If you haven't guessed yet, I like comic books. In all honesty, I spend a frankly ludicrous amount of money on them, considering my comparatively miniscule income (and other obsession-induced spending trends), and that money invariably spreads to include movie adaptations- no matter how critically panned- and video games. And this week, to celebrate the bountiful awesomeness of
Marvel v Capcom 3 (and because I think it was a shame we couldn't get hold of a pre-release copy for review), I got my paws on the game (somehow managed to get a copy to rent!), and
Iron Man from my local Blockbuster (wasn't going to argue with
both plus snacks for £5), put my underpants on over my trousers, and set about basking in some comic book pugulism awesomeness in the comfort of my one home, with some fellow gamers in tow. Staying in is after all the new going out- plus the hangovers hurt less. In most cases, games adapted from comics never meet their potential- particularly those attached to tent-pole movie releases (a case in point- Iron Man, which sucked so painfully it should be stricken from the record), but one franchise has continually wowed since its inception. It may have been ten long years since the last installment, but the latest Marvel v Capcom (number 3 if you're counting), but as far as I was concerned those ten years were filled with excitement for the next release, rather than barren grief, because MvC2 had such playable longevity that it actually extended the life of the console it was released on by some way.
The second instalment was the game that turned me from casual combat gamer and frenetic, untactical button basher, to a measured fighter with supreme finesse and the ability to pull off special moves on purpose (by my own qualification of course). Still get beat every time by first-timers though. So the long-awaited prospect of working on my thumb callouses again for a third outing was met with the same excitement that is now filling me in anticipation of
Batman: Arkham City. Aesthetically, you'd be hard pressed to find any other game that looks this good: with the high frequency of special moves and combos- something I initially found infuriatingly complex to pick up with Super Street Fighter IV- there are a lot of wow moments during each fight. It's like visual nectar, with Capcom finding the perfect balance between realistic looking characters and backgrounds and bat-shit zany, hyper-active visual effects.
There are thankfully a multitude of game modes, which extends the game's appeal well beyond the simple Player v Player fighter- a limitation that I thought would kill this type of game when the nest level of console gaming arrived with the PS3 and XBox 360. Every one of them offers ample entertainment when playing alone, though the Practice Mode runs out of appeal pretty sharpish unless you're looking to crack Special Moves or combos- but then I always saw that as somehow cheating, akin to looking up how to do specific moves in the Options Menu of former games. The control system is a little too easy, which is clearly an attempt to appeal to more casual gamers (especially appropriate given the wider penetration this game is likely to get) which means the ceiling is a little low if you're a pro looking to be really challenged, but it does allow for more entertaining mass multiplayer tournaments like the one I staged, with a far more level playing field. It also helps the addict-appeal: I found myself going off SSFIV because of its control complexities, and while I'm not advocating a return to combo-heavy fighters like Killer Instinct that require no technique at all to rack up improbably high combo numbers, it does help a game's shelf-life for me if it doesn't leave me tearing my hair out at not being able to put a simple 10-hit-combo together.
My one other issue with the game is the character range- the starting roll-call of playable characters is 38, which is admittedly a sizeable number, but in relation to its predecessor, which had 50, it comes up a little short. And among the 38 there's no sign of Gambit, who would probably get into my top three character choices every time, so it's really just a personal gripe. Rather than spend £40 on the game (which I will inevitably do when waiting for the price to drop below my "that's reasonable" threshold proves utterly fruitless) I actually just borrowed it, as I say- along with Iron Man (makes sense to match Marvel with Marvel) and some snacks that I didn't get to enjoy any of (thanks friends!) from Blockbusters on their
T-Mobile 5 for £5 offer. It works out to be ridiculous value, given the amount I played MvC3 over the two nights I had it, but the quality of the game is such that I have now gone and bought it anyway, and I would urge combat game fans to do likewise without hesitation.
A good time was had by all, though apparently I am a "Hitler-like host" for forcing my guests to watch Iron Man before I would allow them to play MvC3. But as far as I'm concerned if they can't appreciate the nuances of theme night hosting, then it's their inadequacy, and I shouldn't be lambasted for suggesting that it was necessary to "enjoy Robert Downey Junior's strong on-screen whiskers skills" to really appreciate the depth of the Iron Man character in the game. And besides, the bastards ate all my popcorn. To fit in with our usual review format, here's the break-down: