With the announcement of a new superhero action title at E3 2019, Marvel fans finally got to see what the new game was all about.
Marvel’s Avengers has been making the rounds a fair bit recently, and it has been a bit of a rough time as gamers have keyed into a few things they didn’t like. For one thing, a lot of gamers thought the character designs were a bit too generic. The developers have been quick to point out that this game isn’t an MCU title, so the characters aren’t going to look like their film counterparts. Crystal Dynamics is instead focusing on what matters, quality gameplay.
As the lead combat designer on Marvel’s Avengers, Vince Napoli pointed out in an interview with GamesRadar, the approach to designing the combat in this game is somewhat different to how action titles are traditionally done. “. . .we really built the combat system around the characters,” Napoli says, “It’s a similar way to the narrative, where it’s taking you to the characters and saying … you know, if we need to feel like an assassin, we’re going to use stealth. Let’s give her those [qualities], and then start building the combat system to accommodate all these things”.
When it drops next year, each of the five main cast will be represented in ways that both feel true to the character, as well as feeling fun to play. Who wouldn’t want to slap people around with Cap’s shield? The developers, Crystal Dynamics, are putting a lot of care and effort into making each gameplay section feel unique based on the character being controlled. In their words:
When you’re playing Iron Man, it needs to feel like “this is an Iron Man game now.” He’s not sharing the game with anyone, if he didn’t have to. Like, this could be a full game. And when you get to Black Widow, you’re like, “wow, this is a Black Widow game. She is fully featured.”
Each character will have gameplay segments that are tuned to the skills and lore of the star characters. So for example, Black Widow moments will be punctuated by stealth and fast and effective combat. This dedication to having fully fleshed-out characters with their own gameplay sequences and story elements is great, I just have to wonder what said segments will actually look like in the finished product.
Marvel’s Avengers is coming to PC, Xbox One, Stadia and PlayStation 4 on May 15, 2020.
