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Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds - PS3 Review
Jamie Donnelly
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Platforms: PS3/Xbox 360
Price: $59.99
Story
Heroes and villains of the Marvel and Capcom universe have been forced to team up in order to save the world from a far greater evil. It’s a tried and tested comic book story that gives the arcade mode a foundation, but the thing that makes it interesting is what you get when you complete the game. Each character has a different ending presented in classic comic book form, all of which reveal what the characters will be doing now that the world is saved. Each ending includes an abundance of cameos that fans of both Marvel and Capcom will be delighted to see.
Compared to Marvel vs Capcom 2, the character roster is miniscule which may disappoint fans of the previous instalment. However, there are still plenty of characters on offer and the combinations of characters that you can use means the roster never feels small when you are actually playing the game. More characters would have been a bonus, but having less in no way detracts from the game.
Gameplay
The combat in Marvel vs Capcom 3 involves fights of three versus three and is primarily focused around linking together ridiculous combos. There are three basic attack buttons; high attack, medium attack and low attack plus a special attack. The move you pull off all depends on the preceding directional input. The special attacks main purpose is to start aerial combos, and it is these combos that will give you the most success. Once an opponent is airborne, you can continue your combo further as well as bringing in an aerial assist from a teammate. Aerial assists and character switches are how you rack up the biggest combos – they allow you to continually juggle opponents in the air and you can do some serious damage this way without fear of a reply. If you are on the receiving end of an aerial combo it can be very frustrating as your character may lose fifty percent of their health in one fell swoop while you helplessly look on. You also hold Hyper Combos in your arsenal, which are super-powered attacks that require energy from your Hyper Meter to be used. These attacks can potentially act as game changes, but miss your target and will be wasting precious energy.
Although MvC3 shares many things with Street Fighter IV, its ethos towards fighting games is very different. Street Fighter IV takes a patient, methodical approach to fight strategy. MvC3 on the other hand abandons this in favour of the view that a good offence is the best defence. Players who learn advanced defensive moves will fare better online, but the fact you get a trophy for winning a match without blocking is testament to the no holds barred attacking mentality that MvC3 requires you to adopt. Offensive play is definitely more rewarding than defensive tactics, and in my opinion this makes for a much more exciting experience.
There are not many game modes to speak of, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. Going online is very simple, and it is joyfully easy to navigate your way into a matchup. The only criticism is the exclusion of spectator mode in the lobby, but this may be patched in at a later date. In offline mode you have the standard arcade mode which sees you fight through six rounds before facing the big boss at the end. You also have training mode where you can practice your combos, and Mission mode. Mission modes purpose is valiant but unfortunately the presentation is not the friendliest. It teaches you combos and advanced manoeuvres, but is letdown by the fact you have to open the menu to see how you actually need to pull off the moves. This leads to a lot of pausing and unpausing that would be unneeded if they had simply put the commands on the screen for you to see.
Difficulty and Replayability
Anybody can jump in and play Marvel vs Capcom 3. MvC3 has a very steep learning curve. Two completely contradictory statements, yet both hold equal truths. I love fighting games, but I’ve never had the patience to really become any good at them. I usually resort to committing the cardinal sin of button mashing and hoping for the best. In MvC3 you can get away with button mashing to a certain extent, especially if you play with the “simple” control scheme which dumbs down the action inputs required. Hitting random attack buttons works so long as you mix it in with well timed assists and clever character switching. However, if this is the way you choose to play you will very quickly hit a brick wall with how far you can progress. This method may get you through hard mode against the computer, but very hard is going to take actually learning some advanced combos – as is online mode. This is where the steep learning curve comes into play.
There are huge options when it comes to choosing your team and which assist moves they should have, and in order to really compete you need to pick an optimal team and make sure that all the characters complement each other perfectly. On top of this, you will need to know all their moves to be able to piece together maximum combos and keep the opposing player on the defence. Advanced manoeuvres, such as ‘snapback’ which allows you to force a weak opponent out into the field of play, will be required if you hope to beat the best players online. Learning these moves is not simple, and even though Missions mode offers some guidance as far as combos go, I found myself having to hunt out online guides in order to learn the most effective moves. Apart from this slight lack of hand holding, I really believe that MvC3 caters to all gamers who enjoy fighting games. Whilst some elitist gamers may accuse MvC3 of dumbing down in order to cater for less serious players, I don’t see that as a problem. The game still offers a hardcore level of combo linkage and defensive manoeuvres for those who truly wish to perfect the art and these skills are by no means easy to get to grips with. However, it also acknowledges that not all gamers have the time or will to perfect these skills and so gives the more casual gamer a fighting chance as well.
MvC3 is one of those games that you could dedicate a wealth of hours to for the rest of your gaming life. It is also one of those games that you can happily leave on your shelf, knowing it will always be waiting for you on a rainy day. Once again, it caters for all varieties of gamers. Perfectionists will play through arcade mode until they have completed it with every character, and even once you have done this there is always online. Casual gamers will pick it up now and then when their friends come over and still have a blast. MvC2 still had a loyal following after ten years, and if MvC3 is left without a sequel for the same length of time I believe it too will stand the test and when MvC4 is finally announced people will once again bemoan the fact that it is simply not needed.
Look and Sound
The gameplay of Marvel vs Capcom 3 is all about putting Marvel characters into the Capcom fighting engine. The aesthetic, on the other hand, is all about putting Capcom characters into the Marvel comic book art style. The menus, the interface, and the animations – everything has been given a Marvel lick of comic book coloured paint and it looks phenomenal. The visuals perfectly capture the Marvel spirit, and your television screen is constantly barraged with bright flashes of colour. It’s like somebody threw a grenade into the skittles rainbow and recorded the resulting spectrum supernova. The over-the-top in-your-face visuals are what make the game beautifully unique, but it can occasionally become overwhelming as the fighting animations get lost in the sea of colour making it hard to keep track of what move you and your opponent are currently pulling off.
The sound effects are as extravagant as the rest of the game, and your speakers will be filled with satisfying thuds and crashes that accompany every combo. The characters all have comical one-liners that manage to give them that little bit extra personality. The problem with having sound bites for every special move is that they can become very grating very quickly. It’s usually fine, but when a player online is continually spamming a move for which the character repetitively exclaims some variation of “SPINNING KICK” it soon becomes a repetitive drone that lays waste to your eardrums and sanity. The same can be said for the music during menu portions of the game - when you first hear the music you’re hit with a wave of nostalgia and will gush over the developer’s homage to classic arcade fighters. However, your ears will once again be begging you for forgiveness if you happen to spend more than thirty seconds at a menu screen.
Overall
Marvel vs Capcom 3 is a queer thing, its most positive aspects somehow manage to double up as its most negative aspects as well. Luckily, the positives add up to provide a marvelous (I had to get this awful pun in somewhere) experience, and the negatives in no way detract from the overall feel of the game. It provides a great experience for gamers of all skill levels, and Marvel and Capcom fans will be equally pleased with the fan service that is offered up.
Pro’s
- Anybody can jump in and play.
- A vibrant, bright and exciting spectacle.
- Perfectly caters to fans of both Marvel and Capcom.
Con’s
- Mastering the combat system will take a long time.
- The frantic nature of the visuals sometimes distracts from the actual combat.
- Mission Mode could do a better job of tutoring.
9/10 - Beneath the flashy exterior, MvC 3 provides substance — offering a game which manages to cater for both the most inexperienced of gamers and the most experienced of gamers simultaneously. Elitists may bemoan the ease of entry that MvC3 provides, but it is the accessibility that makes it so enjoyable.
