It’s been a long time since I have been eager to pick up a fighting game. While some gamers love the constant swirling joy stick and tapping of buttons, only to be caught in an impossible combo that seems to take out your character in one hit, I always preferred the pleasure of FPSs and RPGs. But one title has stood out amongst all other fighting games, providing the characters and flashy arcade gameplay I loved in the older fighting games of yesteryear. Marvel VS Capcom has been, in my opinion, the jewel of the crown in terms of fighting games. With the property rights to put my favorite Capcom Characters against my favorite Marvel superheroes, even I could stand getting my ass beat if only to play with Spiderman, Wolverine, Magneto, and 30 + other characters. But after years from the spotlight, how does the lastes installment of Marvel VS Capcom stack up with the recent revamp of the fighting genre series?
Gameplay
The fighting genre is making a comeback. In the midst of the latest installments of the Street Fighter Series, the coming release of classic-style Mortal Kombat game, and the announcement of Tekken Vs Street Fighter, comes the revamp of Marvel Vs Capcom. Amidts all these titles, MvC 3 definitely delivers the gameplay we loved. Seeing as the series’ major strength rests in it’s character roster, it’s important that, unlike Marvel Vs Capacom 2, MvC3 has balance between each and every character. Well, to my amazement, while each character has their unique set of strengths and weaknesses within their skill sets, no character really felt too god-like or overpowered… although Dante and the Sentinel do come close. With the balance nailed, MvC3 tacks on an amazing three-tag-team system, linked air combos, and the always colorful and flashy super combos that display why we love that specific character.
While MvC3 does deliver what we all wanted in terms of gameplay, some- like me- may be a little nervous to jump in the ring with other more experienced veterans. Well, Capcom has you covered. For all the button mashers out there MvC3 comes equipped with a “Simple Mode”, meant to even the playing field between both the noobs and the elites. While I think the inclusion of a simple mode is great, I quickly realized that normal mode was way more satisfying- even though I am by no means a fighting-genre gamer. To me, normal mode already presents more simple combos that any player can build off of. And, seeing as fighting games require fast-paced strategy and skills, simple mode seems to merely give away combos and throw out any of the other reasons a gamer would even gravitate towards the fighting genre!’
Here’s just a little that is the glory of MvC3:
Story
And here’s the downside. Usually this is where I start critiquing the story elements of the game being reviewed. Unfortunately, Marvel Vs Capcom 3 doesn’t even have one. That’s right, even with the rare character and IP licenses to all of these amazing characters, Capcom couldn’t even half-ass a story to have them interact. Hell, Midway’s MvC rip off Mortal Kombat VS DC Universe had a two sided story that strung together both of the IPs being used in the one title. Of course the plot wasn’t amazing, but it gave a reason for gamers to play more as well as some sort of explanation on why these characters are fighting rather than teaming up. Simply put, MvC3 relies on the fact that gamers are flocking to the game merely to play arcade style matches against other gamers, or the CPUs provided in single player. Yes, I came back to MvC for the memories and the return of amazing gameplay, but any amazing developer would go the extra distance and build in elements that separate this new installment of the series from a simple port to a legitimate next generation AAA Title!
Going back into the review, MvC3 does provide a story-like mode. Basically, the gamer picks his or her team of three and kicks butt through progressively harder enemy AI. With enough skill, you’ll abruptly find yourself in front of Galactus for a Super Smash Bros syle boss battle. I didn’t even know that Galactus was even the boss for this game until I beat it for the first time! Hell, I didn’t even know that the earth was in trouble, and if it was, why would other heroes try to stop me from saving it?! What’s worse is while each character has a “unique ending”, you quickly find out they are all crappy comic stills that don’t even give you the satisfying sense of saving the world. I’m simply at a loss for words. Even the traler seen below had more story elements than the actual game had!
After seeing that video you would presume that the characters would fight throughout the game only to find an ominous enemy which, in the trailer, took form of a flaming skulled enemy coming out of the sky. Well, none of these things even happen in the game! All I ask for is simple story elements to at least mimic some sort of conflict that would tie in the line “fate of two worlds”, don’t label a game with a title you don’t even address!
Multiplayer
A Story wasn’t the only thing Capcom didn’t deliver. I truly didn’t know what frustration was until I attempted to play MvC3 online through their horrible excuse of matchmaking. When entering a lobby- which can have multiple people all waiting to have their turn to fight the winner- you can’t watch the match that is being played while you wait your turn. Instead, you sit and see a blue screen with a list of gamer tags that happens to feature the diminishing Hp of the players in combat. Foul play Capcom, foul play. If I’m brave enough to get my butt kicked online, at least let me watch others get theirs handed to them as well! Heck look at Dead or Alive 4, ONE OF THE FREAKING LAUNCH TITLES FOR THE XBOX 360! While waiting for your turn in a match online, not only would you watch the other players fighting, but you could wait in a 3 dimensional lobby where you could roam about with your avatar and earn clothes to put on them. No that didn’t revolutionize the fighting genre, but it sure as hell kept me playing online!
The video below showes what is completely unacceptable for a huge title like MvC3.
What’s worse comes when you attempt to play a ranked match. MvC3 doesn’t even let you look at a blue screen for 30 min, you are simply stuck on the main multiplayer menu with a box telling you they are looking for a match for 10 minutes only to see that they couldn’t find one. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE FOR A AAA TITLE FOR SUCH A HUGE FRANCHISE!
Characters
Seeing as the character roster is so important in a title like MVC3, we might as well take the time to talk about them. Like I mentioned earlier, each character is unique and balanced, keeping gameplay in general very fresh and preventing gamers from using the same characters over and over. But even with a little over 30 characters, I found myself wanting some of the characters from the old games! Where’s Mega Man, Cyclops, Jill, or other great potential characters like GAmbet?! Well they aren’t in the disk. “But I though I heard Jill was going to be in the game”, you say. Well your right, leading to what is going to happen to other characters. If you didn’t buy the special edition of MvC, get ready to shell out for some DLC to get more characters and probably even more costumes. That’s right, they want you to spend MORE money on top of the $60 bucks you shelled out for the game in the first place.
I also couldn’t help but be disappointed in what MvC3 delivered in terms of alternative costumes for characters. With the character roster pulling from such titles as Devil May Cry, I expected a little more in terms of Alternate Costumes. As a series, MvC gets the amazing advantage of grabbing elements from various other series and character histories. After all, it’s not every day a game has the license to so many IPs in one title! That being said, you should expect some amazing art and even some costumes that hint at the origins of each character … at least an interesting deviation of what we always see. Well, that wasn’t the case. For instance, instead of giving Dante an alternative costume from, say, Devil May Cry 1 or 2, all you can do is change the color of his jacket. I’m sorry, but there is way too much aesthetic potential in the character design of this game to let that pass. The only character that seems to be properly decked out in terms of costumes seems to Spider-Man, who has his original suit, the venom suit, and the Iron Man-inspired gold and red suit from the Civil War series. Things like that help players geek out even more, and should be available for every character. And you better believe I’m not willing to shell out $5- 10 later for costumes that should have come in the box originally!
Summary
Look, Marvel Vs Capcom 3 is a great game. With balanced game mechanics and great new characters like Dante and Zero joining others from the original cast, a great time is guaranteed to be had for all that loved the series in the first place. What I didn’t like about MvC3 is the fact that Capcom never went out of their way to update MvC as a series by adding some much needed next gen material. I want a flawless matchmaking system with the ability to at least watch the matches that I have to wait for in order to play. I want some excuse of a story that even addresses the game’s title “Fate of Two Worlds”. Yeah, these all seem little things, but they are the missing elements that keep MvC3 from being the best fighting game out there! In all, there is so much potential within MvC3 that I was expecting to be exploited, it’s a shame we got what seems to be only the core of what we wanted.
Marvel Vs Capcom 3 get an 8/10
Images from : http://www.ripten.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/marvel-vs-capcom-3-logo.jpg , http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/174691-Post.jpg , http://www.ndnguyen.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/marvel_vs_capcom_2.jpg