What are the best superhero games on PC? After all, the world has comic book fever. Look around and you’ll see it: it’s all BIFF this and POW that, as they fight for superhero supremacy. People with towels pegged to their shoulders dive into stores, searching with non-X-ray-vision for the best DC games, while those swinging a red, white, and blue painted bin lid peruse the internet for lists of the best Marvel games.
Before this feature spirals off into an inescapable whole of comic references, here is our list of the best superhero games you can play on PC, including two of the best Batman games. That should be enough super-powered goodness to keep you happy until the next blockbuster lands. And the best PC games are super in their own right, too.
The best superhero games are:
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Just when we thought Insomniac had created the best Spider-Man game in 2018, they went ahead and released Spider-Man: Miles Morales. This standalone game acts as an expansion to Peter Parker’s adventure, putting players in the shoes of Miles Morales as he begins his journey as an aspiring superhero. Experience Miles’ journey as he learns the hard way that the life of a superhero can be extremely demanding.
Unlike Peter, Miles can harness the power of bio-electric ‘venom’ blasts, giving him access to a new skill set. As you progress through the game, the enemies begin to wear special armor to protect themselves from Miles’ newfound abilities. This gives the combat an extra layer of depth as you now have to think twice about how you approach each fight, carefully considering which resources are worth using depending on who you’re battling.
The PC version of Miles Morales is technically superior to what you can experience on the PlayStation 5, featuring support for ultrawide monitors, high refresh rates, and additional ray tracing options to choose from. To top it all off, the entire game is set during the Christmas period, making it one of the best Christmas games of all time.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
Infinity War is one of Marvel Comics’ largest crossover events. In 1992, it brought together dozens of superheroes to team up against Thanos and his impossibly powerful Infinity Gauntlet. It’s a classic story of uniting against impossible odds. Sometimes, though, heroes don’t see eye to eye. Instead of working together, they begin to fight among themselves. This was the focus of the famous 2006 Civil War storyline. Not only was this the basis for an immensely successful Marvel movie, but this event was also rendered in playable form in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.
An isometric brawler with just a hint of Diablo to it, Ultimate Alliance 2 asks you to put together a group of four heroes and fight for their side of the Superhero Registration battle. While your objectives are simple dungeon-crawling fare, there is surprising depth to the combat system. Every character has a unique Fusion ability that alters depending on who they’re teamed up with. So, for example, Storm can fire lightning bolts toward Captain America, who will then deflect them off his shield and into the path of their enemies.
With a roster of over 20 characters, there’s a colossal number of combinations to discover and make use of. The big question, of course, is can Hulk do a fastball special with Wolverine? (Yes, he can, and yes, it’s awesome).
Injustice 2
If superheroes beating seven bells out of each other is what you like then there’s no better example than Injustice 2. Arguably one of the best fighting games based on DC comics, it reimagines Batman’s universe as a world where Superman went bad. Yep, prepare yourself for a gleefully bonkers plot.
Injustice 2 is perhaps the best-presented fighter ever made. Ludicrously well-produced cutscenes tell the story, which feels notably on-the-button with recent favorites like Supergirl, Green Arrow, and Black Canary taking major roles alongside Batman and Harley Quinn. Each new chapter quickly introduces new perspectives and classic locales from the DC universe, making this a speedy round trip of several decades of comic book history.
In battle, characters hurl each other through the scenery with a sense of weight and power rarely seen in games. The fight engine itself is deep, but even a button-masher can easily activate some absurdly entertaining abilities, such as The Flash catapulting an opponent through time and smashing them into the Sphinx’s nose.
Lego Marvel Super Heroes
Comic book movies have a habit of going a bit dark and moody. If you’re seeking something with a more joyful tone then Lego Marvel Super Heroes is here to save you. As far as gameplay goes it’s entirely Lego as usual: puzzles block your path through the world, and so you’ll need to smash the scenery before rebuilding it into useful contraptions to help you advance. But it’s the Marvel charm that will captivate you.
The beauty of Marvel Super Heroes is the richness of the universe it draws from. There are untold hundreds of nods to the Marvel comics, cartoons, and films, with various levels of humor aimed at both those fully learned and entirely new to the world. And, since the game draws several cues from the cinematic interpretations of the characters, this is probably the only place you’ll ever see the movie X-Men mansion in the same city as the MCU Avengers Tower and Sony’s Amazing Spider-Man Oscorp building. We know, right? We can hardly keep calm about it ourselves.
Batman: Arkham Knight
Rocksteady’s Batman Arkham games are undisputedly in the very top tier of superhero games, but which of the series is best? Asylum or City? Well, neither actually: it’s Arkham Knight.
Yes, yes, we know it launched in an absolute state on PC and it took an absurdly long time to fix, but now it’s playable it absolutely deserves the crown. Of all the Arkham games, Knight is the one that feels most like a Batman comic. Batman gets the opportunity to flex his excellent detective game skills in Arkham Knight, allowing you to view the world through the eyes of a genius. Rather than attempting to crowbar every villain into the story like a conveyor belt of evil, the final game in the series focuses on Scarecrow and the mysterious Arkham Knight. This results in a more fundamentally satisfying plot, and really demonstrates Rocksteady’s writing talent when it comes to twists – even if they were entirely expected.
As for Batman’s other famous adversaries, they all get their own limelight in side-quests. This aids in making Gotham – which is now fully explorable – feel like a city plagued by pockets of independent crime. We’ll admit that the tank Batmobile bits are pretty naff, though. Quite how Rocksteady managed to mess that up is a mystery tougher to crack than a Riddler trophy.
Batman – The Telltale Series
The Arkham games focus entirely on the exploits of the Caped Crusader, but what of the man beneath the cowl? The moral quandaries of Bruce Wayne are the territory of Telltale in their retelling of the Batman universe.
Over five episodes, Telltale’s Batman has explored the nature of Wayne’s dual personality and his obligations to the city of Gotham. Several points of the story demand that you choose between sending Bruce or Batman to a situation: essentially a choice between social influence or terrifying violence. As Bruce, such a situation plays out in the traditional Telltale formal: multiple dialogue choices and timed responses, with the wrong answers potentially leading to disaster. As Batman, the adventure game riffs more on his role as a detective than a Knight, using his gadgets to analyze evidence and intellect to connect clues.
Perhaps its biggest pull, though, is the fact that it’s set early in Batman’s career. So early, in fact, that you’ll be witness to how each of his actions mold the rise of his archenemy: the Joker.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
No, don’t laugh. We’re well aware that X-Men Origins: Wolverine – The Movie isn’t only the worst X-Men movie, it’s one of the worst superhero movies ever made. X-Men Origins: Wolverine – The Game, on the other hand, is somehow fantastic. It’s a third-person action-brawler that finally allows Wolverine to cut loose and get properly bloody, with plenty of brutal kills that send limbs flying.
It’s adult and messy in a way that the movie series didn’t get until Logan, and even then that only shows us the older Wolverine – slower and pensive. In this game we get Wolverine in his prime, carving up enemy soldiers like a wild animal, his full power under your control at last. At one point he pulls a helicopter pilot out of his seat and uses the chopper’s blades to cut the guy’s head off. There’s nothing that cool, or horrifying, in the movie.
Developer Raven Software also wisely retells the movie’s nonsensical storyline, taking only a few beats from it, and keeping hold of Hugh Jackman as the lead. Even the final battle against the Deadpool wannabe is great. Oh, and while X-Men Origins: Wolverine – The Game isn’t available digitally, a physical copy will run fine under Windows 10 64-bit.
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
When Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite launched, there’s a reason why fans gave a collective shrug – everything the new game offered, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 already had. It did it better, too.
The slightly off 3D character models of Infinite are disappointing compared to the cel-shaded gorgeousness of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, which provides the perfect comic book look. With a cast of 50 playable characters, pretty much every major Marvel hero is represented in this renowned fighting game. Front-and-centre are the X-Men, who are totally absent from Infinite thanks to the ever-complicated licensing issues at Marvel.
Better than just the roster, though, is the fact that the gameplay of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is just so much fun. The signature Marvel vs. Capcom tag-team battles are really entertaining, with three characters combining their talents for some slick, super-powered punch-ups. While the PC version does admittedly have some online issues, it makes up for it by having tons of great character mods. Add Psylocke, Green Goblin, or even non-Marvel heroes such as One Punch Man, the Joker, and Harley Quinn to the mix and you’ll soon forget that the most recent game in the series didn’t even have Wolverine.
The Darkness 2
Yes, comic book superhero games aren’t exclusive to Marvel or DC, and yes, other comic publishers can get great games too. We’re still waiting on 2000AD and Rebellion to make the perfect Judge Dredd game – please, oh please. But, in the meantime, Top Cow’s The Darkness series already has two superb shooters, which should easily tide you over. Sadly, the first game from Starbreeze isn’t available on PC, but the sequel from Warframe developer Digital Extremes is – and luckily it’s a thrill ride.
You play Jackie Estacado, born into a mob family but wanting nothing to do with it. The first game kicked off with the murder of Jackie’s girlfriend and his embrace of The Darkness – a demonic entity that gives him superpowers. The sequel places Jackie as the head of his mob family as he’s forced to bring back The Darkness after he becomes the victim of a brutal attack by someone looking to steal his powers.
What follows is one of the most entertaining and gory shooters around, as guns prove secondary in importance (and fun) to Jackie’s dark powers – which let him grab enemies and tear them in two, and impale people against a wall with a parking meter. The cel-shaded graphics are a great nod to the game’s origins and go towards making it a must-play if you’re a fan of first-person shooters or comic books.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
Released at the tail end of 2021, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy surprised a lot of people by featuring one of the best stories we’ve seen in a superhero game. In this third-person action-adventure game, you play as Peter Quill, also known as Star-Lord, as you travel across the cosmos with your rag-tag crew of powerful misfits. Star-Lord comes equipped with his ’80s mixtape filled with classic hits that play during particularly epic gameplay moments.
And that’s your lot. Ten fantastic superhero games, each worthy of your time and dedication. Remember: with great power comes great responsibility, so use your powers wisely. Such as the power to click on this link to the best games like Marvel’s Spider-Man, which will provide even more super-powered antics to fool around with like the responsible hero you are. We also have a link to the best free PC games if you’re working on a shoestring budget like our man Peter Parker.
This story originally appeared on PC Gamesn
