Review: Marvel Vs Capcom 2 (360)
First of all let’s get one thing straight. There’s no Easy mode in this game. When you click on Arcade you see the difficulties and Easy is there, but in a normal game it would be labelled Hard. Before we get the inevitable “you suck at games” post on the forums though, we need to point out that we represent the average gamer. We had no trouble dispatching Seth in Street Fighter IV, even doing it with no continues on Normal (Achievement Unlocked). Marvel Vs Capcom 2 is on another level. Whether you want to argue against it or not this is a balancing issue. Why can’t they actually have a game where Easy means just that? Something for those who don’t practice night after night in the training modes. Then have the Hard and Super Hard for the truly hardcore who learn the intricate details of each character down to the 200 hit combos.
In single player, the game is almost impenetrable for those that didn’t grow up with fighters, then if you manage it you’ll meet the final boss. For some reason Capcom find it impossible to make a decent endgame encounter. The last one we can remember was M.Bison in Street Fighter 2. The main problem is the final bosses seem to throw away everything you’ve learned thus far. Bison was pretty much just a normal character and you could fight him just like that. With other bosses since then you have to resort to cheap tactics and spamming the same move over and over again. The boss in MVC2 comes in three forms, first is a bog standard robotic giant who you can just batter to death with strong attacks, then he turns into a man made of green liquid who it’s impossible to get close too (make sure you have someone whose good with projectiles otherwise there’s no point) and thirdly it turns into a giant dog who can destroy your energy bar if you’re not careful. It’s a frustrating experience, and good luck achievement fans, because if you want the single player ones then you’ll have to complete the game multiple times without using a continue.
So far MVC2 is taking quite a big kicking, but every cloud has a silver lining. While the single player is a disappointment the game really comes alive against another player. Firstly we have the online side of things. Capcom made the almost perfect online mode with Street Fighter IV and MVC2 carries that on. Lag is almost non-existent, although it’s impossible to tell at times because everything’s moving so fast. A bug where the game freezes if your opponent quits has been reported (something happening all too often in 1v1 competitive games), but Gamestyle has yet to encounter this problem. We may be one of the lucky ones, or the problem could just be blown out of proportion. Either way it’s something that needs to be addressed with a possible patch.
As fun as playing against a faceless person is, getting people in the same room is the real way to experience this game. It’s the perfect party game. Grab some friends, some snacks, plenty of beer and you’re in for a great night. The combinations you can have with the fighters is enough to make you chuckle amongst yourselves. Megaman, Ryu and Wolverine vs. Strider, Gambit and Charlie isn’t the sort of fight you’d expect to see.
At the increasingly regular price point of 1200 points it’s hard to recommend Marvel Vs Capcom 2 to everyone. People who live, sleep and breathe fighting games will snap it straight up, others should be a bit more cautious. This isn’t the friendliest fighter around.
Rating: 7 / 10
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