Invincible has been a refreshing surprise thanks to it’s long-running comic series and the success of its Amazon Prime animated series. It was only a matter of time that a video game adaptation was created, and here we are with Invincible Presents: Atom Eve. And while it’s great to see the Invincible series in video game form, it’s not what most people expected. But sometimes the best things come from unexpected places, and Invincible Presents: Atom Eve makes for not only a fantastic experience for fans, but might be showing us what the future of comic might become.
Robert Kirman has a reputation for creating some of the most notable comic series that have seen even larger success int he television space. He’s also one of the only people to make a name for himself outside of the Marvel and DC hold on artists and creators. Still, the video game adaptations of titles like The Walking Dead have been more miss than hit. In fact, most of the various Walking Dead games have been pretty terrible aside from the award-winning Telltale Games series.
The idea of Invincible getting his own video game had promise and had fans excited. Maybe it would be in the vein of a classic arcade beat ’em up along the lines of the fantastic Streets of Rage. Perhaps they could created a fighting game considering Omni-Man is featuring in the latest Mortal Kombat. Heck, you could even go the Marvel’s Midnight Suns route of more tactical turn-based team-based action. There were a lot of options and fans had lots of ideas on where things could have gone.
So, it was a surprise when Skybound dropped on us Invincible Presents: Atom Eve, a game that is nothing like what anyone was expecting. Instead of a traditional action video game the title instead mashes up two separate genres: it’s one part visual novel and one part classic early 90s RPG (think a basic Pokemon style combat). And while a strange choice, the game takes to it like a fish takes to water. The visual novel aspect of the game fits well by incorporating a comic book style format in telling it’s story and the combat helps keep you engaged during.
The game’s story is structured via the style of those motion comic books that were all the rage for a while and really helps to highlight the fantastic artwork that the game has. It’s got that Invincible style while still having its own distinct edge to everything. In-between the story panels you’ll get the traditional visual novel format where characters interact with each other and you are presented with options in how you respond to them leading to potential different paths.
This is enhanced with the RPG upgrade system that allows you two chose from three different paths, each of which can open up new dialogue options to move the story in slightly different ways and give you different options for combat. You earn XP by interacting with characters and through combat that can be spent inside the tech-tree. The combat itself is very retro PC RPG. Think of those classic dungeon crawler PC games from the late 80s and early 90s and you get a good idea of the style. It’s also not afraid to get bloody, much like the series it’s based on.
When a battle takes place you jump into turn-based combat and work to whittle away your opponents life with your superhero powers. Sometimes it’s one-on-one and other times you’ll be taking on an entire team. There is a decent bit of strategy as you’ll be choosing attacks and defense moves to take out the enemies and knowing when to take risks is important, especially if you choose a less attack-heavy upgrade path. Maybe you go in hard and fast on certain enemies while playing more defensive with others. It’s a simple yet fun system that reminds me a lot of something like Pokemon, making it easy for everyone to understand.
The story itself though is where the game really shines. I’m not a big fan of visual novels and I only every really clicked with Doki Doki Literature Club because of its unique take on storytelling. Every other visual novel game, even the ones with various combat elements, that has come across my desk had felt like a chore and usually leave me falling asleep at my desk, something that is not a great look at work. Invincible Presents: Atom Eve never did this and I was so hooked on the story that I didn’t want to take a break the first time that I played.
The story is broken up into miniature story arcs that tell a small part of the larger story and go into more of the personal struggles of Atom Eve while Invincible is out doing his thing. What’s really neat is this focus on Atom Eve and how she deals with what happens during the first season of the Invincible animated show and how she deals with those around her. It starts just before the madness happens and helps to not only give us a different perspective on what happens, but allows Atom Eve to develop deeper as a character. I love when a media project gives us a different perspective on something we already know really well and this one nails it.
This mixture of motion comic with classic RPG combat makes for a unique experience and it’s nice to get a better look at who Atom Eve is and her struggles in school, with her family, and juggling all that with her place on the Teen Team . And while I don’t think the game will be for everyone, I do think we might be witnessing the future of comic books and how we interact with them. The opportunity to take major arcs of a Marvel, DC, or other smaller publishers story and turn them into what Invincible Presents: Atom Eve has done makes me all giddy at the possibilities. And it has to be far more cost effective on a production aspect than some cheap AAA game like whatever The Avengers was.
If you are a fan of the Invincible world and want a different sort of experience that gives you a fun new perspective on events you know and love, then Invincible Presents: Atom Eve will leave you satisfied. The story is a lot of fun, the art is out of this world, and the combat is engaging without being too difficult that it will put off new players or visual novel fans. And if you are an Amazon Prime member you can pick up the game for free, so there is no excuse to not give it a chance if you have Prime. For everyone else you can snag it for under $10 making it a great deal for the content on offer.
Invincible Presents: Atom Eve is a fun little game that might be showing us what the future of comic books might look like
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