Can you tell that Marvel has a Doctor Doom-centric movie coming out soon? Between his playable supporting role in this year’s Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls and his hostile takeover of Fortnite back in 2024, the past few years have seen Victor Von Doom strike terror across many different games in the buildup to Avengers: Doomsday, and I, for one, am all for it. Now the metal-clad dictator of Latveria is laying claim to Marvel Cosmic Invasion in its latest DLC expansion, complete with a new roguelike mode and a couple of Fantastic playable characters.
The base Marvel Cosmic Invasion is an old-fashioned 2D beat-em-up developed by Tribute Games, the studio behind other nostalgic romps like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and Scott Pilgrim EX. Just like those titles, Marvel Cosmic Invasion serves as a satisfying blast from the past that allowed players to take control of their favorite Marvel superheroes as they battled to save the universe from the evil Annihilus.
Tribute wasn’t finished delivering on the Marvel-ous thrills with the core game either, as we’ve already seen two DLC expansions for Cosmic Invasion. The first was a simple roster update that added The Thing and Cyclops (who are also going to be in Avengers: Doomsday) as playable characters, but this most recent expansion is far grander in scope.
Key Details
- Developer: Tribute Games Inc.
- Publisher: Dotemu, Gamirror Games
- Platforms: PC, Xbox, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2
- Price: $29.99 (Base Game), $7.99 (Siege of Castle Doom DLC)
- Review Code Received: Yes
Storming The Castle
For those who haven’t played the base Marvel Cosmic Invasion, it plays more or less like your standard brawler. You select two playable characters to alternate between in battle, fight with melee and ranged attacks, and even unleash powerful super moves that can clear the screen of enemies. Siege of Castle Doom takes this formula and adds a new roguelike gameplay mode where your heroes are tasked with invading Doctor Doom’s castle in Latveria to stop him from activating his Cosmic Inductor and conquering the universe. To do so, you will need to collect Stabilizers by battling through waves of Doom’s forces.
By beating enemies, you collect Battery Cells that charge your Stabilizer. Once you’ve charged up all three energy levels, the Stabilizer is yours. When you fill three Stabilizers, you will gain access to Doom’s throne room for one final throwdown with the masked man himself. However, as you take damage, Doom’s own Siege Gauge charges up, and once it’s full, you lose the run. Enemies also grow stronger and faster as the Siege Gauge increases, meaning that you will need to take opponents out quickly if you wish to survive. Once your run ends, any Stabilizers you successfully charged will be tallied, and you will be sent back to the beginning to try again.
Doomsday Prep
Before every run, you can modify your character’s stats by equipping perks you’ve unlocked on past playthroughs, or spice things up by enabling bonus challenges. You can purchase these upgrades by spending Stabilizers in Reed’s Lab. After beating all of the enemies in a room, you will have the choice between different perks in the next, be they restored health or extra Battery Cells. These are indicated by color-coded doorways. Like many roguelikes, you will probably need to grind a bit before getting enough Stabilizers and buying some perks to help you advance further in the castle.
Enemy Mine
Just like the previous Marvel Cosmic Invasion DLC, Siege of Castle Doom brings two new playable Marvel heroes with their own strengths, weaknesses, and special abilities. Invisible Woman is primarily a ranged and defensive fighter, using energy blasts to pick her foes off from a distance or trapping them in force fields. She can also protect herself with a spiked force field and float in the air with an invisible platform. Her special attack makes her invisible for a short time, giving the player a brief respite from the hordes of Doom.
Doctor Doom is all about punishing enemies with a mix of magic and pure strength. He can cast mystic sigils on foes to blast them from a distance and perform all kinds of devastating effects, and his special move covers the screen with lightning. Of the two, I’ve found Invisible Woman easier to control and play with, especially when paired up with her fellow Fantastic Four member The Thing.
Final Score – 8/10
Marvel Cosmic Invasion was already a fun, nostalgic beat-em-up, and this new DLC adds even more variety with its new roguelike gameplay mode. Just keep in mind that it might take a while for you to get a good setup, and even then Castle Doom will challenge you with its difficult enemies and race against the clock. Nonetheless, the addition of Doctor Doom serves as a nice warm-up to his big-screen emergence in Avengers: Doomsday, and another notch on the belt of a decent gaming run for Latveria’s feared ruler.
**Bonus Action was provided with a Steam Code of Marvel Cosmic Invasion and The Siege of Castle Doom for the purpose of this review**
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