Marvel's Avengers E3 Demo felt like a mashup of Arkham, Spider-Man and (Pic: SQUARE-ENIX)
In another dimly lit room with absolutely no photography or filming allowed at E3, I got a glimpse at Marvels Avengers, the latest project from Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal, the developers of the Tomb Raider and Deus Ex reboot series.
The game was being shown to us as a hands-off demo, meaning it was running in real time but being played by somebody else – a developer from the company most likely. What I saw was an extended version of the gameplay seen in the conference trailer – the Golden Gate Bridge was under attack from Taskmaster, and earths mightiest heroes had to band together to take it back – though, when I say band together, thats where one of the main issues I had starts to rear its head.
Throughout the demo we were treated to segmented vignettes of each of the main Avengers seen in the reveal – Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Black Widow were all shown off, touting their specific abilities and combat style, each varied in meaningful ways.
Though it looked great, I thought it was a little strange that they never came together to fight, with the ability to control or swap between characters or show off co-op. I understand there was only one man handling the demo, but with the multiplayer aspect of this game being so important, it seems odd that they wouldnt show off some co-operative gameplay. I saw a glimpse of the action in a sizzle reel at the end, but not enough to get a good measure of how its going to shape up.
“Combat feels like the best parts of Arkham, Marvels Spider-Man and God of War”
Regardless, I can talk about what I did see, which was the action brawler gameplay and the cinematic set pieces.
First off, its nice to note that the chemistry between each character is really great – this game is full of quips and wisecracks like most Marvel movies.
Even though Thors macho delivery was a little shaky at times, the entire squad came off well in-game.
Add this to some of the cutscenes I saw near the end of the demo which illustrated the internal conflict between the Avengers, Im very excited to see where the narrative and writers take the story.
They have so much lore to dive into – they definitely can involve fascinating villains and deliver the stories comic book readers will be waiting for through this game, which is a tantalising promise that I hope Crystal and Eidos deliver on.
The brawling combat looks great also and feels like an amalgamation of the best parts of the Arkham series, Marvels Spider-Man and God of War.
The game uses quick time events to bridge the gap between cinematic sequences and gameplay, then focuses on counter-based combat evoking each Avengers special skill.
Thors Mjolinir is a real hefty piece of kit – you can hear the revolutions when its spinning and feel the power as it slams goons into car doors and blasts them into the distance.
Throwing Mjolnir looks like a world of fun, showcased in the demo by Asgards own pinning enemies to parts of the environment to be dealt with later by retrieving it from the sky.
Its true to form and very impressive, especially when youre juggling multiple enemies.
Moving to Iron Man, there was a fun on-rails section where he was shooting jetpack punters in the sky before he landed into a combat arena.
Similarly, Iron Man has a homing rocket he can put in an enemies chest to send them flying like a deflated balloon.
There has clearly been a lot of care put into getting each Avenger right – they look and feel great, even if their unmasked faces are a little uncanny – when it matters the combat shines.
Hulk is outrageously strong, picking up multiple enemies and slamming them together to create a seismic force, pushing past burning cars and breaking the backs of hired goons.
What shocked me was the platforming as Hulk which looked incredibly responsive and fun as he leaped from platform to platform.
Captain America is a more stylised flair-driven brawler who again uses a thrown weapon in his shield to decimate enemies.
The throwing mechanics really look amazing in this game, as good as Kratos satisfying axe lob in God of War.
Imagine the heft of Kratos axe plus Spider-Man's acrobatic moves and youve got a good idea of how Captain America plays in this game.
My favourite moment in the demo was when the player punched the inside ofRead More – Source
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