Life Is Just A Dream™

Nearly a decade in the making, the third installment of Capcom's wish fulfilment fighting series is finally upon us. The game in which the likes of Street Fighter's Ryu, Darkstalker's Morrigan and the supporting cast of the Megaman series face off against The X-Men, The Avenger's and everything in between.


Choose your reserve team...


The roster has always been the main draw and Capcom have excelled themselves once again with a great selection of fighters. There are some noticeable omissions (Cable, Venom, Megaman, M.Bison, Guile, Ken) but these are balanced out by some truly awesome newcomers like Dante from Devil May Cry and Marvel's resident 'merc with a mouth', Deadpool. Elsewhere, there is the mouth watering combination of Wesker and Chris Redfield who are satisfying despite there Resi 5 incarnations. All in all, MVC3's fighters are versatile and balanced, the leaner roster cutting out some of the recycled move sets found in the last game.




"Looks like it's sexy Vs. stylish."


The best thing about the Marvel Vs. Capcom games is it's painstaking attention to detail and flawless presentation. In terms of visuals and sound design, MVC3 represents the absolute pinnacle of the Capcom fighting experience; brash, colourful, smooth as the Silver Surfer's board.
Basically a high def polish of the Capcom Vs. Tatsunoko engine, the beautiful cel shaded visuals work great, adding a genuine comic book feel to the fisticuffs. The fighters themselves are pitch perfect representations of their modern incarnations and each one has a multitude of cool, often hilarious soundbites that make them a joy to play. Amidst all the cries of 'HULK SMASH!', 'UNI BEAM!' and 'WEB-SWING!', there's the cocky wisecracks of Dante, the pantomime villainy of Wesker and the sheer insanity of Deadpool, a character that, much like in the comics, players will either fall in love with or hate with a passion because he simply never shuts up (personally, I think he's hilarious and I love him). There is just so much going on that it's almost impossible not to be charmed, whether it's the familiar voices of the X-Men, the Downey Jnr sound alike Iron Man or the cute little howls of Ameterasu, if MVC3 is anything, it's a sumptuous feast for the eyes and ears.



"This is a hyper combo"


Of course, all the visual splendour in the world is for nought if the basic fight mechanics are garbage, luckily Capcom have crafted another solid fighter that's appealing to newcomers and pros alike.
Again taking cues from the Wii-based Tatsunoko crossover, MVC3 features simple gradient attack buttons and one special button, as oppose to the limb based layout of standard fighters. It seems like child's play at first, with many of the flashier moves and simpler combos being pulled off with the greatest of ease, but there is a depth present that is so hidden that many wont notice it, there are some punishing combos in every fighters moves list that require real skill to pull off.
A controversial choice from Capcom is the inclusion of a simpler control system alongside the standard inputs. Put simply, with the 'simple' controls enabled, it's possible for a brain damaged chimpanzee to take down Galactus with some non-descript mashes of the controller. It's a feature that will be relatively useless to all but the most inexperienced and casual of players but it's presence at least adds an element of variety that is sorely lacking elsewhere...



"You saved the earth..."


Capcom's last major beat em up title was Super Street Fighter IV and while this was a seemingly robust package, it lacked a lot of modes and features (survival, time attack etc.) that have become par for the course in the beat em up genre and sadly, Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 has even less content than SSFIV. Solo players have the brief but challenging arcade mode to clear and a collection of missions (similar to SFIV's trial modes), but that's about it. Multiplayer meanwhile, offers straight up versus which, at this early stage, is let down by frequent matchmaking issues.

Overall, Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 is a spectacular experience, with excellent presentation and bucket loads of fan service, it's a game as enjoyable to watch as it is to play. Unfortunately, the game has a sting in it's tail in the form of its threadbare content, something that Capcom will hopefully remedy in the future, otherwise is hard to see MVC3 enduring as long as it's predecessor  

 

This generation has produced some truly great racers, with Burnout Paradise pioneering DLC with it's generous helpings of free content and Project Gothams 3 and 4 perfecting arcade thrills. More recently, the likes of Blur and Split Second have mixed things up by grafting on characteristics from other genres to creating interesting hybrids. Yet despite the over abundance of choice, race fans are always expenctant of what the simulation racer will produce next and late 2010 saw the release of 2 genre behemouths, Forza 3 and GT5. Inherint hostility between console format fans being the way it is, it's only fitting that we take a look at both of these flagship titles and how they hold up against each other.

DEAD SPACE 2 - OFFICIAL SITE

EA SITE

DEAD SPACE 2

Back in 2008, EA made a solemn promise that they would strive to improve the overall quality of their output, changing the face of the studio from a factory line of sports franchises and mediocrity, to a beacon for solid gaming. One of the first titles to be released in the wake of this announcement was Visceral games’ Dead Space, an immensely enjoyable and atmospheric survival horror that, despite being a Frankenstein of other games of it’s ilk, managed to have a unique identity all it’s own.

Now comes the inevitable sequel, in which Visceral and EA attempt to emulate the critical and commercial success of their golden goose. An attempt, I’m happy to report, that has been wholly successful. Dead Space 2 doesn’t make any dramatic changes to the formula that made the first game so successful, it just refines it and grafts on some extra meat to create a stunning and robust sequel.

STORY

Dead Space 2 kicks off 3 years after the events of the first game, with the player cast once again as the engineer turned necromorph exterminator Isaac Clarke. The most surprising thing about the games opening moments is the sight of Isaac’s tired visage and the sound of his gruff voice. These were things kept from us during the entirety of our spell on the Ishimura and it feels good to think of Isaac as something other than the guy in the armoured space suit.

A frantic opening (featuring Isaac trussed up in a straightjacket) throws us into another necromorph outbreak, this time on the Sprawl, a gigantic colony orbiting Saturn. Dazed and confused, Isaac soon comes into contact with would be saviour Daina and escaped mentalist Stross who both attempt to influence his path through the sprawl. The games opening chapters play out in much the same way as the first game; tight corridors, faulty illumination, random necromorph attacks, but things soon escalate as Isaac is tasked with tracking down another marker and stopping the spread of the infestation, all the while fending off the attentions of the necro horde, the Church of Unitology and Isaac’s dead girlfriend. There are twists and turns aplenty and in the tradition of modern horror, most characters are dispatched shortly after they’re introduced, leaving the player consistently alone in the dark. The story mode is hugely enjoyable throughout and it’s an added bonus that Visceral leave breathing room for a third instalment (given the sheer size of the Sprawl, a whole franchise could be borne of this location).

VISUALS & SOUND

About 90% of Dead Space’s success comes from it’s wonderful atmosphere, this is achieved through the use of some fiendish environmental design and brilliantly cinematic sound. The constant sense of foreboding and dread is almost palpable and throughout Dead Space 2’s single player story, this tension never lets up.

Well executed jump scares punctuate your journey through the sprawl, monitors suddenly flutter to life, steam pipes explode, sprinkler systems spring to life and shadows flit in front of Isaac as he creeps around this doomed metropolis. The sound suite is equally important in crafting the scares, whether it’s the terrifying moans of the enemy, bloodcurdling screams of ill fated sprawl residents or the deafening silence of deep space, Dead Space 2 is a full on sensory assault.

The biggest improvement of this sequel is the dramatic change in setting, re-locating the action from a claustrophobic spaceship to a heavily populated cityscape. Cluttered plazas, shopping centres, toy stores, creepy churches, even creepier nursery schools, the Sprawl’s horrors are all the more effective because they are grounded in reality (some of the more unsettling sequences see Isaac raiding deserted apartments). There is no big graphical leap in DS2 but it does present a finer version of Visceral’s engine, with some spectacular QuickTime events occurring during boss battles and the frequent hull breaches that showcase some impressive particle effects. Overall, Dead Space 2 is a great looking game and a definite visual highlight of this generation.

GAMEPLAY

With it’s tight over the shoulder perspective and stop-start gunplay lifted straight from games like Resident Evil 4, the first Dead Space game utilised some solid survival horror tenets and the ability to hack the limbs off the blood-thirsty abominations attacking you was a unique mechanic, luckily that system is still in place for the sequel. Elsewhere, the series trademark cinematic set pieces are here in force, swapping out slow burn horror for blockbuster thrills, these scenes are exhilarating and OTT. Ranging from a teeth rattling train crash that leaves our hero hanging upside down, to a brawl with a giant necromorph on the side of a gunship, these action beats are a great reprieve from all that corridor creeping.

This time around the pacing isn’t affected by needless backtracking, Isaac is rarely in the same location twice and all puzzles are situated in close proximity (although, as before, there are some large scale conundrums out in the cold of space).

Isaac has undergone some slight modifications to his repertoire that make the action different enough to not be a complete retread. The engineer can now actually engineer, with some hacking mini-games calling upon Isaac’s unique skill set and his anti-gravity abilities are no longer restricted to surface to surface jumps, now there are boosters on Isaac’s suit, meaning he can float freely and, on occasion, go all Iron Man on our ass and jet through space at ridiculous speeds (don’t engineers have safety regulations in the future?). New enemy types are numerous and terrifying, Isaac is now plagued by grotesque child necros, crafty stalkers that hide from him before rushing in for the kill, and exploding babies….yes, you read that right. There is also returning enemy models from the previous game and a smattering of chunky boss battles. It’s a varied rogue’s gallery, meaning there is always something new waiting around a corner to scare the hell out of you.

MULTIPLAYER

Much like 2010’s Bioshock sequel, Dead Space 2 contains an online multiplayer that is arguably not needed. It seems to be the trend these days to shoe horn multiplayer into every release, either to earn those extra DLC dollars or simply to extend the life of the product in question. This may be the case with Visceral/EA including multiplayer in DS2, but what is here is enjoyable enough. Structured somewhere in between Left 4 Dead and species mash-ups like Alien Vs. Predator.

Humans take part in an objective based skirmish on a healthy selection of claustrophobic maps and the necromorphs run around trying to eviscerate them. The first few hours of Dead Space multiplayer can be thoroughly enjoyable, a squad of humans that stick together can hold their own while strategically placed spawn points and secondary abilities help the necromorphs counter the space age weaponry.

At this early stage the action seems a little imbalanced in favour of the necros, mainly because their numbers are bolstered by AI enemies that spawn constantly, making it messy and confusing for a human to get a bead on a player controlled beastie. Humans do get the firepower however, as well as their stasis abilities and a handy team heal that can turn the tide in a pinch.

The atmosphere of the single player translates well to the multiplayer, it’s a nerve wracking experience being separated from your squad mates, and human controlled necros are a frightening concept. Controlling the mutated freaks is awkward at first, but the difficulty curve is forgiving. Each necromorph has an individual skill, casting 4 enemy models in different generic MP roles like melle, speed, ranged and stealth although it’s often far too tempting to wait 5 seconds and respawn as a Slasher, a class with balanced abilities.

Overall, the multiplayer doesn’t feel as tacked on as certain online modes (Bioshock 2, im looking at you!), but it may be unlikely that unlock able suits and weapons will keep players coming back to it, perhaps some extra maps, modes and character will arrive via DLC.

VERDICT

Dead Space 2’s single player is a spectacular experience, dripping with atmosphere and supported by sky high production values, Isaac Clarke’s second adventure is the best survival horror of this generation. Multiplayer is an interesting curio, enjoyable enough and well executed, by interest in this 3rd person L4D clone soon wanes.

That aside, Visceral has put together a generous package, with extra difficulty modes and a new game + that encourages further play, gamers will be poking around in the claustrophobic corridors of the Sprawl until the inevitable third instalment arrives.

REVIEWED BY: