Summary
Despite being around since 1941,Wonder Womanhas been sorely missing from the video scene. Though she’s cropped up in ensemble titles likeInjustice 2,DC Universe Online, andLEGO Batman, Wonder Woman has never been the star of her own game, which seems a little absurd given the character’s immense popularity, and her power set being perfectly suited for a full video game. Thankfully, Monolith Productions is currently hard at work trying to make up for all that lost time.
Announced back in December 2021,Monolith’s Wonder Woman gamemay not have a lot revealed about it right now, but it does boast a great deal of potential. As well as being an excellent hero to adapt, with plenty of video game-y abilities, tons of potential enemies, and some great narratives already ready to go, Wonder Woman is also in great hands, with Monolith having proven twice already that it’s capable of giving players an intense power-trip under the banner of a popular IP. And when it comes to taking inspiration from theMiddle-Earthseries, there’s one mechanical system in particular that should carry over to Wonder Woman.
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Monolith’s Wonder Woman Needs to Borrow Shadow of War’s Gear System
WhileMiddle-Earth: Shadow of Mordorwas a pretty straight-edged action-adventure game, its sequel,Middle-Earth: Shadow of Wardecided to wear a few different hats. Though it retained the vast majority of its predecessor’s mechanics,Shadow of Waralso added a number of RPG featuresto its core loop, with the biggest being the addition of gear and loot. Unlocked through exploration, completing story missions, completing side quests, and just general grinding,Middle-Earth: Shadow of Warhad a plethora of different gear sets to unlock, all of which fit into eight distinct categories.
The first gear category inShadow of WarisTalion’s sword, with rarer swords dealing increased damage and occasionally having special status effects. Players could also find a variety of daggers out in the wild, increasing the damage of stealth attacks. Hammers, bows, and longbows all fit inside the umbrella of the ranged category, and rarer gear items of this nature would often apply a special effect to the chosen projectile. Armor was one of the most important categories of gear inShadow of War, determining the player’s max health and granting them unique abilities upon receiving damage. Cloaks would improve the player’s stealth abilities, and finally, Runes would increase the player’s max focus.
Much like any other action-adventure game with a gear system,Middle-Earth: Shadow of Warallowed for a great deal of customization and player-freedom. With eight individual categories of gear to experiment with, players could create a truly unique build, supporting their own particular playstyle in every way.Shadow of War’s gear also allowed players to customize the look of Talion, which helps to make the player feel that much more invested in the character and their story. For these reasons alone,Shadow of War’s gear systemshould come to Monolith’s Wonder Woman game.
From the get-go,Wonder Womanalready lends herself to having multiple gear categories. Wonder Woman’s sword, shield, lasso, armor, and tiara are all already key parts of the characters that could receive their own set of gear options. These gear pieces wouldn’t just incentivize players to keep playing and unlocking new abilities and better equipment, but they would also let them customize their Diana Prince’s appearance. Wonder Woman has had plenty of iconic outfits over the years, and Monolith could use a gear system to reference a bunch of them, just likeInjustice 2did with its own gear system.
Monolith’sWonder Womanis currently in development.
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