What a game about the Flash needs to be good

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to Sean's Workshop!

Today is one of the harder heroes I've had to do, the Flash. But not for the speed, no.  For the combat. But I'm getting ahead of myself a bit.

We always start with the powers, and with the Flash, it's simple; speed.  Through the Speed Force, the Flash is capable of near lightspeed running, so he'd be running at a high speed with things like speed lines and warped visuals as he goes. And if you're a gamer, you're thinking of one series to take inspiration from; Sonic the Hedgehog. More importantly, the games where a boost mechanic is available.  What you'd have the Flash do is start running, and gradually reach a speed that feels high to the player, which you use the thumbstick for. You can also boost to high speed right away with a boost button, which would be tied to a trigger, and boost beyond what the player feels is fast once you're at the "top speed."  However, unlike Sonic, the Flash's Speed Force protects the environment from being destroyed like the boost-centric Sonic games do.

The Flash can also do a couple things that Sonic can't; running up buildings and vibrate through objects.  And also, using his cosmic treadmill, he can move forward and backward through time safely, though he can still do so without it.  So, all of these things would be integrated into the gameplay.

Which leads me into something that had me scratching my head for the longest time; combat. The Flash isn't like Batman or Wonder Woman or Superman; he's not a trained fighter or a power house, but Barry Allen, the Flash you'd be playing as, does have some nominal combat training due to his time at the Central City Police Academy.  So, Barry would have some basic punches and kicks and a grab ability.  So, while running around, Barry could punch opponents while moving at high speeds, kick them, or grapple them to the ground.

However, it's when we bring his ability to vibrate into things is when Barry becomes a powerhouse. You see, Barry's ability to vibrate allows him to create his Infinite Mass Punch, which basically gives him power akin to Superman in terms of damage potential. This is why we'd put the vibrate button on the controller and allow that to accent the punches, kicks and grabs.

And it's when we implement the Flash's rogues gallery that things get fun; all of them have something that either get around or outright neutralize his speed, or has speed akin to his own.  The Rogues, for example, are a team of thieves who use their powers and arms to neutralize the Flash's speed, while people like Reverse Flash can match him in terms of speed. So any boss fight with the Flash's rogues gallery would either be a puzzle to be solved like the Rogues or a combat race like with another speedster.

And speaking of puzzles, since Barry Allen is a police officer and forensic scientist, he's be very good at casing crime scenes, so you could implement something akin to Batman's detective vision from the Arkham series.

Which brings me to the story. First off, it would need to based on the comics, not the tv series. Comics Flash is an easy going, funny hero, where as tv Flash is much more serious.  You'd get a lot of comic relief and wisecracks that you'd see out of someone like Spider-man, making it a fun game.

And lastly, the type of game that would benefit the Flash; Open World.  Running around Central City would make you feel like the Flash the entire time, and would give you opportunities to perform side quests for the Flash family.

How about DLC? Well, I can think of two really easy packs; Wally West and Wallace West.  Wally West, the red haired Flash from DC Rebirth, would follow the current storyline of him being let out of prison after the events of Heroes in Crisis, and he'd be working to rebuild his name. As for Wallace, or Kid Flash, he'd be working with the Teen Titans where they are based instead of Central City.

The Flash would be a fun character to play if he's done right, and to be done right, you need both a good speed and running engines.  Let's hope whoever actually makes a the Flash game does it right.