Diving into Deadpool at Gamescom

I can't speak with great authority on the character of Deadpool, but I've played more than my share of third-person action games, and High Moon Studios' interpretation of the ludicrous anti-hero is shaping up to be an over-the-top experience.
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Written by Daniel Way, Marvel's author on the Deadpool comic series for the past six years, the game is likely to satisfy fans of the "merc with a mouth." The voice for that mouth is provided by the ever-present Nolan North, who you may think of as Nathan Drake from Uncharted at this point, but he delivers enough inflection into Deadpool's character to differentiate him -- and all the voices inside his head.

One scene in particular featuring Way's writing and North's performance during the hands-off demo at Gamescom stood out. During an elevator ride Deadpool does an all-out performance of Patsy Cline's "Crazy."

The gameplay itself is still in a very early state. For the most part, it currently looks like your average third-person character action adventure that's gunning for an M-rating (as it should!). The combat features plenty of blood to go along with the button mashing. If you think back to X-Men Origins: Wolverine from a couple years back, we're treading a nearly similar path.

Of course, the main difference between Deadpool and Wolverine is that while having an adamantium skeleton apparently makes everything super serious, Deadpool is having fun and that's where the character shines. He's a comic book character who knows he's a comic book character. In the game, he's a comic book character who knows he's in a video game.

Deadpool's penchant for breaking the fourth wall and pop-culture references -- covering movies and memes -- is all over this game. The upgrade screen includes "dakka," but it could always need more. Mission objectives include "Snake that chopper and do some hella wheelies with it," and, once that chopper is snaked, "Morpheuuuuuuuus" becomes the new objective. Then comes a solid couple of minutes of Deadpool standing behind the chopper's mini gun and blasting away security forces into bits.

There's also a clever moment of "why are we doing this?" at the beginning that involves inflating a bouncy castle. Showing that Deadpool always has an angle, the totally random bouncy castle he inflated is used to save him from a debilitating fall, after he rides his mark like a Dr. Strangelove bomb off the top of a skyscraper.

Deadpool is sounding and feeling great in the character department, now it's just a wait-and-see approach to the way the combat looks and plays. There's still plenty of time with a 2013 release targeted for the game.