Game Preview: 5 New Things You're Gonna Love About "Marvel vs. Capcom 3"

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MvC2 might have had more than 50 characters, but this time out is a much more focused experience. There are 32 characters, with four more to be unlocked through gameplay and at least two—Resident Evil's Jill Valentine and tentacled MvC3 favorite Shuma-Gorath—coming post-launch as DLC. (You can actually get immediate access to Jill and Shuma, as well as a T-shirt featuring Shuma and Tron Donne's Servbots from the Mega Man series, by pre-ordering the game through the Capcom Store.) And half of that roster is all-new characters, from Thor and Deadpool to Okami's Amateratsu. Culling the roster down so much was a drawn-out process: Capcom brought their suggestions, Marvel brought theirs, then Seth lobbied for some characters on behalf of fans, then a fourth pass weeded out characters who were either too similar (like Wolverine and Bone Wolverine in MvC2) or posed gameplay obstacles. For instance, Silver Surfer was headed toward being a character, until developers started realizing the downsides of combat—would he be hovering on his board, and as such have to punch downward in order to make contact? The upshot: No more Silver Surfer.

While previous games had something coming close to possibly resembling something that might be confused with a narrative, MvC3 offers far more than just head-to-head Vs. mode. Instead, developers recruited Marvel writer Frank Tieri (the guy on the right up there)—who's handled everything from Deadpool to Wolverine to Punisher Noir—to craft the overarching storyline, as well as separate scenarios, cameos, and endings for each and every character. So yes, that means Chris Redfield's story will feature different cameos and a different ending than, say, She-Hulks. Cameos range from minor characters like Mole-Man to bigger deals like Ghost Rider to...well, we can't say too much too soon. Suffice it to say that some very talented people have taken great pains to make the single-player campaign a rewarding and repeatable experience.

Not only did Tieri fashion a detailed story, but Marvel's Todd Jefferson (the guy on the left up there) and Chris Baker got involved in the name of fan service to make sure that character interactions and costumes would elicit as many ZOMG moments as possible from comics heads. So Captain America has an unlockable Punisher costume, since Frank Castle once became the new Captain America. Or say you've got X-23 and Wolverine on the same team. She knows him, so she'll call him "Logan." Or Deadpool (the guy in the middle up there), in his insane fourth-wall-breaking way, might meet Ryu and mention that Street Fighter is his favorite game. We're not even fanboys like that, but it was enough to make us react, so we can't even imagine how true heads might lose their minds.

You didn't think gameplay would be exactly the same, did you? MvC3 has air tags now for easier tag-ins and a better team experience overall. There's also the new X-Factor system, which promises to change MvC strategy as you think you know it.

Essentially, X-Factor is a mega-steroid: it gives you a power and speed boost, and even regenerates health. Any character can use it at any time, simply by pressing all four attack buttons at once—it'll even cancel whatever combo you're in a the time. But here's the catch: your team can only use it once per match. Not only that, but the X-Factor's benefits get better the worse off your team is. If you have all three team members active, the boost will only last seven or eight seconds; if one of your players is down, those boosts are doubled. And if you wait until you have only one player left, you enjoy a boost of around 20 seconds that's three times more powerful than the weakest X-Factor. The question, of course: when will you use it? If you burn it too soon, you won't have it when you need it—but if you desperately need it to finish off an opponent, you may not even get the chance to activate it before they combo you into submission.

One thing we hated about MvC2: jumping online, getting in a match, and then waiting for the other guy to select his team...and waiting...and waiting...and tearing our hair out and waiting some more. Enter MvC3's Reserve Units, three save slots that allow you to store teams that you enjoy playing with. Are Viewtiful Joe, She-Hulk, and Taskmaster your favorite trio, but every so often you like using M.O.D.O.K./Phoenix/Storm for a crazy elemental attack? Save both lineups and select as needed. Trust us, your opponents will thank you. They won't thank you for kicking their ass, but they'll appreciate that you were punctual about it.

There's no such thing these days as a game without an overhauled online component, and MvC3 follows suit. New game modes include something Seth fondly refers to as Ragequitter Hell: if your number of dropped games goes over a threshold, your online opponent pool becomes restricted to people JUST LIKE YOU. [Cue evil laugh and/or Twilight Zone music here.]

Oh, and there's stat-tracking now. Stat-tracking! All players get a "License Card" that keeps tabs on everything from success rate with various team lineups to combo usage. And no, we don't have a picture of it—but we do have a picture of C. Viper facing off against Storm! And seriously, which collection of figures would you rather imagine yourself in the middle of right now? Wait, don't answer that.