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Why you should be excited about Marvel vs Capcom
Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite is coming and fighting fans can look forward to tactical brawls and a compelling story.
After a six year absence, two of pop culture’s biggest names are reuniting to trade blows once again. This September, Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite is bringing crossover brawling back to PC and consoles.
This time though, things are looking a little different. Since Marvel vs Capcom 3 launched in 2011, the comic book giant has become an unstoppable blockbuster machine. In a bid to reflect that, Infinite swaps the franchises’ trademark comic book aesthetic for a more cinematic 3D look. Not only that, but Infinite also features a fully-fledged story mode for the first time in the series.
While we didn’t get to play the story mode, after slugging it out with 14 of the game’s characters we’re happy to say that Infinite is shaping up to be a brilliant fighter. Sitting down with the game’s producers after our digital brawling, we managed to glean a ton of juicy information about Infinite. So, without further ado, here are four good reasons why you might want to start saving up for this chaotic crossover title.
1. Its got a fully blown Story Mode
Ultron has merged with Sigma
© Capcom
Pitting some of the world’s most iconic superheroes against many of video game’s most memorable faces, the series has always been a brilliant comic book-style caper waiting to be told. Now, in Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite – it’s finally happening. With Marvel villain Ultron and Mega Man X nemesis Sigma merging into one ultimate baddie, characters from each universe find themselves reluctantly teaming up to take him down.
In order to do the story justice, the developers enlisted the help of Bill Rosemann, the man responsible for bringing Guardians of The Galaxy to the big screen.
“He’s been fantastic to work with in terms of [helping us] tell a story that’s accessible, but also very grounded and modern” reveals producer Mike Smith. “As huge fans ourselves of both brands here on the dev team, now we can finally create these amazing moments that we always wanted to see.”
Like Street Fighter before it, Smith hints at the story mode containing special battles and mini games, promising gameplay “that you won’t experience anywhere else in the game”. While he’s hesitant to reveal an exact playtime, Smith says that players can expect a length similar to “what you’d experience if you went to see a Marvel film.”
2. Infinity Stones bring a Marvel-flavoured tactical edge to battles
Thor takes on Street Fighter's Chun Li
© Capcom
In the last vs game, players found themselves juggling three player team loadouts, often choosing a third character purely to balance out the team. With Infinite, this is now a problem of the past.
Ditching the third character, players now engage in two vs two battles – but with a Marvel twist. After selecting your deadly duo, they need to be equipped with one of six Infinity Stones, changing the team’s dynamic drastically.
During our time with the game we got to experiment with the space, power and time stones, each of which can be used to magnify a character’s strength or make up for a weakness. Tapping L1 allows players to use the Infinity Stone, with the Time Stone swiftly teleporting characters a few feet across the field. The Space Stone pulls opponents towards you, luring enemies into projectiles or dragging them into a devastating combo. Power, unsurprisingly allows players to dish out heavy blows, extending combos.
The stones also allow for Infinite’s equivalent of Street Fighter’s ultimate attacks, called Infinity Storms. These match-turning abilities range from granting players enormous power for a limited time to encasing foes in an ethereal prison. It’s an interesting new mechanic, adding an easily understandable tactical layer to each battle.
The amount of different combinations of stones and characters is mind boggling, which could make Infinite a tactical and diverse game to watch on the competitive fighting scene. “It’s that kind of depth that will keep the hardcore invested, because they’ll need to constantly think of new strategies and counter strategies,” agrees Associate Producer Peter Rosas. “I’m really excited to see what [players] come up with.”
3. Marvel’s doubling down on its Cinematic Universe
Captain Marvel appears in the game
© Capcom
As well as swapping its cel-shaded artstyle for the Marvel movies’ more realistic look, it seems as though Infinite’s roster choices might also favour the cinematic universe. Already featuring most of The Avengers, Rocket Racoon and introducing Captain Marvel ahead of her upcoming movie, this time Marvel’s aiming to bring its big screen heroes to gaming.
Yet, with series favourite characters coming from the X-Men universe, many fans are left wondering if the Fox and Marvel feud will affect the game. While it would be a shame to see no X-Men duking it out, for many Marvel fans, simply having the cinematic universe’s big hitters may be enough.
Producer Mike Smith hints at Infinite relying on Marvel’s big screen heroes, suggesting that Infinite might introduce fans to some heroes before their movie debut. “We had a great resource in Marvel, in terms of guidance on the characters and brand and knowing what’s coming in their five year cinematic road map. I can’t speak for any X-Men characters or any other characters yet, but there are many more exciting announcements still to come.”
4. It’s a fighter built with analogue sticks in mind
Marvel vs. Capcom will be an accessible fighter
© Capcom
With fighting games attracting fiercely devoted playerbases, most modern entries are built for the purists, designed for the D-pad or a fight stick. Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite, however, is offering an olive branch to analogue stick loving console gamers. Tweaking its input method to ensure that everyone has a fighting chance, pulling off combos using a controller’s analogue sticks feels surprisingly intuitive.
Yet, this isn’t the only change that might make this intimidating genre feel more welcoming to casual fighter fans. Introducing a two button hyper combo for each character, players of any skill level can easily pull off at least one flashy and powerful attack. Similarly, Infinite also introduces one combo chain that works for all characters, making it easier for players to experiment with different fighters without feeling out of their depth.
It’s a clever move, as with Marvel’s huge popularity, Infinite’s roster will undoubtedly attract new players to the series. Yet with gameplay that feels fairly welcoming to newbies, Capcom know that players are more likely to stick around – which could help build the game a huge competitive community.
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