With a few notable exceptions, most of the efforts to adapt DC Comics into video games have not been well-received. Sometimes this is because the game fails to capture what made the source material enjoyable. In other cases, the game is built around a nonsensical premise. Strangely enough, this dichotomy is examined by Wonder Woman, in Wonder Woman #5 by Tom King and Daniel Sampere.
Wonder Woman #5 finds Diana of Themyscira battling her sisters, in accordance with Amazon law. Diana intends to fight the war at the heart of the Amazons Attack event alone. Her sisters refuse to let her do so.
This sets up a series of duels, in which the loser must abide by the wishes of the winner. This culminates in Donna Troy challenging Wonder Woman to a fighting game, thinking she’d have the advantage in that arena. The game the two Amazons play bears a striking resemblance to the real world fighting game Injustice 2, with Donna playing Batman and Diana playing Superman.
As the two battle, Wonder Woman speaks of how illogical the game is, based on what she knows of her friends. If Superman truly wanted to end a fight with Batman, he could do so in seconds. Batman knows this, which is why he would never go into a direct confrontation against Superman. Yet Superman continually holds back his full power until he needs to unleash it. While this foreshadows how Diana ultimately wins, it is also a brilliant metacommentary on the problems DC faces in creating video games based on its books.
Most of DC’s Video Games Don’t Make Sense
One of the larger problems with the DC Universe is the sheer impossibility of a simple game capturing every aspect of the comics. For instance, some have proposed a Superman game similar to the Spider-Man games by Insomniac Games. However, the sheer scope and variety of Superman’s powers would be impossible for any game to mimic. There are similar problems with Green Lantern and The Flash. As Wonder Woman points out, even if a game could match Superman’s powers, the player would be held back by necessity.
The other problem Wonder Woman points out is the contrivances necessary for certain characters to face other characters. The Injustice series got around this by inventing a pill that enabled ordinary humans to survive punches from Superman. However, this sort of clever writing has been the exception rather than the rule.
One key point of criticism regarding the upcoming Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League game is how impossible it is for the Suicide Squad to kill the Justice League. While it remains to be seen how that game performs, Wonder Woman’s words about such a game requiring strategy for such a conflict to work ring true.
Wonder Woman #5 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
