Game Reviews

After a decade long hiatus, Capcom’s over the top fighting franchise is finally here, and if the long lines of gamers waiting for a chance to play the game at this year's E3 are any indication, it’s worth the wait. With a new graphics engine and a suite of new fighters, MvC3 looks like it will continue the franchise’s long standing record of excellence.What we’re talking about: This game needs little introduction: it’s the third installment in the acclaimed 2D fighting franchise that marries Marvel’s stable to superheroes to Capcom’s eclectic cast of brawlers for some insane three-on-three fighting action.Where we saw it: I got a hand’s on demo with Capcom’s Wes Phillips at the company’s booth on the E3 show floor. (I also got an awesome interview with producer Ryota Niitsuma, so look for that video to go up soon on GamePro.com.)

• There was only a limited demo with the following fighters available: Ryu, Captain America, Morrigan, Chris Redfield, Ironman, Hulk, Wolverine, Felicia, Dante from Devil May Cry, and Deadpool (woot!).
• The game uses the Resident Evil 5 engine, and features a look that strays away from the first two MvC titles’ cartoon-inspired visuals. Don’t worry though: the game looks great in action. It reminded me of Tatsunoko vs Capcom but a little different.The levels look great as well. I was too busy watching the action but the backgrounds have a lot of little visual touches that flesh out the arenas. But of course, the fighters are the real attraction, and although I miss the colorful models of MvC titles of the past, the new visual style is pretty cool in its own right.There are some new fighting mechanics in place and some tweaks have been made to the control scheme to compensate. One of the new features Wes showed me was the new tag team air combo move. You start an air combo with one character, then you can call in your team members to continue the chain. All you have to do is hit one button and you can start the juggle.