The Best Multiverse Games

the best Multiverse games | Team Talk

25/5/2022

Smashing through realities and turning the world upside down seems to be all the rage in entertainment right now, not least in WB Games’ Multiversus, which got us thinking about our favourite universe-spinning gaming experiences.

Of course the likes of Kingdom Hearts bring together multiple franchises and locations by default, but other games have been more nuanced in how they've tackled exploring the multiverse.

Does anything multi-dimensional stand out for you? Let us know in the comments.

by Team PTC

@pass_controller

BioShock Infinite | James Michael Parry

Something about BioShock has always filled me with wonder and fear. With Infinite, I wanted to leap in headfirst, and the dimensional elements were a clever gameplay mechanic and a very effective storytelling device.

Without spoiling the games plot (definitely worth playing the game if you haven’t checked it out), particularly towards the end you find yourself introduced to the idea of branching realities and you end up in a bit of an aimless exploration of infinite lighthouses – there’s always a lighthouse, as the game says.

In terms of the gameplay. Certain areas of the game’s world are weak points between realities, and co-protagonist Elisabeth can help you by granting the power to pull elements like turrets or alternative pathways into your universe.

It brings an interesting twist on the game’s floating world, Columbia, as a whole, which already feels like a Black Mirror take on an overly-patriotic America, and seems to make the eccentricities more believable, purely because there is an in-game explanation for things feeling a bit unusual, helping you to settle in and suspend disbelief quickly.

While it’s not without its limitations – if you could pull in everything anywhere the game would be over quite quickly – the reality-bending aspect was the most compelling since the likes of Valve first introduced some of these ideas with Portal.

Sea of Thieves | Liam Andrews

Last year’s Pirates of the Caribbean-themed content for Sea of Thieves was a bit of a surprise announcement, even though really, when you think about it, the two fit quite well together.

Making my way through these special missions (I think I’ve only got one to go) was a lot of fun, and often tasked players with delving into strange new worlds deep below the waves or beyond the 'living' realm. While I’m not the biggest POTC fan, I do have a fondness for the first two films, and I enjoyed stumbling across items or characters directly linked to them. Swimming through the wreck of the Black Pearl was a particular highlight.

Away from gameplay, Sea of Thieves has also been pretty good at incorporating other notable franchises in the form of cosmetics, which is also fun. The Spartan set that turned up in my inventory one day was pretty cool, and even though I prefer to mix and match items rather than use a complete set, it was still nice to have, and don't forget the limited-edition Borderlands-themed ship.

Rare have even gone so far as to reference the very machines we play games on, with The Duke ship set boasting the bright, red, green, blue and yellow of the Xbox face buttons as well as a generous helping of black and neon green colouring.

Injustice 2 | Chris Brand

Injustice 2 uses DC's well-established Multiverse as a tool for storytelling and a totally believable, in-universe, reason for adding a whole bunch of wacky modifiers to fights. Heroes and villains can switch allegiances, sometimes becoming the very thing they despise, sans any changes to the real characters we know and love.

The single-player Story mode is similar in design to the more recent entries in NetherRealm Studios' flagship fighter Mortal Kombat, giving players a few fights with a variety of characters as chapters progress. The writing is as good as you would expect, telling a tale through relatively short cutscenes and managing to flesh out the plot without pulling players away from the action for too long.

Multiverse mode plays out like a series of ever-changing "What If" scenarios, which fits in nicely with the overall narrative. Everything is canon, just not always in this universe.

DC Comics' gargantuan catalogue, built up over many decades, requires re-invention in order to not get stale and it's an excellent mechanic to incorporate in Injustice, as there's a constant stream of shiny new things to unlock and DLC fighters can be added seamlessly, even from other Warner Bros. properties, such as Mortal Kombat's Sub-Zero and Raiden.

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