Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is finally here, eleven years after the release of its predecessor. While it is certainly a fun game, I’m not sure if it will stand the test of time as well as its predecessors. I played the game on the PS3; other consoles will offer different experiences.
For the uninitiated, Marvel is a comics company known for publishing some of the most popular superheroes of all time, including Spiderman, the X-Men, The Hulk, Iron Man and Captain America. Capcom is a video game producer known for creating a host of video game classics, such as Megaman, Street Fighter, Resident Evil, and Devil May. Over a decade ago somebody thought it would be fun to have icons from both companies fight it out – thankfully, they were right.
Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is a 2D fighting game, which means that, unlike 3D fighters such as Tekken or Soul Calibur, characters can only move on a flat plane. By not having a 3D plane, 2D fighters generally have a large focus on precision jumping or aerial combat. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 performs extraordinarily well in this aspect.
The game uses six buttons: light attack, medium attack, high attack, special and two assists. Generally you can combo light into medium, medium into high and high into special. The special move will launch the opponent up into the air. Quickly tapping up afterwards will cause your character to jump up after them, allowing you to continue your assault in the air. Movement feels smooth and intuitive. Hitting opponents is extremely satisfying. The game is also very lenient from a technical perspective. Getting the timing down on most combos is much easier than in other fighting games.
For a match, only two characters fight at a time. Each player chooses three characters to fight with. The characters each have their own life bars which go down when the character is hit. If all three characters on a team are knocked out, the game is over. Tapping an assist button will call in a teammate to do an attack. Holding the button down will switch that character with the one you are currently controlling. Play is fast and frantic. It’s not unusual to see fists, fireballs, bullets and lasers all frequent the screen at once.
The game looks and sounds great. Every character moves and talks how you would expect them to. Deadpool, a comedic Marvel character known for breaking the fourth wall, has an attack where he beats his opponent with his life bar. Some of the backgrounds can get a bit cluttered, but getting used to them isn’t much of a problem.
This is very much a multiplayer game. For people who want to play on their own, there’s a basic arcade mode, as well as a training mode. Anybody who wants the game for the singleplayer experience should wait for its sixty dollar price tag to go down.
I’ve experienced some problems with the online multiplayer setting. While it could be the campus internet, every game I’ve played against a random person has had crippling lag. If the game is unable to connect to a person – a common occurrence – it will boot you back to the main screen, not the main online screen. Getting to the online screen takes a few seconds, as does finding an opponent. This adds up quickly, and can mean minutes between matches while trying to connect to opponents. Connecting online with specific friends fares better.
My main problem with the game has to do with character balance. Instead of toning characters down, the design philosophy appears to have been to make every character very good. This means that every character has combos that can deal massive amounts of damage to opponents.
While it’s still too early to tell exactly how balanced the game is, I’ve seen videos of characters killing other characters in one combo. It can be very disheartening to lose a character off an unlucky guess. While the game does have an option to lower damage, the output ratio remains the same. This problem will really only affect the hardcore players.
If you just want to sit down and have fun with friends, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is perfect. While most combos are easy, the kinds that will ruin your day are generally going to be very difficult for the average player to perform. Fans of fighting games in general, or of Marvel or Capcom, will probably enjoy this game. It’s also perfect for the casual player who just wants to mash buttons with friends. Hardcore fighting game fans should still pick this up.
This is a game you probably won’t be playing years from now, but it’s fun today. •
