Oh, Look. Marvel was at E3. Who could have seen that one coming?
With the behemoth that is Disney gradually swelling into what I suspect will become the world's first mega corporation, it's was pretty much a matter of time before the higher ups tried to force their biggest cash cow upon the gaming world. Especially after the success of last year's 'Spider-Man PS4'; solidifying that the MCU and Gaming could play nice as long as a little creative freedom is maintained and the cursed words 'movie tie-in' are never uttered. (Who remembers the Thor game? *Shudder*.)
However, beneath my cynicism does lie genuine interest. The idea of bringing The Avengers to gaming does seem really cool. Who hasn't watched some of Marvel's most iconic scenes and thought 'That would be fun to be a part of!'. Imagine blasting through aliens in the battle for New York or throwing Ultron drones off of the floating city of Sokovia! And don't get me started on the prospect of going toe to toe with a digitised version of The Mad Titan himself! (Or 'more digitised', I guess.) I guess the word for today is potential. There's a lot of potential in an MCU backed Marvel video game. Particularly one spearheaded by some of the great minds at Square Enix! (I realise I'm using an excessive amount of exclamation marks but that's just how excited this all makes me!)
In the weeks leading up to E3, Square seem to be revealing just enough to ignite the imagination. Vague teases, piled on rumor, punctuated by a teaser trailer that featured the iconic tools of our favourite Avengers discarded amidst rubble yet still buzzing with energy. (Except Hawkeye's bow.) Small details were revealed along the way; the game would allow for four player co-op with character customisation. The stage was set for a knock out E3 presentation that would blow everyone away.
And it did. In a way.
Now I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I honestly expected to see the likeness of Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Robert Downey jr, Scarlett Johansson and Chris Hemsworth up on the screen; but it sure didn't help that these imposters were literally wearing their clothes. Just like Lando at the end of The Empire Strikes Back, these 'lookalikes' were rendered to seem realistic and outfitted with costumes clearly modeled after MCU outings. Bruce Banner had Mark's purple shirt, Steve Rogers donned a discount cosplay of Winter Soldier's slick Cap costume and Iron Man... Well, he was wearing an Iron Man suit, guess there was no helping that.
'Uncanny Valley' might be the best descriptor for the reveal. No matter how much that Square showed of the game (And they sure didn't show much), the response to the game was cemented the moment we saw our first line up. It was just Avengers dressup.
Looking past the initial weird factor (difficult as it is to do) what we got shown was a decent enough pitch meeting. We saw the initial conflict and was given the premise of the story whilst getting a snippet of Bruce Banner, Black Widow, Captain America, Iron Man and Thor all fighting together with their own abilities and playstyles; all of this promises to diversify the roster and allow us to immerse ourselves with our favourites from the original avengers lineup. (But not Hawkeye 'cause screw that guy, am I right? What can he do: Shoot arrows? pfft, lame.) And when I say 'snippet', I mean it. Somehow Square expected us to get a feel for the game (and crucially, shell out on that preorder) on little more than a three and a half minute highlight reel of the main roster, without so much as UI elements to give us an idea what to expect.
Even Square must have realised how sparse their presentation looked as they prolonged the affair with postulations about where the completed project will go after it's done, an extended look at a single cutscene (One which we already saw and got the gist of in the trailer) and a sneak peak at the first new hero that they'll be adding. That's right. They announced DLC. For a game where they couldn't even give us an explanation on how the missions are laid out. At least the DLC will be free. And it finally allows us to finish our dream Avengers roster with the fan favourite that they forgot to add initially: Antman. (Not Hawkeye. I mean, is he even a real Avenger? What's his super power? Where's his dead parents? Talk about a poser. Talk about a waste of super hero air. And another thing...)
It did seem that Square anticipated the backlash (especially in regards to the character's likeness' debacle) as they leaned heavily on the strength of the voice talent behind their main lineup. And there are some genuine video game royalty lending their prowess to this game including Laura Bailey, Troy Baker and Nolan North. Don't get me wrong, it's great when the voice actors get the recognition that they deserve and have earned but lets not kid ourselves; Square didn't prepare a vignette starring the voice actors out of reverence of their talents or respect for their craft. They did not have a presentation and they pushed the game out on stage anyway.
Overall the game looks fine. Visual design is fine, combat looks fine the gameplay runs fine. There was no stand out 'Wow' moment that a AAA video game from Crystal Dynamics with the Marvel logo slapped on it, should have had. Not to mention the character design. I already complained on how they look like cosplayers but even deeper than that some of the proportions just seem off. (Why is Tony Stark's head so small?) If only Marvel had a truly exciting upcoming project that leaned off the aspects of the movies that we love whilst simultaneously being a loving continuation of a beloved franchise!
Hmm? The thing I'm looking for was shown off at the Nintendo conference? Well I might as well take a gander...
Me and Marvel Ultimate Alliance have a long history. (I'm sure you're sick of seeing me type that.) But it's absolutely true. When I received my PS2 as a hand-me-down, it came with a whole box full of games, many of which were age gated from me and one of which would end up becoming my favourite game of all time. (I'm sure I'll get to a blog on that gem later.) But one game I could play featured the box art of a set of characters I was very familiar with, being a kid who watched cartoons, the X-Men. That game was the brilliant; X-Men Legends, and that is a game that remains one of my personal classics. X-Men Legends featured every X-Men character that I knew, some I didn't and allowed me to control all of them with easy-to-pick-up controls and a simple team swapping mechanic that brought the magic of the comic/cartoon alive in my hands. I simply adored the game at the time. I revelled in the familiar locations, classic villains and cool powers. And being a kid with all the time in the world, once I was finished I played it again and again.Never imagining there would be another Superhero game that would become even more of an obsession for me.
Fast forward to 2006 and I had my very own PlayStation Portable. I loved it to death, playing the thing anywhere and everywhere. I would Spend hours playing games that, in hindsight, were pretty trash. (Transformers: The game, anyone?) And here comes Raven Software's Marvel: Ultimate Alliance to turn my world upside down. This was perhaps the first game I ever followed religiously, reading up on everything I could about it, maybe even watching some gameplay on that antiquated piece of technology known as a TV. I was conductor of the hype train, all aboard. And that Christmas came with a special gifts from my parents. (Who were savvy enough to pick up on my incessant badgering and no so subtle hints.) Yep, You guessed it. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. I was a huge Marvel fan at the time, an avid reader of the Spectacular Spider Man and just as avid a watcher of the Spider-Man, X-men and Fantastic Four cartoons. Getting my hands on the game was like a dream come true. Just like Super Smash Brothers, everyone was there, hero and villain alike. There were easy controls, wild levels and a slew of worthwhile collectibles and unlockables designed with a completionist like me in mind.
Every couple weeks or so I would pick it up from the beginning and just play through the whole game from start to finish. Sometimes I'd pick favourites and play exclusively with them (Basically Spider-Man, Deadpool or both) and other times I would pick a team and rock through it all with them. The experience never got old for me. And even when the flashier 'Spider-Man: Friend or Foe' caught my attention for a summer, I eventually found myself going back to Ultimate Alliance. Content that in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, I had found my Ultimate Marvel game.
Then there was the sequel which simply came and went for me. Maybe it was the fact that I got the technologically inferior Wii version of the game but I suspect it was something more. Besides, The PSP version of the original was also an inferior port. Something of the magic was gone, the fresh unique setting that cared more about providing fun scenarios than feeding some overarching plot was sacrificed in order to line up with the brand new Marvel hotness: Civil War. That would the comic: Civil War not the Movie. Splitting the roster between the two sides of the conflict might have made sense thematically, but it restricted me from the 'fantasy football'-esque team building gameplay that I had come to cherish.
And so disappeared the Ultimate Alliance franchise. Gone into the annals of history. From time to time there would come whispers of a mythical third installment but never something substantiated with actual evidence. Soon it was forgotten, never to be revived again.
So imagine my utter flabbergasted-ness (Yes, it is a word. No, don't look it up.) at E3 2018 when the Marvel emblem flashed up followed by a very familiar looking game capped with the title card; Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 The Black Order. I didn't know how to react. Jubilance? Confusion? Trepidation? All of the above? In a MCU dominated landscape I never thought there could be space for a standalone Marvel story told in the pick-up-and-play style that Raven Software nailed back in the day. And of course that isn't entirely the case. Even the trailer shows that the story is piggy backing off the success of the MCU by pitting us against... Thanos? But wait, that's actually a really cool idea. Getting a chance to square off against Thanos in video game form is exactly what we wanted out of a Marvel game following the last 20 movies of the MCU. Thanos is the badguy of the 2010's how could any Marvel branded content exist and not acknowledge his dominance? Oh wait... that's exactly what 'Marvel's Avengers' is trying to do.
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 is also, sadly, not being headed up by Raven Software anymore as they're busy working as... assistant developers for the Call of Duty franchise? Heck. At least they're moving up in the world. This time development is being led by Team Ninja of 2017's Nioh, So they know their way around a tribute game. Joking aside, Team Ninja are a talented bunch and from the gameplay we've seen (Of which there is plenty) the game looks every bit as cool as the original which stole my heart. Not to mention the ridulously huge roster that spans the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy and the extended Spider Verse. Basically, I'm saying this game looks good. Really good. And it is pushing all the right buttons for nostalgic fans of simple Marvel action.
Crystal Dynamic's Avengers, on the other hand, has a huge uphill battle. Impressions from the closed door demos have been equally lukewarm. No one is trashing the game but no one is excited either. Square seems to be dropping heavy hints that we are looking at a live service with this one: 'This story is just the beginning', 'we'll offer more heros after launch', etc. And their promise that 'cosmetics will not affect gameplay' just seems to imply that cool alternate skins and the like will be relegated to microtransactions, maybe exclusively. Back in Marvel Ultimate Alliance, cool outfits were completely unlockable through gameplay. Food for thought.
I know it reads like I'm trying to say that everything about the Avengers is all doom and gloom whilst Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is the second coming, but honestly I kind of feel that way. These games are almost polar opposites in the way their exposure makes me feel. The more I see about Avengers the more I see a cynical cash grab whilst the more I hear (and crucially, see) about Ultimate Alliance, the more I see a triumphant return to form that promises to litter my stomach with butterflies. Seeing how much effort and resources that Square and Crystal must have sunk into such a botched reveal makes me all the more sad. And at the end of the day, after all the PR talk and misdirections that seem purpose built to obfuscate the audiences attentions; I just find it hard to care about anything related to Marvel's Avengers. Rather than reach for the pre-order button I can't help but keep asking...
Couldn't we have got a new Deus Ex instead?
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