God of War's Cory Barlog Reveals Insane Superman Game Idea

Cory Barlog revitalized gaming's angriest character by directing 2018's God of War, and now he reveals his insane idea for a Superman game. The Man of Steel might be flawless in almost every respect as a superhero, but he's never had a great or even good video game. In fact, Superman 64 is considered one of the worst games for its console, if not for the medium as a whole. Superman has been a featured player in successful video games, most notably the Injustice series, but that hasn't translated to solo outings.

Game developers can't seem to nail down the Boy Scout. There's something about a superhero who can do everything and save everyone that doesn't work well in gaming. However, Cory Barlog has an idea for a potential Superman game that not only would acknowledge Clark Kent's unmatched powers, but also lean into Superman's supposed infallibility, and subvert it.

Game Informer reports that Barlog was among several panelists at PAX West 2018 discussing the dearth of quality Superman games. Barlog revealed he had several ideas for a Superman title, the first of which is essentially God of War with an older Superman attempting to raise his son. The second idea would take heavy inspiration from Smallville. Barlog described it as Persona for Superman where Clark Kent would go to high school during the day and try to understand his life as a superhero in his free time. Both, the video game director admitted, are very derivative ideas. When it comes to his third and final Superman pitch, though, things get a little crazier and much more ambitious.

Barlog explained that he thinks the main reason Superman games haven't worked is because Superman was created to be an idealized superhero. There's not a whole lot about Superman as a character that is interactive. Barlog imagines that one way to make a Superman game work isn't to focus on everything Superman can do but instead on what he can't manage. Barlog explained:

"When [Superman] chooses, or when you choose to save anyone in this game… Let’s say there are four people who need to be saved. At your best moment as Superman, you can save two. That means two were not saved and that weighs on him. It’s not the people that he saved. It’s the two people that he didn’t save, the crimes he couldn’t stop, and there is suffering that comes from that."

The sense of progression in Barlog's Superman game would not necessarily come from Superman's powers, though Barlog does imagine the game to be an origin story and one where Superman can't even really fly but runs like The Flash. The game would progress by Superman building a reputation for himself and finding a way to save as many people as possible. Barlog's vision of the story for the game would result in Superman becoming a "president of the world" figure by the third act. Superman's goal would be to "teach a person to fish, instead of constantly bringing them fish individually. Helping us all by helping us help ourselves."

The pitch is very ambitious and might not even be feasible for a game. Overall, it sounds more like an idea for a Superman movie or comic miniseries. Barlog is on the right track, though, in believing the best way to make a Superman game work is to focus on the character's flaws, not his perfections. It's a methodology that any game developer tackling Superman should consider, but especially Rocksteady, who is already rumored to be working on Superman game. Rocksteady helped bring Batman back to relevance in the gaming world with their Arkham series. All the Arkham games found a way to strip Batman down and build him back up. This alone makes Rocksteady perfectly poised to do the same with the Man of Steel, but only if they use the heart of Barlog's Superman pitch, if not the entire crazy concept.