Virtually since the Marvel’s Avengers beta, there were datamines and licks of characters that would come to the game as DLC. Although this information should be taken with a grain of salt, there is an abundance of evidence about some of these characters that is hard to ignore. These characters form at their core a fundamental problem with Marvel’s Avengers.
It’s no secret that this first game in the legendary Avengers project did not go down well, and Square Enix plans to “save” Marvel’s Avengers with DLC. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it can make the game really new with new villains, new mission styles and more. This would not be the first game that needs a redemptive arc, but based on the above leaks, it could be that one major problem with the game is only exacerbated by DLC, not being solved.
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The core problem
To remove the problems with loot, the elements designed around it, the service elements, and more, Marvel’s Avengers is a fighting leader at its core. Those who are critical about its gameplay are likely to find the problem within this design itself. This is not to say that fighting games are bad, but it’s hard to get right. Regardless of who players choose, whether it’s Captain America or Iron Man, the core battles are the same. There’s a light and heavy attack, as well as some core abilities, and it’s about that.
Where the key in an argument is not necessarily the similarities in design, but that these characters (taste and otherwise) stand apart. Iron Man should reasonably not play like Captain America, The Hulk should not play like Thor, and so on and so forth. Whether the game succeeds in this or not is entirely a subjective point, as players are likely to develop their favorite character not just on the basis of a Marvel’s Avengers rankings, but on their favorite gameplay style and probably the favorite Marvel character in general. This is where the DLC characters could possibly become an issue.
Marvel’s Avengers Rumors or Leaking DLC Characters
So far, there have been basically only three confirmed DLC characters: Hawkeye (Kate Bishop), Hawkeye (Clint Barton) and the PlayStation-exclusive Spider-Man for Marvel’s Avengers. This in itself is a whole situation, as it feels strange to restrict DLC to a specific platform if the game needs a serious revival, but that’s not really all. Based on some leaks, databines and rumors, which means that any of these characters can be cut, changed or never included, the potential DLC series looks like this:
- Ant-Man
- Black panther
- Captain Marvel
- Doctor Strange
- Falcon
- Mar-vell
- Mockingbird
- Shaking
- Scarlet Witch
- She-Hulk *
- Spider Woman
- Vision
- War Machine *
- Wasp
- Winter Soldier
* This Marvel’s Avengers character leaked along with Kate Bishop.
Although the jury still wants to determine the accuracy of these characters, this is a big problem, even if the assumption is that only half of them at a distance are true. As a fighter, the most important element should be to make repetitive play feel unique. Otherwise, characters may not feel that different and it’s less fun. If you look at this list with this in mind, many problems are pointed out: many of these characters are essentially clones of others. While it’s interesting to see characters like Mar-Vell, Quake and She-Hulk get too little, the big question becomes how the clones will play differently than their counterparts and is there enough difference.
She-Hulk and Hulk, for example, 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. Furthermore, it is not a problem limited to the introduction of character versus DLC character, but within the DLC characters themselves. Just as some people ask how Kate Bishop’s Hawkeye will differ from Clint Barton, the same question should be asked about Ant-Man and the Wasp (two heroes who use the superpowers use Pym Particles to shrink), how Doctor Strange’s magic use differs from Scarlet Witch’s, and how Spider-Woman’s web pendulum will differ from Spider-Man’s.
This is not to say that there are no core differences in these characters. Of course there is; the Marvel universe makes use of this and can make interesting stories from different mediums. The question here is how Crystal Dyanmics can make these characters stand out in a particular medium: a warrior video game.
Marvel’s Avengers: Brawlers + Clones = Not Good
To dive deeper into this, for example, you need to ask how She-Hulk will not just be a tower capable of hitting multiple enemies with her strength that is just like Hulk. If you ignore even light and heavy attacks, which seem impossible to really distinguish between different movements and core styles, how do their abilities differ like the heroic ability enough to really matter? Sure, it’s doubtful that She-Hulk will do the same slap as Hulk, but if his body slaps, jumps, or something like that, will it be different enough to matter?
The same goes for each character mentioned above: will it be different to matter? Wasp can usually fly, which is a point for her, but will it differentiate her from Ant-Man or make her better? Clint Barton will likely use different attacks, different arrows, and maybe include Lucky in his layout as well, but a Hawkeye with a different name or fighting mechanic is still Hawkeye. Although her physical abilities are very different from most versions of Spider-Man, these two characters are likely to go hand in hand and move the same way on the internet and consequently a Spider-Verse character is a Spider-Verse character from any other name.
Again, in other mediums, this is usually not a problem. For the story told of Marvel’s Avengers, it’s probably not going to be a problem, but when it comes to innovating core game mechanics, Crystal Dynamics really needs to hit the sweet spot so the game does not stay the same anymore.
Marvel’s Avengers is now available for PC, PS4, Stadiums and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in the works.
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