While Marvel is full of iconic characters fitting for video game adaptations, Venom in particular has a lot of potential. While the character has been playable in Ultimate Spider-Man and fighting games like Marvel vs. Capcom, there has been a push recently for the character to get a solo project.
Following some popular movie adaptations and an upcoming appearance in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, this discussion around a solo Venom game is understandable. While it remains to be seen if it will ever happen, one Marvel fan recently pointed to an odd place as a possible inspiration for such a game: Dying Light. The original game’s Be the Zombie mode allowed players to control one of the terrifying Night Hunters, and some of its mechanics could make for a memorable game.
The Potential For a First Person Venom Game
As shown in the clip posted by Reddit user stefanfrags_, the Be the Zombie mode in the original Dying Light essentially gave gamers the opportunity to webswing via the Night Hunter’s hookshots. In the clip, the player can be seen swinging around the city of Harran, chaining swings from one building to the next. With over 3,000 upvotes, several gamers seem to be on board with the idea that Venom gameplay could resemble what is seen in the clip.
The satisfying swinging has a resemblance to Fortnite web swinging in the sense that players need to look to different structures to chain their swings and maintain momentum. The clip shows that Venom’s movement would work perfectly in first person, though this would only be one part of a potential Venom game. However, with the character’s claw-based attacks and the ability for the Symbiote to forge melee weapons both being things that can work in first person, the perspective could suit the character very well.
While Venom has occasionally been an anti-hero, especially when in the Anti-Venom or Agent Venom forms, he will always be viewed as a Spider-Man villain first and foremost. As such, leaning into that would be a good move for a game, and a first-person perspective would feel natural for the violent character due to his need to consume people he comes across. Like Ultimate Spider-Man, players could eat bystanders to restore health, and seeing the fear on their faces could let players embrace the feeling of controlling a monster. Even if a developer for the hypothetical Venom game cave players the choice to go the lethal protector route, consuming enemies in first person could be equally memorable.
With the gameplay shared making a good case for a solo Venom game that takes on a first-person perspective, as swinging would clearly work well, perhaps it could happen one day. For now, though, downloading the first Dying Light and controlling a Night Hunter could be a decent way for Marvel fans to live out their Venom fantasies.