Have you ever wondered what would happen if Wolverine took on Doc Oc? Better yet, what would happen if you took on Doc Oc? While these questions may seem a little bizarre, Planetwide Games’ Marvel Heroes: Comic Book Creator answers them and then some. The game puts you in the position of a comic book writer and allows an infinite number of creations. The only limit is your imagination.
Marvel Heroes: Comic Book Creator features some of the best known characters in the Marvel Universe. Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Magneto are only a few names among the many that appear in the game.
There are over 300 different pictures that are available from the get-go. But the game does not stop there. It actually allows you to insert pictures from your computer and put them in wherever you see fit. Pictures can be edited in size, rotated, and pushed to the back of the page with simple mouse clicks.
But the game has far more than pictures that can be dragged and dropped. There are also animations that can be inserted anywhere in the comic. In other words, those cheap, 3-D glasses that came inside the cereal box are rendered useless now that your computer makes the images pop out for you.
The game also features a pleasant surprise to go along with its visuals. There is a feature that allows you to add your own sounds to the game. By right-clicking on the screen and selecting add sound, you can add sound effects, voices, or whatever else your heart desires. Surprisingly, the sound is very crisp and clear and adds a nice touch to the game.
Marvel Heroes: Comic Book Creator also sports dozens of different page layouts. This convenience means that there will never be a problem finding the exact layout needed for a certain page. Add to that the fact that each comic book can have an unlimited number of pages and the game’s replay value skyrockets.
What makes this game stand out above all else though, is the fact that it is very easy to pick up. There are no fancy controls or complicated processes to remember. It boils down to simply dragging the picture you want where you want it and adding word bubbles.
Young comic fans will have no trouble picking this up and creating comics from the moment it is installed. Of course, there are also more advanced features that older and more experienced computer users will be able to take advantage of, such as keyboard shortcuts.
While the game is simple and fun, there are some minor problems with it. One of them is the fact that there are no preloaded sound effects in the game, even though there is a spot for them. Any sound effects that you want have to come from you, or another file on your computer.
In addition to that, the pictures are slightly disappointing. While there are more than 300 of them, many of them look similar to one another. And while the game sports some animations, there are far too few of them. Ultimately, what the game does, it does well; it just does not do it enough.
There is no question that this game is not for everyone. Still, it does have its own niche, especially among Marvel fans. And because the game can use outside pictures, it acts as a useful, generic template for any and all who wish to create comics.
Marvel Heroes: Comic Book Creator gets 3.5 GiN Gems out of 5 for having a neat concept that could have been so much more.