What a Shazam game needs to be good

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

Today's hero is one who's still relatively in the public eye, Shazam, or the Original Captain Marvel before the New 52 reboot.

Now, unlike most of the heroes I'm covering here, Shazam is actually two distinct people; Billy Batson,  a good hearted child who was frustrated with his life being bounced around in the foster care system, and Shazam, the heroic individual with the Wisdom of Solomon, Strength of Hercules, Stamina of Atlas, Power of Zeus, Courage of Achilles, and the Speed of Mercury, which in turn grants him certain abilities and resistances/in-vulnerabilities.  For example, as Shazam, Billy knows things he shouldn't know, can fly, has the durability of beings like Superman, spellcasting, and an assortment of other powers available to him.

Now, since Shazam is essentially a magical version of Superman but with a different set of secondary powers, a lot of the same rules apply, but with a twist.  You see, unlike other super hero games, Shazam's civilian form is not an adult; he's a child.  So unlike the adult heroes, who have experience juggling a civilian and superhero lifestyle, Billy Batson does not. Billy still has to deal with everything a child has to; school, curfews, etc.  So that's why a Shazam game will need two distinct gameplay modes; Billy and Shazam. Billy can go anywhere he pleases that's not gated behind some kind of age restriction, and he can talk to people as he pleases, those who ignore him due to him being a child notwithstanding.  And because he's a child, he can get into small places and give him a stealth based gameplay.

Shazam, however, is at full strength all the time. He can fly, he can run almost as fast as the Flash, and can put out all the strength of Superman and take all the punishment Superman can. However, Shazam can't go into any building that's not part of a mission he's undertaking, and he can't blend in with normal people at all.

The important thing, though, is that Billy needs to be as fun as Shazam. So while he's making his way around the city, he could ride bikes, ride a skateboard, run, jump and scrap with other kids if it becomes necessary. He obviously can't fight adults due to a size, speed and strength advantage, but when he shouts the magic word "Shazam!" with heroic intent, needing to combat adults becomes a non-issue. However, he'd still do his best to maintain his secret identity, so he'd look for places to hide before transforming to do so safely.

Now, instead of the city being his life bar, we'd implement a clock mechanism.  You see, Billy Batson, as previously mentioned, is still a child, so he's still beholden to the restrictions of a child; so school, curfews and other appointments that are outside his control.  So not only would Billy need to keep to a schedule as Billy, but any time he's doing his superhero thing as Shazam, he'd need to keep watch on the clock.  So, if Shazam was facing off against one of his enemies, he'd need to finish up in time for bed or other restrictions.  And if he didn't finish up in time? Well, he'd get grounded and not be allowed into the city like he wants to.

Now, unlike the situation with Superman, Billy enjoys being a superhero; Shazam is a child's power fantasy, so there wouldn't be any alignment issues. Billy would do the right thing as Shazam, a child's desire for fun notwithstanding, which would be integrated into gameplay. For example, say Billy and his friends want to go to the baseball stadium after hours and knock a few balls around the park. Billy could fly there as Shazam, and either sneak in or fly in and they'd have fun. But remember, doing something like that is breaking curfew, and that could have consequences on the gameplay.

With all that said, this game would of course be open world, with full subway, bus and taxi routes for Billy and a full cityscape to fly through as Shazam. And as both Billy and Shazam, you could pick up side quests, though ones given to Shazam and ones given to Billy would be very different, though they could easily intersect.

Shazam could be fun if things are treated like a child's super hero fantasy, because that's what the character is. You don't need any moral ambiguity in a game like this either; Billy is a good kid with a good heart, and even though he sometimes struggles, he knows that he's been given a gift to help people. And that is the core of what would make a Shazam game good.