The demo started off as it did in the E3 reveal trailer, with the opening mission during A-day, where the Avengers are celebrating the launch of their headquarters in San Francisco and not to mention their shiny new Helicarrier powered by an experimental energy source. Things start to go south when there are multiple explosions on the Golden Gate Bridge and the Avengers must spring into action to save the day.
Gameplay seamlessly transitioned from one Avenger to the next as the events of the story unfolded. Here is what we learned about each Avenger.
Thor
You begin the fight as Thor, landing on a bridge and surrounded by armed goons. His combat style is very similar to that of Kratos from God of War. Thor smashes through his foes with ease using his Mjolnir in hand to hand combat. He can also throw his hammer to pin enemies and even summon it back during mid-combo to keep the action going.
The action slows to a crawl and Thor is given time to rescue a civilian trapped under a bus, and as he's lifting the vehicle he shouts the phrase, "Fear not because I am mighty."
Eventually, some shielded enemies will arrive and Thor unleashes a super move in the form of a massive shockwave blast knocking them all down. Things get even more intense when Thor supercharges himself as he does in Ragnarok and annihilates the enemies as lighting surges through his body from the sky.
Thor looks like an absolute beast with a wide array of abilities, combined with his massive strength will make using Mjolnir absolutely satisfying.
Iron Man
Gameplay for Iron Man immediately put him flying through the air on rails similar to Star Fox, chasing enemies on jet packs. Iron Man proceeds to land on the ground and engage in hand-to-hand combat on the ground by flying around throwing punches and kicks. He instantly takes off into the air and hovers around while firing repulsor beams at a nearby gunner on top of a bus, then finishes off the reaming ground enemies. His super move was unleashing a massive unibeam from his chest.
Even with all the rockets and lasers, Iron Man's gameplay seems a bit limited compared to the other Avengers.
Hulk
Soon after, massive sonic canons appear out of enemy trucks and immobilize Iron Man. We see Bruce Banner jump out of a jet and transform into the Hulk as he lands on the ground. Hulk's gameplay seemed less tactical and more about just causing havoc. He would smack enemies around like they were merely an action figure. He can even pick them up and use them as melee weapons or throw them clear across the map.
Hulk's movement, seems to be a lot about momentum. In a scene, we see the bridge begins to collapse, Hulk is then forced to almost parkour from one platform to another, while also wall running to boost speed and launch himself higher into the air, landing on a group of very unfortunate enemies with a loud and satisfying smash. Hulk's section seemed the most fun with a lot of destruction and chaos.
Captain America
The next scene switches to the Helicarrier, where we see Captain America being attacked by more goons. His combat seems very similar to the Batman: Arkham games and Marvel's Spider-Man on PS4, with a lot of quick and strong melee attacks that send enemies flying across the room. And of course, there was a lot of shield tossing, that seemed like it was controlling similar to Thor's hammer.
Another group of shielded enemies shows up and Cap slams his shield down and makes a giant shock wave making quick work of them.
Black Widow
The final section of the demo we see Black Widow take the stage and is confronted by the boss, Taskmaster. She jumps on Taskmaster and is taken for a wild ride all while the bridge begins to explode. The other Avengers are there just in time to catch a falling bus saving people from disaster. Meanwhile, a quick time event has Black Widow pummeling Taskmaster and evading his attacks.
After crashing to the ground, Black Widow is forced to take down Taskmaster. She is sporting dual pistols and some special electrified batons and very flashy martial arts moves. Her super move shows her wrapping her legs around his neck and does a flip that slams him on the ground. Taskmaster can mimic any move or counter he sees. Eventually, we see Black Widow use a stealth device to go invisible and sneak up on Taskmaster and finally take him out.
In the end, the entire mission was similar to watching a section of an actual Marvel movie. There where plenty of action and beautiful cinematics to go around.
View the trailer for Marvel's Avengers from E3 2019 below:
Although I still haven't gotten to play myself, Marvel's Avengers definitely looks like it can deliver my dreams of fighting evil as my favorite Avenger. Each Avenger felt like they were inspired by completely different games with similar melee combat but, no overpowered moves from what I saw. Experiencing many of their iconic moves in cinematic fashion was an absolute blast.
I am nearly in love with the cast of the MCU and while these new character designs are not my favorite, I am sure they will grow on me. It is refreshing to some of my favorite voice talents with the likes of Nolan North, Troy Baker, Travis Willingham, and Laura Bailey. I really enjoyed hearing them all act together as the Avengers.
There's not a lot of info right now about what this game is beyond the demo, so we will have to wait and see as more details get revealed in the coming months leading up to its release. Overall the demo was short but sweet and I can't wait to see more.
