Doctor Who: 10 Things The 2021 Video Game NEEDS To Be Great

If all thirteen Doctors aren't playable, we riot.

Doctor Who David Tennant PS5 DualSense
BBC/Sony

Doctor Who and video games haven't had the best of relationships. Whereas other iconic franchises like Harry Potter, Batman, The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars have all had a few great outings over the years, there's just a big black void of lacklustre nothingness if you're searching for a truly awesome Doctor Who video game.

And so, with the news that UK-based developer Maze Theory is entering the Whoniverse with an Xbox, PlayStation, PC and Switch game in early 2021, there are plenty of reasons to be apprehensive, but there are also reasons to be hopeful too.

Maze Theory recently put out Doctor Who: The Edge of Time, a decent VR experience that showed they have the potential to do something special within this universe - so fingers crossed that their incoming 2021 title will be when this potential is realized.

Since we don't know anything about the game yet, now is the perfect time to speculate on what we'd like to see, so that's exactly what we're going to do! We don't expect all of the following ideas to actually make the cut, but if we were building our dream, ideal Doctor Who video game, here are some things we'd include to make it great.

10. Doctor/Companion Co-Op

Doctor Who David Tennant PS5 DualSense
BBC

The relationship between the Doctor and his companions is at the heart of Doctor Who. They aren't just total strangers sharing a box together: the Doctor's friends actively make him a happier, better person (just look how unstable the companion-less Tenth Doctor became towards the end of his run), and in return, the Doctor enriches their lives by showing them the wonders of the universe.

And because the companions are so important, making them dumb AI robots whose only purpose is to boost you over ledges would do these characters a disservice, so it would be much better if the game allowed for co-op, with one player as the Doctor, and another as the companion (assuming that companions are in the game).

Sure, some players prefer to go it solo no matter what, so the companion will have to be computer-controlled some of the time. But at least having the option to bring in a second player can't really hurt, and in fact, it would only improve the experience.

A playable (or AI) companion also solves an issue that a lot of Doctor Who games run into: the Doctor doesn't kill, and it's very hard to design a gameplay loop built around pacifism. But characters like Mickey Smith or Captain Jack? They have no issues when it comes to using guns, so they could handle all the violent stuff.

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WhoCulture Channel Manager/Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture. Can confirm that bow ties are cool.