Much to the surprise of fans, the first trailer for
Marvel's Avengers revealed that Captain America dies when the newly created Helicarrier explodes and takes most of San Francisco with it.
Now, Crystal Dynamics lead creative director and writer Shaun Escayg has revealed that showing that big moment was very much a deliberate decision and could lead to much bigger things down the line.
"Well, Cap went down with the ship," he says.
"The Avengers’ leader is Cap. The guy who always is logical, who always is able to bring this dysfunctional family together."
"Without him, how do they cope? This is part of the set up, part of the conflict. It's, to me, the most exciting part of the story. What do the Avengers do without their beloved Captain?"
Well, with it already confirmed that Captain America will be a playable character in the game, it doesn't seem as if his death will last for long. However, that may be a different version of Steve Rogers! "You'll understand more once you play the game," Escayg teased. "The Marvel universe is huge. Will it resolve in this game? Who knows. Is this something else? Who knows. The things that we draw from, it's so big. We can pull from multiverses at this point."
Wait, the Multiverse? That would certainly take this game in a very unexpected direction, and while the trailer didn't exactly reveal a huge amount beyond the basics, it sounds like it could head down a very surprising route.
On another note, the response to the costumes in Marvel's Avengers has not been good, but those of you hoping that they'll be redesigned may be disappointed. "We are always listening to, and welcome feedback from our community. There are currently no plans to change our character designs," Escayg confirmed, promising that character models, at least, will improve closer to launch.
How excited are you for the game?
Hit the "View List" button for more major details
revealed about Marvel's Avengers during E3!
There Will Be Online Multiplayer Too
While
Marvel's Avengers has what's described as a "cinematic" single-player campaign, there's also going to be a multiplayer component which will feature teams of four heroes coming together to embark on adventures together. Specifics have not been revealed, but this is presumably going to feature each player choosing an Avenger to take into battle against various A.I. enemies.
Apparently, new characters will be added on a regular basis (meaning we'll be able to play as more than just the five Avengers seen in the trailer) along with different maps. All of that will be free of charge, but there's bound to be some sort of money making component here. Perhaps we'll have to fork out for different costumes or powers? This isn't all we'll be getting for free, though...
A Narrative That's Released Over A Number Of Years
This is both exciting and a little concerning at the same time.
Just like the multiplayer side of the game will feature regularly updated content, so too will the campaign. It's said we can expect the narrative to be updated over multiple years on a regular basis. Sounds good, right? Well, the problem here is that it could also be an indication that the initial story will be extremely short and in need of updating as time passes in order to keep fans interested.
So, if you're not a fan of playing with others, you could find yourself blasting through the story in six hours and then left waiting for new levels to be released. That's just speculation for now, of course, but it is a very real possibility so we'll just have to wait and see.
Where's Hawkeye?
It's now clear that the game will focus on five of the six original Avengers, but that's led to some backlash online (and during the presentation itself) due to the apparent lack of Hawkeye.
Fans were disappointed when he wasn't given the screentime he deserved in the movies, so not including him in the game seems like a huge blunder on Square Enix's part. Perhaps he will be added somewhere down the line but the fact that he's not going to be part of the main storyline is definitely something of a let-down. Maybe his unique skill set was just too difficult to pull off in the game?
Terrigen Technology
Remember when Marvel Comics started having all their storylines revolve around the Inhumans? That ultimately backfired on them when sales dropped, the TV show flopped, and fans made it clear they wanted the X-Men and not pale imitations. Unfortunately,
Marvel's Avengers was being developed around this time and that could explain the origins of the energy source in the trailer.
In a clip showing an argument between Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, we learn that the "Terrigen reactor" was unstable when it exploded and destroyed a huge chunk of San Francisco and that's obviously a reference to the Terrigen Mists the Inhumans use. Will they be the game's villains? It seems possible, but regardless of their role, it will be interesting seeing if they help or hurt things.
Taskmaster
The trailer doesn't reveal the "horrific evil" that Earth's Mightiest Heroes will face in the game, but it's quite clearly Taskmaster who they come under attack from. It seems a little odd for him to appear here so soon after his fairly significant role in
Spider-Man, and we never learn just how important to this attack he actually is or whether it's purely a coincidence that he's there during this disaster.
Either way, it seems like we can look forward to taking him on while playing as Black Widow.
R.I.P. Captain America?
Captain America is supposed to be one of the game's playable characters, but it definitely appears as if he'll be killed off during the opening sequence. After all, he runs to that reactor just as it explodes and his teammates watch on, while Thor leaves his hammer sitting by an apparent memorial for Steve Rogers.
This means we'll only get to play as Captain America for a few minutes before he's taken off the board, unless, of course, he fakes his death or somehow returns. Getting to play as Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, and Black Widow is still exciting, but it would be a shame to think that Cap isn't included because figuring out the mechanics of his shield was too complicated for Square Enix. We'll see!
Iron Man In Space
One of the trailer's most noteworthy moments comes when we see Iron Man in space, and this appears to be an indication that we'll get to take Tony Stark above Earth's atmosphere for at least one level.
Once again, I can't help but wonder if
Marvel's Avengers will follow
Call of Duty in the sense that we'll get to play through impressive levels with huge set pieces that are sadly only a few minutes long!
Brief Gameplay Footage
We're still waiting to see the gameplay footage that played on the floor of E3, but there are some snippets in this trailer. It all looks pretty good and it seems as if cinematics will be used to portray the powers of Earth's Mightiest Heroes when you either smash through bad guys as The Hulk, or pull off impressive fight moves as characters like Captain America and Black Widow.
SEGA tried and failed to make good video games featuring Cap, Iron Man, and Thor, so it will be interesting to see whether Square Enix can pull that off. After all, making the God of Thunder feel suitably powerful and putting us in the repulsor boots of Tony Stark is going to be no easy feat for them.
The Voice Cast
An impressive roster of video game talent has been assembled for
Marvel's Avengers, as we can look forward to hearing Jeff Schine (Captain America), Travis Willingham (Thor), Troy Baker (Bruce Banner/ The Hulk), Laura Bailey (Black Widow), and Nolan North (Tony Stark/Iron Man).
They're obviously very different to the movie versions, but this game is based on the comics, something which has led to a surprising amount of disappointment over the past 24 hours.
Abomination
Black Widow is also shown battling a mysterious robot who it's hard to identify, but that is indeed Abomination who The Hulk is squaring off with. That has all the makings of a fun boss battle!
Beyond that, we don't know which other villains will make an appearance, and the game's "big bad" remains a mystery. Perhaps more details on that front will be revealed soon. Here's hoping.
Hank Pym
It appears as if one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game is going to be how much it delves into the wider Marvel Universe, and one brief clip reveals that we can look forward to meeting Hank Pym!
It seems he's perfected being able to use size-changing technology to deal with the robotic enemies the team will be facing, but what's not clear is whether he's a superhero at this point in time. After all, why would the heroes be so surprised that Ant-Man/Giant-Man can make things shrink?
The Release Date
There's no new
Avengers movie coming in 2020, but we can look forward to playing this game on May 20th! PlayStation 4 owners will get early access and exclusive content. However, it's still coming to the Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia, so Square Enix has all but Nintendo Switch owners covered (that would explain why that console has ended up getting
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 exclusively).
How excited are you guys for Marvel's Avengers? Do you need to find out more before putting your pre-order in? As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!