Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds

Since the late 90's, Street Fighter fans had been asking for a true sequel to one of the greatest and most successful fighting games in the industry. In 2009 Capcom answered the call with Street Fighter 4. Having successfully taken the series back to it's 2d roots, and familiar gameplay, the next obvious demand from fans was a sequel to arguably the more demanded, Marvel vs. Capcom series. For those of you living in a cave for the last two decades: Marvel Vs. Capcom is a team based fighter featuring popular characters from each universe. With the re-release of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on Xbox live and the Playstation network, an all new versus series exclusive to the Wii, it seemed a no brainer Capcom would follow suit with a new Marvel vs. Capcom. In 2010 the company once again answered the call with the announcement of Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of two worlds. Fans across the globe immediately began to day dream of seeing their favorite Marvel and Capcom heroes battle it out in all their high definition glory. Rest easy knowing Capcom has delivered not only a nostalgic trip back to the arcade days, but possibly a sure contender for fighting game of the year.

Gameplay 10

Those of you familiar with the series won't have much trouble picking up the controller and jumping right into the action. You'll soon feel like your on familiar turf. The game responds as smoothly if not smoother than you remember. You will however, notice the button remapping. The four kick and punch buttons have been removed and replaced with a four button low, medium, high and special button layout. Not only has the buttons been remapped, but swapping and calling in your teammates have turned into a single button press. Some veterans may not like the changes, but it makes sense and seems to give a more fluid feel to the action. Not only has Capcom changed the buttons around a bit, but they have also added a new ability called the X-factor. Down to your last teammate and think all hope is lost? Activate the X-Factor and not only does your character become faster, he/she also becomes stronger defensively and offensively. It's actually a really neat addition to the game, because not only can it turn a match around, it also serves as a cancel for some really crazy combos.

Despite the changes, this is still Marvel vs. Capcom at it's core. There's really nothing too new or groundbreaking for the series. The only gameplay mode available is the same as always, three on three battles. Despite this, MvC3 is as addictive and fun to play as ever. The characters are all well balanced and have their own feel to them, this is great as it encourages you to lean away from your normal three and experiment with some of the other characters. Speaking of characters, the roster has dropped down from 56 to 20 less to a mere 36. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. From the sacrifice we have gained some really great new characters like Xmen's Phoenix and Devil May Cry's Dante. However, I was a little disappointed not to see Venom or Mega man return. I was also hoping to see Ghost Rider and Carnage enter the series. Nevertheless, considering the amount of characters for each IP, it would be impossible to please everyone. With obvious DLC packs coming, I'm sure we will see more characters, as well as costumes for many months to come.

Graphics 9

MVC 3 is a visual treat. Seeing all these great characters battling it out in high def will have you awe struck. The art style seems to fit every character perfectly. You never get the sense that a particular character doesn't belong. Spiderman fighting Okami's Amaterasu fits as well as Iron Man fighting Wolverine. The art style blends the two universes together perfectly. Not only do the characters look great, the stages are also very vibrant and busy. It's also neat seeing different stages (although limited in number) based off the different worlds retrospective to particular characters. The visuals are great from the ground up, from the screen filling fireballs to the explosions. The face melting, on screen action never skips a visual beat.

Sound 7

Let's be honest here. MVC isn't exactly known for its outstanding music. Not much has changed. I don't know about you, but I got my feel of “Gonna take you for a ride” in MVC 2. I was slightly disappointed to still have to hear that song every time I play the game, but I'm guessing Capcom considers it the official MVC theme song. And no Capcom, the remix isn't any better than the original. But while I do have my gripes about the “theme song” the music during battle isn't too bad, its not all that spectacular on the ears, but it does serve it's purpose with a fast tempo to fit the speed of the game. The voice work for the characters were done pretty well. The voices sound about like you would expect from the series. All the fighting noises are good as well. Don't worry too much about the mediocre sound track, more than likely, you'll be so wrapped up in the action you won't notice anyway.

Replay Value 10

You will no doubt be spending some time with this game. With the numerous characters and abilities for each, there will be plenty to keep you occupied for some time. Given the fact that DLC will be released, it only adds to the value. And of course, what makes fighters of this generation so great is online multi-player. I've spent a bit of time online with the game, and with the exception of losing the host a couple of times, online play has been mostly smooth and lag free. One complaint I do have is when your in a lobby with your buddies, your forced to watch their health bars instead of the actual fight. This gets old really fast. I'm really hoping that somehow Capcom fixes this annoyance. But with this minor issue aside, with the mind blowing amount of characters you can combine for different teams and the staggering amount of combo's, MVC3 will keep you busy for months if not years to come.

Overall 9

If you're a fan of the series, you have no doubt already picked this up. If your on the fence about rent our buy; there is just no way you can experience what this game has to offer in a weekend. This team based fighting game delivers on nearly all fronts. This fighter is packing great characters, stellar gameplay and enough visual candy to more than make up for the price tag. The only thing missing is the arcade cabinet. Marvel Vs. Capcom: Fate of two worlds should not be passed up from fans of the series or from fans of the genre.