X-Men: Apocalypse has been killing it with their viral marketing. First, they teamed up with Coldwell Banker to give fans a look inside the X-Mansion. Now they”re diving deep into the film”s 1980s time-period to give everyone a nostalgia-bomb right to the face with three flash-based arcade games tied to the movie.
What? It”s not like you planned on being productive today anyway.
Retro X: Arcade isn”t just a group of themed flash games based on classic arcade genres, though. The games have tidbits of plot information, some lore, and one giant character reveal that has yet to be seen anywhere else. From ancient Egypt to the distant future, these three games have the history of mutants covered. But if you”d rather go into the movie theater NOT knowing there”s at least one character the bevy of trailers, clips, and TV spots haven”t shown, you should turn back now.
WARNING: SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT.
#1: Mutant All-Stars Track & Field
“Mutant All-Stars Track & Field” is just what you”d think. The game consists of three events: the 100-meter dash, the high jump, and the javelin throw. You can choose from four characters, one human and three mutants. One of the mutants is clearly Nightcrawler, but the other two are a little harder to place. One looks kind of like Abe Sapien from Hellboy, and the other is a red-skinned blonde girl.
Nothing really in the way of information here, unless Nightcrawler is on the Xavier”s School for Gifted Youngsters track team. Moving on!
#2: Mutant Conquest
“Mutant Conquest” is just Pac-Man with Budget Indiana Jones™ and the Four Horseman instead of a yellow pie and some ghosts. The game is set against a background of an ancient Egyptian maze. You control the hapless archeologist as he avoids the Horsemen until he picks up a red triangle and turns the tables. I highly doubt the Apocalypse villains will be so quickly dispatched, but the game does offer a glimpse as to how Apocalypse (or his followers) may return to this world.
Thanks a lot, archeology!
#3: Revenge of Hero X
Talk about burying the lede. This is what I was talking about when I said there would be spoilers. Of course, we could argue what a spoiler actually IS, since this is official marketing and thus something Fox wanted fans to see. But still. There is a sizable portion of the movie-going audience that probably didn”t want to know Cable was going to be in this movie. The character is not even listed on the IMDB cast page. But here Cable is – bold as brass – in all his X-TREME 80s glory. I highly doubt this is him film look, but you never know!
As for the game itself? “Revenge of Hero X” is a top-down shooter that reminds me of the shooting mini-game in “Oregon Trail.” You play as Hero X, who is clearly Cable. As the hero, you destroy Sentinels and save humans, all while avoiding the mysteriously indestructible blue-and-orange robots.
For fans of the comic books, Cable”s arrival shouldn”t come as a surprise. Apocalypse”s story is deeply interconnected with the future son of Jean Grey/Madelyne Pryor and Scott Summers. Cable has spent a good portion of his life either stopping Apocalypse or accidentally giving rise to Apocalypse by TRYING to stop him. I do find it strange the first indication that Cable will be part of X-Men: Apocalypse comes by way of a viral marketing campaign, not a trailer stinger. But hey, what can you do?
To start, you can ruin your productivity for the day by heading over to Retro X: Arcade and playing all three games!
X-Men: Apocalypse arrives in theaters on May 27th, 2016.