Official_Xbox_Magazine_USA_Issue_202_July_2017

prEviEW
The first entry in the series appeared on PS1 back in 1998 (basically a millenium ago)
Marvel Vs
Capcom: Infinite
The spandex-sporting scrapper
looks to make some new
fighting fans
Dave meikleham
PublisheR CapCom DeveloPeR CapCom
FoRmat XboX one eta 2017
Top Brie Larson
will play Captain
Marvel on the big
screen. Expect
the game version
to kick ass.
aBovE Whale on
the avengers with
a deadly tagteam.
Beat-‘em-ups aren’t exactly famed
for being welcoming. Sure, the odd
inexperienced player can hold their
head above water by spamming
electricity attacks, but for most
people, the idea of nailing a 16-hit
juggle combo is akin to performing
heart surgery with a machete. That’s
all set to change with Capcom’s next
fighter. After the fiasco that was
Street Fighter V’s launch,Capcom
wants to make its hero-and-Hadoken
scrapper a game for the masses.
You’re making that face, aren’t
you? If you’re currently puffing up your
cheeks while balking at the notion
of Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite being
an overly accessible, dumbed-down
experience for morons… well, you
should take a couple of deep breaths.
Yes, Capcom is making its latest
combat crossover less intimidating for
newcomers. But that doesn’t mean
diehard beat-‘em-up purists are going
to be Hulk-smashed into oblivion by
someone who’s never played before.
Speaking to Stuart Turner, Capcom
Europe’s chief operating officer, he
stressed that eSports are at the
forefront of the company. “Fighting
games as a spectator event has huge
potential—the games are short, it’s
simple to grasp, the competitors
are highly skilled personalities, and
tournament upsets aren’t unusual,”
he says. Considering the ludicrously
lofty skills routinely displayed during
professional tournaments, it’s unlikely
Capcom will release a fighter that
eschews the sort of depth eSports
competitors and fans demand.
That said, Turner wants to make
beat-‘em-ups more popular outside of
“Infinity Stones
imbue fighters
with more power
and flexibility”
Japan, and one of the ways to entice
new fans to Infinite is by making the
virtual fisticuffs more accessible.
“Marvel Vs Capcom fits into this as a
great introduction to the genre as a
whole [as it’s] far more simplistic and
technically easier to pick up and play,”
says Turner. As such, a new ‘free-form’
tag system makes it easier to chain
combos between characters in the
two-on-two encounters.
The headline Infinity Stones will
also imbue fighters with added power
and flexibility. Capcom compares
the new feature to Capcom Vs SNK
2’s Groove system, and it hopes the
added customization options will
placate fans who are sore over Infinite
dropping the three-on-three battles
for tagteam four-character fights.
Mega Man down
Speaking of the adorable robotic dude,
Capcom’s icon is set to play a major
role. The publisher has confirmed the
plot centres primarily around the run
‘n gun hero, while Captain Marvel also
nabs a starring role. Capcom hasn’t
confirmed whether the Fox-owned
X-Men will appear alongside their
Disney compatriots, meaning the final
roster remains up in the air. Still, even
if Wolverine and co don’t make the
cut, this heroic scrapper could still
claw its way to success. n
035
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