September is approaching and Square Enix, together with Crystal Dynamics, has decided to accompany us in the wait for the release of Marvel's Avengers with appointments dedicated to revealing new details about its title. The War Tables are not events dedicated to gameplay only, but they give all-round information on the next title dedicated to the most powerful heroes on the planet. The first of these events took place this week and new aspects that were previously unclear about the title have already been revealed. The event lasted about 30 minutes and there was enough meat on the fire to make all the fans mouth water.
There is always a MODOK
The first minutes of the Avengers War Table were dedicated to a trailer that had the plot of the new title as its main focus. The narrator, which explains how the new status quo was reached, is none other than MODOK, the famous head of Advanced Mechanical Ideas (or AIM if you prefer). Its presence had already been revealed some time ago, at the time of the leak of the trophy and achievement list, but with this War Table its presence has been definitively confirmed. The Avengers in fact will have to face the very threat of AIM which, after A-Day, has practically replaced them and the SHIELD, exploiting the power vacuum and hiding its real plans behind a mask of false redemption and security. For those who know the Marvel paper world it is easy to grasp the various narrative cues that the developers have included in the game based on the comics sagas: Divided Avengers and Dark Reign above all. The basic principle, in our opinion, is not bad at all: mixing the narrative arcs, making the plot a soup of novelty and citations could prove to be a winning move, as long as it is not too obvious and predictable. The position of Kamala Khan (Miss Marvel) will be interesting: her character will surely find herself involved in a whirlwind of events and between the advent of the Inhumans, being an aspiring heroine and her teenage life will certainly not be easy to keep together. the pieces. It is no coincidence that both Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix have reiterated several times that we will see different events from his point of view. Kamala is certainly one of the characters with the most appeal for players, as it will be easier to recognize her, as the most “likely” heroine (pass the term), and number one fan of the Avengers. We hope that Crystal Dynamics makes good use of the opportunity.
Once an Avenger .. Always an Avenger
Following the deepening on the plot, a Hero Mission dedicated to Thor was shown. The Hero Missions will be nothing more than missions related to the main campaign where we will play the role of an Avenger in particular, without however depriving us of the possible collaboration of the other members of the group, guided by the AI. Leaving aside the fact that it is a pre-launch build (the animations of the explosions did not convince us very much), the mission in question, "Once an Avenger" (another quote), is certainly set in the initial stages of the title, ie when Thor he reunites with the group, returning to wield his trusty Mjolnir to clean up the AIM androids, accompanied by the Hulk. It goes without saying that for the God of Thunder the role played by his hammer of Uru, in the economy of the gameplay, is fundamental: through Mjolnir we will be able to perform unique and spectacular moves, totally different from those of the other heroes.
In fact, each of them will be equipped with its own moveset and its own fighting style, very faithful among other things to that of the comics, so much so that many techniques will be taken in weight from the paper version and re-proposed within the title. In addition, each of the Avengers will have various types of Hero Skills available. The latter are divided into three categories: Assault, Ultimate and Support. The first, Assault, will be one of the fastest to load so that it can be integrated within the combos, to chain its various charges with simple hits. These can also cause altered statuses to enemies, in such a way as to give us small advantages in the most excited moments of the fight, adding strategic depth to the clashes. Support skills, on the other hand, will enhance the abilities of heroes and allies, so they will become fundamental for team play, especially in cooperative missions. The Ultimate, on the other hand, will be the abilities with the highest cooldown ever, but which will cause damage not to be underestimated, as well as being graphically represented with sumptuous special effects. Thor, for example, will be able to invoke the Bifrost and overcome any type of barrier or armor, causing massive damage.
Avengers assemble!
All the Avengers will be customizable in all respects. Both graphically - by changing animations, skins and making them dress various costumes or by changing their looks (the Green Scar! -Ndr) that we will earn by completing specific missions or some objectives - and from a gameplay point of view. Iron Man, Hulk & co. they will be equipped with a specific skill tree for each of them and we will be able to make them grow by acquiring the skills that best suit our fighting style. Instead, with the Gear, which can be equipped by all heroes, we will be able to modify the effects of our attacks as well as enhance certain statistics. Some of these will be obtainable thanks to the War Zones missions, which will be possible to face both alone (always accompanied by the AI) and with other players. These missions will be obtainable both from the War Table (an interactive map inside the Avengers Helicarrier) and from other characters from the Marvel universe such as Nick Fury, Maria Hill and Jarvis. In the War Zones, as previously mentioned, team play will be fundamental which, if done properly, will allow us to carry out spectacular performances in combo with teammates. In addition, completing the missions will ensure that the Helicarrier is enhanced, from time to time, changing both aesthetically and functionally, giving space to new traders who will provide us with new Gear and perks.
Square Enix, Marvel and Crystal Dynamics have dropped some small ace with this first War Table. There are many positive notes but also doubts, which will certainly be clarified later, especially in terms of gameplay, in the animations and in the actual difficulty in the clashes. However, the insights are not over, as more War Tables will be organized before launch.
In the next War Table, clarity will be made on the new heroes that will be added, on the beta and on the launch, which we remember to be scheduled for September 4th. We just have to wait!
► Marvel's Avengers is an Adventure-Action type game developed by Crystal Dynamics Eidos Montréal and published by Square Enix for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Google Stadia, the video game was released on 04/09/2020
