Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics held a special 'War Table' reveal event for the upcoming Marvel's Avengers, revealing new details about what players can expect from the full game alongside new gameplay. Previously described as a Destiny-style online multiplayer game, the new stream offered a look at story missions, multiplayer, the new hub world, dozens of new hero costumes from decades of comics, and a small tease at the game's post-launch support. After years of not knowing what the game was, Marvel's Avengers has given players answer after answer, putting the game on many's radar.
All-New Original Story
Developed by Crystal Dynamics, best known for Tomb Raider (2013) and Rise of the Tomb Raider, Marvel's Avengers tells an all-new original story set after a devastating event that led to the death of Captain America and the end of the team. Heroes have since been outlawed, including the likes of Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Black Widow. Yet when Ms. Marvel learns that A.I.M. and supervillain MODOK are experimenting on Inhumans, creating an army of robots called Adaptoids, and actually set up The Avengers, she leaves San Francisco to find Earth's Mightiest Heroes and bring the team back together. These villains have been known about for a little while now; however, this is the first time the developer has properly shown them off and talked about their role in the main story.
Hero Missions & Warzones Missions
To face off against villains like MODOK, A.I.M., Taskmaster, and Abomination, Marvel's Avengers has multiple types of missions that can all be played entirely solo or with friends. Hero Missions are the name of campaign missions and will advance the games main storyline, and are single-player missions that cannot be played in coop (seemingly). Hero Missions will sometimes require a specific hero to be played; a Thor Hero Mission was shown during the stream, for example. These also have difficulty settings that require players to reach a certain level and have a unique type of challenge called 'Assignments.' On the other hand, there are Warzone Missions which can be played either solo or in a group with up to four players, and players can expect to see co-op skills and more here.
Players will also have a central hub world called the Chimera - which houses a handful of different vendors for new gear and can be leveled up throughout the story. Using the Chimera's War Table, players can select a specific region such as the Helicarrier, Easter Seaboard, or Utah Badlands, and then choose a Warzone mission, each with their own objectives, challenges and rewards. All missions are grounded in story and are given out by fan-favorites like JARVIS, Maria Hill, Hank Pym, Nick Fury, and more.
Move Sets, Heroic Moves & Finishers
In Marvel's Avengers, combat can be customized to the same degree as cosmetics, allowing players to tailor the game to their own unique playstyle. Each of the core heroes will have basic light and heavy attacks called Primary Attacks, as well as more advanced signature attacks that are specific to that hero called Specialty Attacks. For example, Thor can unlock new skills and gain access to moves like Hammer Spin for close-quarters or Manual Targeting for distance, allowing Thor to lock-on to multiple enemies when throwing Mjolnir.
Similar to Supers from Destiny 2, heroes also have Heroic Moves that are obtained by using light and heavy attacks to build up the heroic meter, and come in three types: Assualt, Support, and Ultimate. Black Widow's Assault Heroic gave her electric shock projectiles like she has in Avengers: Age of Ultron; Thor's Support Heroic called in bolts of lightning that weakened enemies and made nearby heroes temporarily overcharged and invincible; and Thor's Ultimate Heroic called in the Bifrost bridge, allowing him to teleport to a new location and do maximum damage which ended up destroying an unbreakable enemy shield.
Gear, Perks, and Artifacts
While combat covers melee, ranged, aerial, and ground moves, and skill points allow players to unlock new moves, combos, and attack upgrades, there's also a whole lot more customization on offer with gear, perks, and artifacts. Like all looter-shooter type games, Marvel's Avengers has its own loot in the form of gear and uses a familiar color-coded rarity system. Different pieces of gear will have different sets of perks as well, offering offensive and defensive buffs, special damage types like plasma or gamma, and status effects like Ant-Man's Pym damage that means Iron Man can shrink enemies with his repulsor canon. Unfortunately, the Artifact system wasn't discussed in detail but its at least one more system of customization to make sure that no two Captain Americas or Iron Mans will ever play the same way.
Look Good, Play Good
One thing that's been heavily advertised from the very start was character customization, allowing players to dress up their heroes in different costumes from the character's history in the comics. Just like gear and skills, each hero has dozen of unique outfits to unlock including Iron Man's Original Sin armor, Iron Man's 'Invincible' armor, Thor's 'Donald Blake' alter ego street clothes, and Hulk's 'Joe Fixit' outfit, which is essentially Grey Hulk dressed in a Mafia suit and tie.
Players will be able to customize their characters in a couple of other unique ways outside of the heroes outfit. Other forms of cosmetic customization shown in the reveal included Emotes and name plates, similar to Call of Duty's title system. Cosmetic items such as outfits, emotes, and name plates can be obtained as loot drops, from leveling up heroes, through completing specific missions within the story, or through the in-game store as a microtransaction.
Post-Launch Support
At the end of the stream, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics re-affirmed that Marvel's Avengers' post-launch content will be free to all players. So far, that includes new story content, new regions to explore, and most importantly, brand new playable heroes that will expand the launch roster. Although nothing specific was announced, it was confirmed that additional details will follow in the coming months for the upcoming public beta, as well as the first post-launch Marvel hero, Ant-Man.
Earlier this week, Crystal Dynamics confirmed that Marvel's Avengers will be coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and that a free upgrade will be available at launch, promising technical enhancements such 4K graphics and 60 FPS gameplay on the next-gen consoles. For those that are looking to pick up the game when it released in September, here's a complete list for every Marvel's Avengers pre-order bonus and special edition currently available for purchase. After all, this War Table stream may have convinced many to do just that.
Marvel’s Avengers releases for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One on September 4, 2020. PS5 and Xbox Series X versions are in development.
