At PAX West 2019 this past weekend, I had the opportunity to play Marvel’s Avengers and learned more about what to expect in the full release next May. I played the opening level showed off at E3 which was designed to ease players into the game as controlling each of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. 

Hands-On with Avengers

I won’t linger on details that you’ve seen already but will tell you that Thor and Cap were my favorites coming from the demo. My tendency is to be more ground and combo heavy in fights and the worthy two were best with that in mind. From throwing Mjolnir to Captain America’s shield and following up with a finisher was certainly fun in sequence. Iron Man felt particularly difficult to maneuver with the verticality in mind, it felt a bit tricky moving around the confined space and as enemies could attack you both high and low. This was no problem in the more on-rail segments as you could just focus on the shooting in general. Hulk, as you might expect, controls like a tank. Maneuvering as so, picking up enemies and doing the “Hulk Smash” thing was rather cool. Lastly, playing as Black Widow during the Taskmaster boss fight gave me a good sense of her abilities like invisibility as well as being able to counter with quick timed reactions. 

What it means to play an original Avengers story

I sat down Scott Amos, Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics, after the hands-on demo to learn more about the story and what to expect from the gameplay when Marvel’s Avengers releases May 15, 2020. The original story takes place after the destruction of a helicarrier and part of San Francisco on A-Day, resulting in the Avengers to be disbanded. A shadowy group called AIM comes to power in a future where superheroes are outlawed and synthoid A.I. takes their place. The story theme follows the redemption of the Avengers. Cap’s dead. The rest are broken and it’s up to the player to assemble the pieces. Crystal Dynamics and Marvel are no strangers to storytelling and living through the “authenticity” message, the opening moment of the game is just a sampler to the wider game which will feature bigger environments and ultimately more choices.

How you play Avengers

Diving into the gameplay, the player’s base of operations take place in a reclaimed Helicarrier where single and co-op missions are launched from the “war table.” Hero missions are the “traditional” story campaign and focus on a specific hero for each mission. This acts as a jumping point to unlock Warzone missions where you can play cooperatively with friends. Warzone is where you can acquire better gear, alternative costumes, and it’s up to the player to choose what objective they like. Alternative costumes such as Original Sin Iron Man and Joe Fixit Hulk were shown off here. Gear, skills, and perks comprise the progression behind Avengers. The rarity of the gear ties into the mission difficulty. Those who complete the hardest missions are rewarded with better gear and perks. Skill trees also get into the RPG aspects which are character unique. 

What the real meaning of #EmbraceYourPowers is

All of this sounds really familiar and you may be right. I’m hoping there’s enough there to both rewards and entice players to return given the passionate audience it aims to attract. Here’s where customization comes in. Distinguishing playstyles appear to the foundation for Avengers. One player can choose to play a melee-heavy Thor, while the other Heroic-focused. A lot of care for the source material and the collaboration between Marvel Entertainment and Crystal Dynamics and supporting studios appear to show. It’s the biggest title for Square Enix yet and expectations are high. 

After hands-on and the presentation, I’m curious to see how the rest of the Marvel’s Avengers unravels as it heads towards release. For additional information check out Spencer’s interview with Creative Director Noah Hughes from E3 2019.