Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds Review

Marvel vs Capcom 3 Review

DC Universe Online hit the shelves early on this year giving fans of the comics lots to keep them busy. So what has Marvel got in store for its fans? Only the next instalment to one the greatest arcade fighting franchises of all time, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. It has been 11 years since the launch of MvC2 which had a huge fan base.

This third entry to the series attempts to contain the same addictive gameplay as its predecessor. This may cause the game to fall at the first hurdle as games have changed a lot over the past decade; Master Chief has been and gone, Snake has gone grey and Sonic now shows up in Mario games. Can this game Hulk smash its competition, or will we be simply web swinging it onto the backburner along with the other rehashed games of our childhood.

Presentation

MvC3 is a beautiful looking game; its graphical style is reminiscent of the series with the inclusion of its new slick 3D graphical presentation. The games vibrant comic-like colours are still visible and are what truly make the game stand out. Although Capcom have kept true to the art styles of its predecessors, I still kind of miss the 2D animations of MvC2, which created a more comic-like rendition to the genre.

The menu system is pretty much identical to the original and why shouldn’t it be? Capcom went for the ‘If it isn’t broke don’t fix it’ method. The voice acting fits really well into the game and the character lines aren’t too cheesy. The soundtrack itself is awesome and really fits well with the arcade fighting image of the game.

Gameplay

The game itself still comprises of three-on-three battles, with the ridiculous arrays of fireballs and combos. These combos can still be executed involving tagging in partners or summoning them for brief attacks, as well as the notion of building up a special meter in order to pull off your characters even more devastating moves.

So what have they changed? Well the core mechanics have been completely altered. Instead of having the two kick and two punch buttons, the buttons have been remapped to light, medium, heavy and special attacks. These new attack commands are actually really well constructed. I’m a big fan of MvC2 and loved the original set up ever since playing Street Fighter 2 on the snes; I never thought these controls ever needed to be altered.

However, this new style simplifies the standard attacks and allows the player to master the more complex moves more easily. This new set of easy to pick up controls makes newcomers look like masters of the genre in a matter of minutes. This can be traced to the fact that the series can be classed as a button-smashing title. This can be easily disproved when a newcomer is faced off against a hard-core player.

Although the new controls sound easy, hard-core gamers and fans of the franchise will still have their hands full mastering the characters; although there are only 36 characters in MvC3 in comparison to the 56 playable characters in the previous title, no one character is similar by any stretch of the imagination.

Hard-core players will also appreciate the inclusion of an extensive training mode allowing them to master those ridiculous combos available through the vast array of button commands and team attacks.

The single player is nothing much to brag about. Completing it unlocks different character cinematics and a few trophies; there are only four unlockable characters in the whole game and so once this is done the single player experience is pretty much done with. The single player game itself though is really just a place whereby players can learn how the characters and team set ups work. The true competition lies on the challenges faced against real contenders. The new addition of online is what really makes this game what it is. You can go head-to-head against friends or random players in ranked and unranked matches in order to truly test your skills.

They are very little latency issues and so the battles feel uninterrupted by lag or downtime. This allows for countless hours of beating down (or being beat down by) opponents from around the globe, testing your MvC skills.

Conclusion

The game itself is great; the gameplay mechanics are truly addictive and hard-core fans of the genre are going to be smiling for months to come, beating the hadouken out of players online. The online feature is a real blast with friends and random players. The new tweaked control system offers a familiar, yet completely fresh take on the franchise and allows a more simplified layout for newcomers to the genre. The problem with this game is its content; there really isn’t any.

Most people will feel cheated by the fact there is no in-depth single player or additional modes such as time challenges or survival modes to keep them entertained offline. True MvC fans won’t really care about the addition of these modes though so if you’re a fan of the series it’s a definite buy. Now who’s up a fight? just a word of warning, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.

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