It’s hard to combine characters from wildly disparate sources into one epic story without things getting absurd. The Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite story demo’s strategy is to embrace the goofiness.
The story concept is cool. Two powerful mechanical beings, Marvel’s Ultron and Mega Man X villain Sigma, driven by their shared desire to rid their respective worlds of biological life, merge bodies and universes in order to get the job done. It’s a great idea, and it makes for a very cool visual.
It’s up to the combined forces of Marvel’s heroes and Capcom’s random characters from largely disconnected video game worlds to stop Ultron Sigma and foil his vile plan.
Granted this is a story mode demo, a sliver of a much larger tale, so it’s hard to say just how long all of the characters have been fighting side-by-side. Perhaps the merging of the worlds imparts some sort of familiarity that’s not explained in the 20 minute free download.
Even if that is the case, it doesn’t stop moments like Chun-Li and Captain Marvel teaming up to take down robot fodder any less awkward. As Carol flies in to join in Chun-Li’s fight, one can almost feel the giddy excitement of a fan bringing two of their favorite unrelated characters together for the first time.
Then Thor meets Sir Arthur.
Dante fights side-by-side with Hawkeye, keeping a running count of fallen foes. Then Rocket Raccoon shows up. He’s out of ammo and asks his pal Dante for some help.
Being such good friends, Dante tosses Rocket his pistols, Ebony and Ivory.
I feel like I just wrote bad fanfiction myself! What happens next? Do the shirtless man and the raccoon kiss? Oh god, they do, don’t they?
Oh, they just fight. The story mode is peppered with battles between heroes and fighting fodder, mostly Ultron drones and infected Asgardians. Thor’s not happy about that last bit.
As one group of mismatched heroes embarks on a mission to free a powerful prisoner from Ultron Sigma’s dungeon, another faces off against the big baddie himself.
It’s Ultron Sigma versus Thor and . . . Spencer from Bionic Commando? Really?
I laughed, long and loud and clear. Maybe I was being unfair, letting the mediocre quality of Spencer’s video game color my perception of the character. Maybe at this point in the game’s story Thor has acquainted himself with his new comrades and feels this is a battle best suited to Spencer’s gifts.
Or maybe it’s an unwinnable battle (for me at least) meant to progress the story, and Spencer doesn’t matter at all in the grand scheme of things. At the very least it served to wipe the image of Dante and Rocket Raccoon making out from my mind. Dammit, there it is again.
The Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite story demo is just a small taste of the epic tale Capcom’s concocted. It’s a very silly taste, as silly as the idea of characters from Mega Man, Resident Evil and Street Fighter sharing the same world and knowing each other. Toss Marvel characters into the mix and yeah, things are going to get weird. At least we get a story mode this time around.
Check out the video atop the post for a full, commentary-free playthrough of the demo, or download it on Xbox One or PlayStation 4 and play for yourself.
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite will be out on Xbox One, PS4 and PC on September 19.