Marvel has gone a long way from just making superhero comic books. Now as a multimedia company and part of the larger Disney umbrella, it’s one of the primary sources of entertainment in the world. Aside from its comics, Cinematic Universe films and TV/streaming programs, Marvel has long delved into the video game market by licensing its characters and properties to various developers.
Now while many Marvel games have opted for a more adventure-sort kind of gameplay like the still-in-development Spider-Man PS4 game (the latest in the series using this open-world concept), one genre that’s quite famous for the brand has been the fighting game scene. In particular, the licensed fighters created by Capcom have been iconic for Marvel, and even as they continue expanding their fifth “Street Fighter” game, work has also proceeded apace for their latest crossover title, “Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite”.
Story sneak preview
Ever since Capcom began having their stable of game characters go head to head with Marvel Comics characters in “Marvel vs. Capcom”, they have done so with focus only on both solid gameplay and cool factor.
Not much is explained in the backstory as to how these various personages run into each other to do battle. While “MVC3” has taken steps to build the world in which the playable characters interact in, it’s only now in “MCVI” that efforts were made to include a “Story Mode” for the game.
To that end, Capcom has released a story trailer video to explain the circumstance behind this latest clash between characters of two companies. It depicts another unholy alliance of villains from the Marvel and Capcom universes, the genocidal android Ultron and the Maverick Reploid leader Sigma.
Exceeding Dr. Doom and Albert Wesker from “MVC3”, the two sentient machine baddies this time around seal their team-up by combining into Ultron Sigma, then establishing their base in Thor’s realm of Asgard by infecting everyone there with cyber-conversion viruses, leading to the heroes of two worlds to assemble and stop him.
Gameplay in action
A few days after the premiere of the “MVCI” story trailer, Capcom followed up with a preview of some of the gameplay elements of the new fighting game. Already established in previous teasers is the return to fighting matches between pairs of characters instead of threes like in “MVC2” and “3”. The trailer also elaborates on the new “Infinity Gem” game mechanic, which returns from the old “Marvel Superheroes” fighting game with a major revamp.
Finally, new playable characters have been teased in action during the fight scenes, such as Marvel’s Hawkeye and Thor, and Capcom’s Chun Li and Strider Hiryu, among others. “Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite” is looking at a September 13 release.