While I don’t normally consider myself a fighting game player, I certainly can’t pass up a chance to play anything that involves Megaman X, Zero and Dante just to name a few. Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite has done a great job of giving us a fun and fast paced fighter using some of their most beloved franchises. Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite is based on the terrible consequences of Ultron and Sigma fusing together using the Infinity Stones to create a new villain named Ultron Sigma who has merged the Capcom and Marvel worlds together in a bid to eradicate all organic life and transform everything and everyone into one of their Techno-Slaves. Obviously, our Heroes can’t just sit around and let that happen, so they put a plan into action to stop these maniacs, yet again. You have to fight your way through legions of Ultron drones and some notable bad guys to find the remaining Infinity Stones and use their power to fight back.
As with most fighting games, I use my keen skills of button-mashing to try and overcome any opponent I come across, and Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite is no different with how I approached it, but thanks to the new auto-combo system even I can pull off the flashy pro moves with ease. Instead of having to memorize a ton of sequences the game gives you what it calls “easy hyper combos” which are usually done with two or three button presses. To be fair, they are not nearly as strong as what you can pull off by doing an actual combo but it’s better than nothing for some people. Fighting is pretty straightforward with every character but then you’ve got some like Dante from the Devil May Cry series, who are quick and powerful but can go down pretty easily with a few mistimed assaults, and that’s when the Infinity Stones come into play.
The best stone to use for characters who can’t take a ton of damage for example is the Soul Stone because it will bring a character back after being knocked out, the Space Stone is good because it puts opponents into a little cube, and they can’t escape the area – great for characters who need to slow their opponents down before they can go all out. It’s definitely a change from the old 3V3 system to go to 2V2+stone each of your heroes can use.
Due to only being 2v2 the tag out system was vastly improved as well because now you can use it in the middle of a combo or almost at any point in time to bring your partner into the fray and depending on your timing one character will continue finishing his attack while the newly tagged-in hero can start a new combo immediately. Anyone who plays fighting games extensively is going to find amazing ways to use this system to just annihilate other players.
While the fighting itself is great I was slightly disappointed by the way the characters themselves look. Some just seem out of place entirely like Arthur from the “Ghosts N Goblins” franchise with his armor and stature, and I don’t mean thematically. I mean the art style itself and even coloring just seem off. I can’t complain too much because I can’t expect the creators to completely revamp and update each and every single character to fit in to what my expectations are.
While I think characters like Arthur seem off I thoroughly enjoy seeing them, and I certainly can’t say anything negative about the fight stages, as they are incredibly crisp and detailed and I’ve caught myself looking in the background of the stage more than the actual fighting going on (Thanks easy combo system!) and there were eye-popping visuals with locations such as Xgard Asgard from Thor and Able City from Megaman X and Valkanda Wakanda from Black Panther and Val Habar from Monster Hunter. There are some great fusions of some of the most popular locations from both Marvel and Capcom for you to really enjoy.
Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite has your basic story mode which, as I previously mentioned, has you combating enemies and watching our heroes attempt to thwart Ultron Sigma’s plan through cut scenes and pre-fight dialogue which ultimately end up with you fighting the big bad at the end in true final boss fashion, which even includes a form change! You can also take on individual missions in Mission Mode, which will help you unlock items such as Cutscenes, Character and stage information and audio tracks in the Dr. Light database.
Online matches are divided into casual and ranked play with a special league for anyone under rank 14 available because, let’s be honest, you know there are going to the “those guys” that are just going to stomp you repeatedly no matter what you do. As great as all these extra features are, the story mode took me all of 3.5 hours to complete with breaks in-between. What it doesn’t offer in length is made up with the extras and online battle system.
My final thoughts on Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite is this; enjoy the game for its characters, the online battles and mission mode. Don’t go in expecting a full-blown Injustice-style story ridden game and you should be satisfied. While some characters may seem a little off, most of the roster looks great and the stages more than make up for it visually. I’m thankful I got to see some of my favorite characters on a new console, but it really makes me wonder when the heck am I getting a new Megaman X game Capcom?!
