Marvel’s Midnight Suns was a pleasant surprise at the end of 2022. The card-based SRPG quickly became one of my favorite games of the year thanks to its outstanding writing and interesting gameplay mechanics. Now that the first of the planned character and story DLC add-ons has been released, I wanted to know if this opinion still holds true. For the most part, Deadpool’s introduction to the game and the subsequent vampire story arc it begins with (with G) definitely left a good impression and I’m excited to see what future Midnight Suns DLC will bring.

If you got The Good, the Bad and the Undead DLC, you can activate it at the dressing table in the Monastery HQ after Spider-Man joins your party and reveals his secret identity to everyone. Look for the New York story mission “Man of Culture”. Upon completion, Deadpool officially joins the Midnight Sons.
The story of the
DLC is largely self-contained. Searching for Lilith and her demonic powers, Captain Marvel discovers that the vampire Sin, the granddaughter of the Red Skull, is up to no good at a museum with Hydra powers. The player character, the Hunter, investigates the matter and meets the only mercenary with a mouth. The two work together but are unable to stop Sin from stealing the eerie artifact. It adds some dangerous enemies in the form of a new vampire race called Vampyres (yes, the substitution of y is intentional!). Given that Deadpool’s client happens to be a doctor with a keen interest in corruption, it’s no wonder that Deadpool decides he’d be better off hanging out at the monastery and becoming the Midnight Sun, at least until he can get back what Sin stole from his client.

Deadpool himself is a full party member just like the others, despite his DLC status. He has a hero deck of ability cards that you can edit to your liking. It includes some handy moves like an attack card that attacks two enemies at once if the first one is killed by an attack, or an attack card that generates a rainbow. Activating “All Together Now” provides you with an extra card in your hand. Once you collect enough hero points, you can perform combo attacks with other characters or use the debris scattered on the battlefield to your advantage. He can fight Hunters in the Yard, can be sent on remote missions if he has intel, his ability cards can be upgraded and modified at will, and he can even bring in research projects like the colorful food truck he sets up at the monastery. Unlocking it will ground you. As you complete story missions for the good, the bad and the undead, other characters will provide commentary on the events. This DLC isn’t just an afterthought, as it fits so seamlessly into the game.

One of the main draws of Marvel’s Midnight Suns is the mechanics of building friendships with the heroes who join the group. Deadpool is no exception, and once Hunter joins the group, the fourth-wall-breaking mercenary quickly grabs attention as he can compliment, give gifts, invite to play, and converse with him to increase his affinity points. Conversations with Deadpool are always entertaining thanks to his quirks, but still provide surprising depth and insight into his character. Deadpool may be a strange character, but he has a complexity that a truly talented storyteller can bring out. His inclusion in Marvel’s Midnight Suns once again shows how productive and well-researched and written this game is. Deadpool’s lack of self-esteem and his reluctance to form bonds with others while relying on humor as a defense make every scene he plays beautifully chaotic.

The Good, the Evil, and the Undead brings some interesting new elements to the Midnight Sons alongside Deadpool. Vampires are a dangerous new enemy type that inflict the bleeding side effect on cards in your deck when attacking, so you’ll need to think carefully before using these cards in battle. While it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when facing a horde of vampires, this negative effect can be downright brutal. The mission of taking down vampires before they attack civilians becomes even more challenging, especially when the number of vampires increases with waves of enemies.

I was very impressed with how Deadpool was written in this DLC, and the story arc itself. Not only is the character hinted at as a significant player in the future in the final scene of the main story, but the end of Deadpool’s recruitment story also sets the stage for an ongoing future DLC subplot in which vampires exploit the chaos Lilith is currently causing for their own ends. There’s even some excellent hints at the end of this DLC’s final battle as to who the main villain of the next DLC expansion will be. It’s short and fun, but also surprisingly comprehensive, as I was able to increase Deadpool’s friendship level a few times before completing it. I didn’t encounter any game-breaking glitches this time around in story scenes or saves, so it seems likely that the developers have patched this particular issue, at least for the PS5 version. The game’s synchronization continues to be impressive, with Nolan North as Deadpool shining as bright as the unicorns and rainbows his anti-hero conjures. I love the Hunters’ confusion at Deadpool’s crazy comments and the insightful comments they make as their friendship grows. Hunter’s desire to add this new fighter to his team while everyone else nearby yells “NO!” indignantly in the background never gets old.

That’s not to say that the good guys, the bad guys, and the undead don’t have their weaknesses. It sets the stage for future DLC, but it’s pretty short, and makes you wonder why the developers couldn’t have included the DLC characters in the base game from the beginning. The game also makes the DLC a bit long, since you have to complete general missions between story missions to unlock future parts. Furthermore, Deadpool himself is a matter of taste. I love his character when he’s well written, and that’s true in this title, but I could understand that his humor isn’t for everyone. Since he’s the driving force behind these new DLC story missions, those who aren’t Deadpool fans may not enjoy this expansion as much.

Still, I finished The Good, the Bad, and the Undead with a relatively positive attitude and optimism about the upcoming Midnight Suns DLC story. At the end of the day, this DLC for me is a chance to relive a fun game and I really enjoy watching Deadpool steal every scene he’s in. Marvel’s Midnight Suns continues to be a joy to play and the first DLC does not disappoint.