Before Amy Hennig’s Marvel game was announced to be an ensemble, the prevailing hope was that it would become a standalone Daredevil game. In a Daredevil game, one of the biggest challenges is how to address Matt Murdock’s blindness through gameplay. His blindness is a profound part of the character that should not be ignored altogether, but would need to be approached intelligently and respectfully. The simplest way to do this is having the game be played from a third-person perspective, and adding his echolocation as a togglable ability like in The Last of Us.
No such Daredevil game is currently announced, but there are always rumors making the rounds online. As such, it is interesting to consider what kind of mechanics it could use and how it might blend gameplay between nightlife crime-fighting and daytime courtroom drama. Many developers would likely be able to achieve a satisfying Daredevil experience and apply their stamp on Marvel’s pantheon of modern games. Naughty Dog has not yet dipped its toe into that realm and may stick to original IPs instead, but it would be an excellent developer to adapt the Man Without Fear.
Naughty Dog Would Be the Perfect Developer for a Daredevil Game
Daredevil has spent too long being a modded reskin in games such as Sifu and Batman: Arkham City; he deserves his own standalone game. It is easy to assume that Rocksteady’s parry-heavy Freeflow combat could be adapted for the character, whose martial arts and billy club-ricocheting skills would fit the bill.
Moving away from the traditional superhero formula in games, a Daredevil adaptation from Naughty Dog could implement tight, over-the-shoulder combat akin to The Last of Us 2. Abby’s fisticuffs are a great foundation that a Daredevil game could branch off from, implementing its dash-step dodge to great effect.
Traversal throughout a linear or open world would likely be Naughty Dog’s biggest challenge, since it has only attempted an open-world design in two of its titles, fitting a much smaller scale. That said, Naughty Dog has one feature already designed that would be easily translatable to a Daredevil game in The Last of Us’ Listen Mode.
This allows Joel, Ellie, and Abby to listen intently for nearby enemies in a grayscale filter. If enemies are making noise in the distance, they will be silhouetted for the player to see. Because this mechanic is based purely on listening, it would be perfect for Daredevil’s heightened sense of hearing.
A Daredevil Game Must Blend Echolocation with Extrasensory Perception
It is a popular staple in open-world and action-adventure games to include some sort of environmental scanning mechanic. For example, in Batman: Arkham Asylum it is called Detective Mode, in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt it is called Witcher Senses, in the Horizon franchise it is called a Focus ping, and in Days Gone it is called Survival Vision.
These all function almost identically to one another, with interactibles and enemies highlighted in a distinct display. In a Daredevil game, this could translate to several features. First, Daredevil is capable of listening to heartbeats to detect if someone is lying. In a courtroom case, this would be interesting to tap into and see which characters are being honest. Further, Daredevil’s sense of smell could be compromised as he sniffs for odorous scents, which could also appear as a trail during Listen Mode.
Like Death Stranding’s Odradek Terrain Scanner, Daredevil could use echolocation to discern which environments are suitable to traverse or climb. There are many ways Daredevil’s abilities could be implemented in a standalone action-adventure game, and The Last of Us would be a great base template for it to spring from.