Finally the moment we have all been waiting for has arrived. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has been released into the hands of hungry fans and not a moment too soon. But was it worth the wait (and the hefty price tag)? We’ll be exploring the depths of Marvel vs. Capcom, the pros and the cons, and whether or not this title was all it was cracked up to be.
The actual story itself is quite simple. Effectively, Doctor Doom has assembled some of the villains of the Marvel Universe and has joined forces with Albert Wesker in order to unite their respective universes in an effort to conquer both. While initially lacking the power to unite the worlds, Super-Skrull suggests stealing the power form Galactus. He posits that this would give them the power they needed, and also allow him a modicum of revenge after Galactus destroyed his homeworld many years ago. Fast forward a few days, the two universes are at war, and suddenly Galactus shows up really really pissed off.
What is a little off-putting the the starting roster itself. It’s smaller than what Super Street Figther 4 had (only by 1 character but still) and made a lot of people question: “For a game that is $64.99 right off the bat, is it worth purchasing only to have to keep buying additional characters/outfits/etc?” I personally am a little peeved off at having to buy it for almost $100 and feeling as though the game is practically incomplete.
That said Pat, after the unlockable characters (which you get after beating the game a few times and racking up the correct number of Player points) the roster grows to 38 characters, beating out Super Street Fighter IV by 3 characters. But I agree that for this price, we should have had all the characters right off the bat, but I personally didn’t mind working for them. Also, two DLC characters will be available in about a month, and for a comic fan, some of those DLC costumes look good. Captain America as the Steve Rogers – Super Soldier outfit? Sold (assuming of course I have extra PSN cash, as I don’t think I’ll go out of my way to buy it haha).
What I personally did not like about it was the story mode. It seemed extremely lack-luster, short and lacked any animations. Normally, the animations is not a big deal to fighting games such as these but considering that Super Street Fighter was filled with voice animations, the fact that MVC3 didn’t add that seemed a bit... not with the times. I personally thought the music was super lame and annoying. Although I do love that style of corny music on actual arcade machines (as it just seems more vintage and adds on to the experience), having to hear that blaring from my T.V. screen was more annoying than reminiscent. Since I played the game on the 360, I really do have to pick a bone with the controls. Unless you are fortunate enough to pick up a fighting stick for the 360 (which usually runs your wallet dry at a womping $149.99 for a decent one), then the controls seem almost... chaotic. It was frustrating trying to do any real combos with it and after a while, I found myself more button mashing than if I was to actually try to develop any real skill in the game. This is not Marvel’s fault at all but makes me wonder why they didn’t make a customized arcade stick like Mortal Kombat 9 will be doing.
Now, here’s where the PS3 shines. The controls on the PS3 are fluid and really responsive. I found myself having none of the complaints that Pat is mentioning above. The music, I honestly can’t say I noticed. To me, that’s the sign of a problem, as I normally really enjoy game music. Think about it: you always remember good game music, as well as bad game music. But what happens when you have mediocre game music? The music is forgotten. The story mode was incredibly weak in terms of its narrative. If you didn’t pick up the collector’s edition, you had no idea of the plot of this game, unless you wiki-ed it, or you read this review. If any non-Mortal Kombat fighting game deserved some sort of story mode, THIS WAS IT!
The biggest problem I had with it (which I already sort of explained before) was feeling like I paid for a full steak dinner and only got chicken scraps instead. I really don’t think it was worth paying $64.99 or the special edition $74.99 (which kind of blew once I found out that the special edition characters don’t even get released until about a month after the release of the game). Unless you got a good trade-in deal or promotion with the game OR if you’re a huge, huge huge fighting fan, I would say wait for the price to drop down a little before purchase. I really felt like I was a little bit ripped off. I mean, charging extra for COSTUME CHANGES rather than just being simple unlocks? I’m not sure who would really fall for that (although I’m sure plenty of you will).
What I found most enjoyable about the game were the Easter eggs in the writing. For example, Super-Skrull when he’s about to perform his “Inferno” hyper combo screams out “HE LOVES ME!” in reference to the Secret Invasion storyline that took over Marvel Comics during 2008. In addition, you’ll get nice little quotes from characters who know each other right before combat, such as Deadpool telling Magneto, “Welcome to Die” (in reference to the Konami X-Men Arcade game which contained this weird line). However, I found the game’s appeal wearing off quickly. What’s good about it though was that after a few hours, when I came back to it, my enjoyment factor was just as high as it had initially been.
Overall, I am quite pleased with the game. It does to be more dazzle that fizzles quickly rather than long-lasting excitement. After a while, the feeling you get while playing this game does tend to wear out and it becomes more of a serious button-masher. The over the top character finishes get old quickly and the lack of any real animation or voicing seems like a blast from the past, and I don’t mean in the good way. After all fighting games have gone through, it just seems as though Marvel vs. Capcom 3 really played it safe; which is not necessarily a bad thing but it also isn’t something that is fanboy worthy. Definitely worth a pickup as it is quite exciting. However, it isn’t something I see “going down in history” as the biggest feature in this game is the actual gameplay, yet it lacks in every other department. So yes, worth playing but I don’t see it being exciting for long term unless you’re an extremely hardcore fighting /Capcom/Marvel fan.
FINAL SCORE: 7.25/10
I’m going to have to more or less concur with the lovely lady, with my score. The game is really good. But a few things keep it from being great.
FINAL SCORE: 7.5/10
Well guys, that’s all for us today. Coming up on The Next Level: Reviews of Green Lantern #62, Green Lantern Corps #57, Brightest Day #20, and the announcement of our next Spotlight. Pat, what’s coming up on Pwning Pat’s Game Blog?
Coming up on my blog – I will be reviewing You Don’t Know Jack (as I honestly couldn’t even get myself to review LittleBigPLanet 2... long story short, it feels like a gigantic expansion unless you’re extremely creative and itching to create levels) and Killzone 3!
I also love that we get to do joint reviews! WHOO!!
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