Deadpool (video game)

Gameplay

Deadpool is an action beat 'em up video game, with new combos becoming available to Deadpool as he progresses. The game, which is rated "mature", frequently breaks the fourth wall by having Deadpool verbally interact with the player based on their skill and progress.

By default, Deadpool is armed with both guns and swords, but he also has access to giant hammers, plasma guns, and a range of other alternatives. A short range of teleportation moves are possible as well. As he slowly falls apart while sustaining damage, players must avoid further damage in order to recover.

Plot

Deadpool sets off explosives at High Moon Studios, forcing them to make "the most awesome game ever" starring himself; he even hires Nolan North as his voice actor. Messing around in his apartment, Deadpool has a script delivered to him; he finds it boring, so he uses crayon to rewrite it, preferring to improvise.

Following the first few lines of the script, Deadpool sets out to assassinate corrupt media mogul Chance White. Deadpool storms White's media headquarters, slaughtering the guards before tackling himself and White out of the latter's penthouse window and into the sewers (apparently blowing the game's budget by repeating the events for kicks). But White is saved by the Marauders. Deadpool kills Arclight before finding the first of many glitches/unfinished areas throughout the game; he is forced to call High Moon to coerce them into finishing. Deadpool stumbles upon White meeting Mr. Sinister, who has Blockbuster kill him once informed that the mogul's satellites are under his control. This angers Deadpool as he lost his bounty, killing Vertigo and knocking out Blockbuster. But Mr. Sinister uses his powers to reduce Deadpool to a disembodied head, leaving him to regenerate unconscious.

Deadpool awakens and encounters Wolverine, Rogue, Psylocke, and Domino of the X-Men. The X-Men follow Mr. Sinister to Genosha, but Deadpool insists on flying the Blackbird and crashes it, knocking everyone but himself unconscious (despite Deadpool's attempts to wake Wolverine by slapping him repeatedly and comically scolding him with nonsensical insults). While wandering through Genosha, Deadpool runs into Cable, who has come from the future to ensure that Sinister's plan does not succeed. But a bored Deadpool drowns out Cable's discussion with a bullet to the head, reviving to find a message from Cable about meeting "the incredibly hot and large-breasted naked fangirl who claims she's his number 1 fan". This convinces Deadpool to regroup with Cable, learning there is no fan girl.

Deadpool then infiltrates a security tower housing Sinister against Cable's wishes and kills who he later learns to be a clone of Sinister. Cable convinces Deadpool to care about what happens if Sinister succeeds by telling him that his favorite taco restaurant will be destroyed along with the world. Reconfiguring a Sentinel foot into a flying machine to go to Magneto's citadel, Deadpool accidentally causes the foot to malfunction and crashes into Rogue in mid-air. After crashing, and getting his disembodied arm back from Mr. Shuggums, Deadpool goes to save Rogue from Blockbuster while hoping to seduce her. After a side trip where he ends up killing another Sinister clone, Deadpool takes out Blockbuster and saves an injured Rogue by letting her absorb his healing powers via kissing; Deadpool's extra personalities – screwball and serious – are also in Rogue's mind briefly.

Deadpool briefly dies when Mr. Shuggums retrieves an explosive and he is reunited with his lover Death. Death tells Deadpool that Sinister had been exhuming mutant bodies to obtain their unique DNAs, and needs Deadpool to retrieve the suffering souls unable to pass on. Deadpool agrees as he comes back to life and, again meeting Cable, goes on a spirit quest to retrieve the souls for Death and cause the underground passage to cave-in, foiling Sinister's plans. After reuniting with Wolverine on the surface, Deadpool travels further into the citadel as he defeats clones of the Marauders and then a group of Mister Sinister clones. The real Mister Sinister later shows up and, after defeating the X-Men, Deadpool kills him by leaving him open to be squashed by the Sentinel foot. Deadpool wonders if he killed the real Mister Sinister until Cable gives thumbs up confirmation, allowing Deadpool to call out for the end credits.

As Deadpool exudes joy over how awesome his game is after playing it, High Moon's representative Peter Della Penna calls him and admits that he really hadn't blown their budget, at which Deadpool proceeds to actually do so by repeatedly creating explosions during the credits.

Development

Deadpool was first announced at the 2012 San Diego Comic Con. However, only a teaser trailer was shown; no platforms in which the game was to be released on were confirmed. Shortly after the announcement, an article was unveiled on Marvel's official website confirming the development of the game; the article was written from Deadpool's point of view, saying he hired High Moon Studios to make him a game. Prior to the game's release, the lead designer of the game revealed the basics of the plot in an interview with IGN, saying Deadpool has taken over the studio and is in charge of the game's development. The game was created using Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 technology, which also powers Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. The game's budget was $100 million, making it one of the most expensive video games developed.

During High Moon's panel at Comic-Con, a censored version of the trailer was shown twice after an actor dressing up as Deadpool appeared on stage with the developers. Another marketing campaign started with billboards taking the appearance of graffiti covering advertisements for The Amazing Spider-Man, presumably made by Deadpool to crudely advertise his video game. GameSpot later released an advertisement of the game, with Deadpool giving a holiday greeting while telling people to pre-order the game, stating that it would be released in 2013.

Peter Della Penna revealed later in a press release that Daniel Way had written the story for the game, bringing his signature Deadpool humor to the title. According to Penna, "We weren't actually planning on making a Deadpool game. But, Deadpool came by the studio one day, said he was taking over, and that if I didn't hire Marvel writer Daniel Way pronto and make the most amazing Deadpool video game, he'd break both of our arms and beat us to death with them. I have kids, so we're making the game."

Marketing

High Moon Studios announced a "watch and win" sweepstakes that ran during the Spike Video Game Awards, which aired on December 8, 2012. The winner of the contest would be flown to High Moon Studios and will appear as an in-game character in the Deadpool video game. The winner appears in the game as a unique big-headed enemy that Deadpool mentions was supposed to be the pizza delivery man at the start of the game. The winner of this contest was Bill Salina, a Database Administrator from Atlanta, GA. He appears as the character Storm Thrower, who as he is attacked will name off pizzas.

Release

The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A Microsoft Windows version had been announced, with a full list of achievements available in the Deadpool video game, having been leaked via the digital distributor Steam. The ESRB rating page has also been updated to list a PC version of the game.

Pre-orders have been announced by several retail outlets. GameStop and EBGames will release the Merc with a Map Pack DLC. Two new maps are also added, the GRT Plaza and Inside the Tower to Deadpool Challenge mode, and also two bonus costumes, the D-Pooly and Uncanny X-Force suits only for use in the unlockable Infinite mode where stats are tracked on a global leaderboard.

On January 1, 2014, Activision's license to create games with Marvel comics characters expired, resulting in Deadpool: The Video Game and numerous other Marvel titles published by Activision to be removed from online storefronts such as Steam and PSN.

On August 31, 2015, Activision announced that they would remaster the game for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game was re-released in November 18, 2015 in North America and November 20, 2015 in the United Kingdom. It is unknown how Activision reaquired the rights to publish Deadpool: The Video Game, but it's thought the re-release was timed to help promote the then-upcoming Deadpool feature film, released roughly 3 months after the next-gen version of the game.

Reception

High Moon Studios showed an early demo of the video game to journalists at Gamescom 2012, where the game earned a nomination for Best of Show. Several sites wrote positive impression of the demo that was shown at Gamescom and the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), also including Joystiq and GameSpot.

Deadpool has received mixed to positive reviews, with critics praising the humor, original story, and keeping true to the comics, but criticizing the repetitive gameplay, controls and combat. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Xbox 360 version 65.76% and 62/100, the PlayStation 3 version 65.62% and 61/100, the Xbox One version 47.50%, the PC version 63.33% and 63/100 and the PlayStation 4 version 57.50% and 60/100.

Removal

All digital copies of all Marvel/Activision games, including Deadpool, X-Men: Destiny, and Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, were removed from Steam, Xbox Live, and PlayStation Network, due to an expired contract between Marvel Studios and Activision. Activision will no longer make downloadable content, trading cards, and patches to the game. However, on July 15, 2015, Deadpool was made available for purchase on Steam for PC again.