"Not the best fighting game of all time, but one of the most unique"

Fighting games have never really been my cup of tea, primarily because they don't contain a story, but does this latest entry to the Marvel vs.Capcom series (hereby dubbed MvC3) offer anything new to the fighting franchise?

STORY: 7/10

Okay. I know that fighting games are not really supposed to tell a grand tale or anything like that, but most fighting games I've played have a story mode of some sort. The Mortal Kombat series has Konquest mode, the SoulCalibur series had different modes that you could partake in to gain parts to customize your characters, etc. But this game has no story mode whatsoever. I mean, yeah there is an arcade mode that does give some background on the characters you choose to play as, but that's not really a story mode. Again, I know that fighting games are not about telling a story, and that's okay that this game doesn't really have one, but if a game doesn't have a story, then I don't feel like the game warrants a sale at the full price that all others games are charged at.

GRAPHICS: Not Scored

I can't really rate the graphics for this game because fighting games are not about graphics, they're about gameplay. In that regard, I chose not to score this game on its graphics. But I must say, the characters' models and special moves all look fantastic.

SOUND: 4/10

I'm sorry, but the announcer in this game has got to be the most annoying, obnoxious announcer in any video game ever created. Every time I enter the character selection screen, I'm greeted with,"Marvel vs. Capcom 3! That's right, the third generation! All your favorite..." or something along those lines. Then when I enter a match, he says, "Live and let die! Fight!" Why? Why can't he just say, "Ready? Fight!" or "Get ready! Fight!" or anything else? Then when you win a fight, he says, "You win!" in the most cheerful, eccentric voice I've ever heard in my life. I know that I'm nitpicking, but I actually muted the game whenever I played because I absolutely despise the announcer. As for the music, it's not really that memorable. Nothing really catchy comes to mind when I think about the game. But the sound effects are decent. There's the standard punching, shooting, and grunting noises that you'd hear in almost any game nowadays.

GAMEPLAY: 9/10

I must say, I'm rather pleased with the fighting style in MvC3. I've never played the previous games, but I'd imagine they're similar to this one. In MvC3, you pick 3 characters and fight against another player with all 3 characters at your disposal. Meaning, there is only 1 round, but you can switch out your characters on the fly by building a combo or pressing a single button. When all 3 characters are KO'd, then the match ends, and the person with the surviving characters wins. This is, by far, the most original fighting game I've ever played, and, I must admit, it feels so satisfying when you pull off a combo using all 3 characters. The roster is a decent size, containing many popular characters from Capcom games and from the Marvel comic books. Chances are, you already know at least half of the roster. Each character has their own unique special move set, like all fighting games, and it will take a while to master just 1 character. There's also an online mode, where you can play with players around the world. It's a shame that almost everyone uses Dante though. Unfortunately, the matchmaking is not really that great. It sometimes took me 5 or 6 tries to get into a single match, and my internet connection is not slow at all. Then when I got in a match, if I did good (which isn't often because I'm not really good at this game) the other player would rage quit. Fortunately, there's supposed to be a system that pits ragequitters against other ragequitters, which is pretty awesome.

EXTRAS: 3/10

I'm extremely disappointed that this game has very few unlockables. There are only 4 unlockable characters, which I unlocked in about 2 hours of gameplay, and there's some unlockable concept art, which I could just look up online if I cared about concept art. There are no unlockable stages, to my knowledge, (when there's only 7 or 8 to begin with, probably even less) and there are no unlockable costumes for the characters because all the costumes are already unlocked, which is a dumb idea. Instead of letting us earn the 3 extra outfits for each characters, the game gives them to us right from the get go. Almost every other fighting game I've played had tons of unlockables, but not this game. This is a strict 1 vs 1 fighting game with almost no extra stuff to offer.

OVERALL: 6/10 (Not an Average)

MvC3 is not a bad game. It's certainly not the best fighting game I've every played, but it's not bad. The fighting system is amazing, and the characters are all really cool, but the matchmaking for online play is a little broken, and there arcade mode gets stale after a doing it a few times. It goes without saying, but if you don't have Xbox Live, then don't purchase this game. You can only play against the computer so many times before becoming bored. And if you don't have 2 controllers, then definitely avoid this game. Playing with a buddy is great fun, and will make the game last longer for you. Without a buddy to play with, you will get bored. This a fun fighting game, but the content doesn't warrant the full price tag for me. When the price gets cut it half, then it may be worth the purchase, but only if you have Xbox Live and/or another controller.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10 | Originally Posted: 02/28/11

Game Release: Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (US, 02/15/11)

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