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Practically since Marvel’s Avengers beta, there have been datamines and character leaks that would come into the game as DLC. While this information should be taken with a grain of salt, there is an overabundance of circumstantial evidence on some of these traits that are hard to ignore. These characters, basically, pose a fundamental problem with Marvel’s Avengers.
It’s no secret that this first game in the legendary Avengers Project didn’t land as planned, so Square Enix intends to “save” Marvel’s Avengers with the DLC. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it could really invigorate the game with new villains to face, new styles of missions, and more. It wouldn’t be the first game that required a Redemption Arc, but based on the aforementioned leaks, it could be that a big issue with the game is only exacerbated by the DLC, and not resolved.
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The basic Brawler problem
Eliminate loot issues, items designed around, service items, etc. Marvel’s Avengers is a brawler to the core. Those who criticize its gameplay likely find a problem with this design itself. That’s not to say brawler games are bad, but they’re hard to do. Regardless of player choice, be it Captain America or Iron Man, the basic combat mechanics are the same. There are light and heavy attacks, as well as some basic abilities, and that’s about it.
Where its key in a brawler is not necessarily to avoid design similarities, but to make these characters (flavor and the like) stand out. Iron Man reasonably shouldn’t play as Captain America, The Hulk shouldn’t reasonably play as Thor, and so on. Whether or not the game succeeds in this area is an entirely subjective point, as players are likely to develop their favorite character not just on the basis of a Marvel’s Avengers list of levels, but on their favorite playstyle and probably the favorite Marvel character in general. This is where DLC characters could potentially become a problem.
Marvel’s Avengers DLC character rumors or leaks
So far, there have basically only been three confirmed DLC characters: Hawkeye (Kate Bishop), Hawkeye (Clint Barton) and the PlayStation exclusive Spider-Man for Marvel’s Avengers. That’s quite a situation in itself, as it’s weird to limit the DLC to a specific platform when the game is in desperate need of a revitalization, but that’s not really all. Based on some leaks, datamines, and rumors, which means that any of these characters may be cut, changed, or never included, the potential lineup of DLC looks like this:
- The ant Man
- Black Panther
- Captain Marvel
- Doctor Strange
- Falcon
- Mar-Vell
- Mocking bird
- Tremor
- Scarlet witch
- She-Hulk *
- Spider woman
- Vision
- War machine*
- Wasp
- Winter soldier
* These Marvel’s Avengers character fled alongside Kate Bishop.
While the jury is still out on the accuracy of these characters, even assuming only half of them are true from a distance, that’s still a big deal. As a brawler, making the repetitive gameplay unique should be a key element. Otherwise, the characters may not feel so different and therefore are less fun. Examining this list with this in mind highlights many issues: many of these characters are essentially clones of others. While, yes, it’s interesting to see under-represented characters like Mar-Vell, Quake, and She-Hulk gaining attention, the big question is how those who are clones will play differently from their counterparts and there is there is enough difference.
For example, She-Hulk and Hulk are two versions of the Big Green Thing, while War Machine has lasers, maybe more guns, but still has a powered suit like Iron Man. Additionally, this issue is not limited to the launch character versus the DLC character, but within the DLC characters themselves. Just as some might wonder how Kate Bishop’s Hawkeye will be different from Clint Barton’s, the same question must be asked about Ant-Man and the Wasp (two heroes whose main superpowers use particles of Pym to reduce), how Doctor Strange’s use of magic will differ from Scarlet Witch, and how Spider-Woman’s web will differ from Spider-Man’s.
That’s not to say that there aren’t some fundamental differences between these characters. Of course there are; the Marvel universe uses them and can create interesting stories from a variety of mediums. The question here is how Crystal Dyanmics can make these characters stand out in one particular medium: a brawler video game.
Marvel’s Avengers: Brawlers + Clones = Not good
To dig deeper into this, one has to ask, for example, how She-Hulk will not be just a towering tank capable of hitting multiple enemies with his Hulk-like feats of strength. Ignoring even light and heavy attacks, which seems impossible to really differentiate beyond the various basic moves and styles, how do their abilities like the heroic ability differ enough to really matter? Of course, it’s doubtful She-Hulk would give the same clap as the Hulk did, but if her body slams, jumps, or something, will it be different enough to matter?
The same goes for each character mentioned above: will they be different enough to matter? The wasp can usually fly, which is a point for her, but will that make her different from Ant-Man or make her better? Clint Barton will likely use different attacks, different styles of arrows, and maybe even include Lucky in his layout, but a Hawkeye by any other name or combat mechanic is still Hawkeye. While his physical abilities are very different from most versions of Spider-Man, these two characters will likely go hand-to-hand and still move via web-slinging, and therefore, a Spider-Verse character is one. Spider-Verse character by any other name.
Again, in other media this is usually not a problem. For the story of Marvel’s AvengersThis probably won’t be a problem, but when it comes to breaking new ground on core gameplay mechanics, Crystal Dynamics really needs to hit that sweet spot, lest the game continue to be the same.
Marvel’s Avengers is out now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in the works.
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