With anticipation building for the Wonder Woman is also currently in the works. This also begs the question: what would a Wonder Women video game look like, and how could it do justice to the character of Diana, her unique superpowers, and her status as a feminist icon?
Wonder Woman was created for William Moulton Marston, who based her character on both his wife/fellow psychologist Elizabeth Holloway and their domestic partner Olive Byrne. Many aspects of their life – their invention of the lie detector, their feminism, their wearing of marriage bracelets in place of rings – influenced Diana of Themyscira, princess of the Amazons, who ventured out into the "World of Men" to protect the innocent and fight the forces of tyranny with her divine super strength, bullet deflecting bracers, and "Lasso of Truth," which compels villains restrained by it to tell the truth.
From her Nazi-fighting origins, Wonder Woman has gone on to face a number of villains inspired by Greek mythology while also founding the Injustice 2 where Wonder Woman is part of the roster) would prove the viability of superhero video games with leading women protagonists, particularly if it included these following elements:
Wonder Woman Needs Strong Dialogue Trees (Coupled With the Lasso of Truth)
More than her tiara, bracers, and superhuman prowess, Wonder Woman's most iconic feature is her Lasso of Truth, used to restrain and coax secrets out of villains with a minimal amount of collateral damage. A Wonder Woman video game should certainly include combat mechanics where Diana swings across obstacles and grapple enemies with her lasso like in Mass Effect and the Outer Worlds. Players could use the power of the Lasso to force honest response out of villains they talk to, while still needing to choose the questions they ask wisely.
Wonder Woman Needs To Let Players Travel On a Global Scale
The Invisible Airplane is one of Wonder Woman's sillier gimmicks, but this bizarre vehicle does illustrate how Batman: Arkham Knight; instead, it would let Diana and the player fly around the globe, visiting big cities like Paris or Hong Kong as well as more fantastical locations like her home island of Themyscira.
Wonder Woman Needs A Diverse Cast Of Female Voices (And Developers)
As an explicitly feminist superhero, the best depictions of Wonder Woman in media invariably happen when woman are part of the creative process. A Wonder Woman video game with a diverse range of female developers wouldn't just avert hackneyed stereotypes, but also empower women in the creative industry to create a superhero video game that speaks to them, filled with complicated, interesting NPCs hailing from different genders, races, sexualities, and cultures. If Wonder Woman's defining trait is power balanced with comionate love, then an ideal Wonder Woman video game would empower players to help and protect a character cast they can genuinely care about.
Source: Smithsonian Magazine
