Deadpool and Wolverine dip into the pool at Marvel Strike Force

My Marvel Strike Force adventures continue! And so do the shenanigans surrounding Deadpool & Wolverine – the new MCU film looks to be one of the summer’s biggest blockbusters, with the genius marketing savvy (and innate chemistry) of stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman adding to the fun.

And Marvel Strike Force, my favorite mobile passtime is getting into the act with a new “Hotpool,”costume, and free unlocks for both characters. Lots of art and info from Scopely below:

Starting July 22, MSF players will be able to participate in the Deadpool’s POOL Party, an in-game event campaign inspired by Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine.

With Nick Fury out of town, Deadpool is taking over the Hellicarrier to throw his very own POOL Party, full of summer fun, party crashers, and mayhem! Can he and Wolverine beat the heat while staying clear of Agent Coulson? Can they get this flying fortress clean before Nick Fury gets back?! Can they defeat the snooty rich kids? And what happens if they run out of sunscreen?!

Players must team up with favorites from the MARVEL Strike Force roster to help Deadpool save his legendary POOL Party throughout a series of narrative events that will take place from July 22 through Aug 18. These missions can be replayed with a variety of characters to unlock unique dialogue, additional rewards, and specific costumes.

- Chapter 1 – POOL Party on the Hellicarrier
  - Deadpool converts the Hellicarrier into a giant swimming pool for a summer party.

- Chapter 2 – Down Mexico Way
  - To keep the party going, Deadpool crashes the Hellicarrier in Acapulco to take the S.T.R.I.K.E. team to an all-expenses summertime resort.

- Chapter 3 – Beating the Heat
  - Agent Coulson is looking to bust Deadpool, so he goes on the run, hiding out in a screening of Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine!

- Chapter 4 – Dead Hot American Summer
  - When the bill for the resort comes due, Deadpool challenges the snooty rich heroes to a series of winner-take-all summer games!

As part of the POOL Party summer event, players can unlock the new “Hotpool” costume that is co-branded with the upcoming Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine film, only in theaters July 26.

Both Deadpool and Wolverine have been front in center in MSF for the last few months, as they are part of two of the hottest teams in the game; Deadpool is the head of Mercs with Money, which also features Deathpool, Pandapool, Daken, and Old Man Logan.

Wolverine has let his Canadian flag fly with the new Alpha Flight team which also includes Northstar, Guardian, Sasquatch, and Sunfire.

I’ve always praised MSF’s character animations, and Sasquatch is one of the best in recent months, and Old Man Logan whispers a subliminal “Okay, bub!” before he goes into claws out mode.

Pandapool is an actual Marvel character, created by….Robbie Thompson and Matt Horak…Okay! For those who missed out on getting him the first time, MSF has a reactivation calendar – and for newbies, a free promo code will unlock Wolverine AND Deadpool.

For more information on the POOL Party as well as gameplay updates, check out this week’s MARVEL Strike Force blog post.

I like running official Marvel Strike Force news, as it is also a chance for me to check in on my game status. I am currently at 45 mlllion total collection power – well into endgame mode but hardly godlike given the powerful new teams like Alpha Flight etc. I also have 212 million in Gold and more than 1000 unopened gold orbs; as well as a tad over 17,000 gold training mets. In game terms, this makes me a serious hoarder, and yet I spend $5-7 million a day to upgrade….and can’t seem to spend money fast enough. Having enough resources to upgrade new characters is satisfying and yet….

MSF has reached a crossroads of sorts with the announcement that base stats for the character will be upgraded. This is the “power creep” that affects all games, especially mobile ones. For the last year, in order to keep making more powerful characters, the newest ones, including Mercs with Money and Alpha Flight had ridiculously complicated powers which resulted in players such as myself (good but not a math whiz) barely understanding how the characters interacted with opposing teams.

I did see that Northstar started out flipping all positive effects on opponents…a ridiculously OP mechanic that just came with a regular character, not a special “Legendary” or “mythic” – when I saw that kit I knew that power creep was about to get a big boost. That creep is here with Ares, a godlike character whose power levels will surpass anything currently in the game.

MSF has also been struck of late by the most overt “pay to play” mechanics in a long time. Captain Britain was just introduced into the game as a new legendary but he can ONLY be unlocked by spending REAL money – Nearly $300! You could buy a new console for that! Gacha games are expensive hobbies, but this is a lot to take in.

This is the first time “pay to play” has been this naked in a long time in the game and it didn’t sit well with players….or me. The game had become pretty player friendly over the last 18 months or so (hence my hoard of training mats), so imposing new money making policies isn’t entirely unexpected.

It sill feels kinda bad.

I’ve played Marvel Strike Force EVERY DAY for more than four years, much longer than any other mobile game except Pokémon Go. Finding the right balance between being too easy and boring and frustration at not progressing is always tricky, but it’s the key to the dopamine hit of accomplishment for any game.

I’m currently saving my “crimson gear” to try to get into Dark Dimension 7, but it’s coming incredibly slowly. By the time i unlocked Super Skrull in DD6, every other player had him, so I missed out on being able to lord it over anyone. Mephisto is the reward for DD7, and I’d like to get him while it gives me an advantage…..but I don’t know if that’s possible. Dopamine fading.

A lot of MSF players are reassessing their commitment ot the game of late, if Reddit and Discord is to be believed. A fun event like Deadpool’s Pool Party is way to remind us of what made us like the game to begin with but let’s see how it goes!

Marvel Strike Force is available in app stores for iOS and Androis. Deedpool & Wolverine opens in theaters on July 26th.