Mannheim in the Arms trade Lex holds the most control out of the group, but is still One of Five figurehead bosses.
Mxyzptlk - The Rogue Supreme evil from the 5th Dimension, who in mind-bending levels puts Superman to all the tests only to see Superman stand his ground and never let his moral compass shake. In Scarecrow and Mad Hatter Like Warped reality levels, Superman Finds himself battling all manners of insanity in Mxyzptlk's attempt to make Superman like him, a wrathful god. This culminates in a large Boss Battle that would reveal the Man behind this all, was Mxyzptlk, bringing his villainy to a whole new level.
Gameplay: Much like the Arkham series, An open world action adventure game with stealth tactics. Presented in a 3rd person scope, allowing the players to see Superman and the environment he is in. With the entire city of Metropolis open to the players, the only boundaries are it's borders.
Stealth - Superman can sneak up on enemies using a stealth-variation of the characters trademarked super speed. Allowing for sneak attacks and quick take downs. Superman can also use his powers for quick and occasionally silent takedowns.
Flying - While Flying Superman can swoop down and accend beyond skyscrapers in beauty as players can enjoy his trademarked flight. It can increase naturally or be sped up by another button.