There really hasn’t been a decent Avengers video game since Captain America And The Avengers from way back when arcades were still in existence. Sure you could claim that Marvel Ultimate Alliance is an Avengers game, but then you could also claim that any game featuring Marvel is an Avengers game.
There was supposed to be a FPS tie-in with The Avengers film, embedded below if you never caught it, but it was canceled before release. Since then, only several tie-in throwaway games for Thor and Captain America have hit the scene and left fans underwhelmed. Luckily Marvel claims they are working on it, they just want to make sure they get it exactly right. From IGN:
“The Avengers game will come when we have the right partner, that has the right vision, that has the time to develop a strong, competitive triple-A title and wants to do it right,” he told IGN. “It has to hit our three pillars: Fun and engaging gameplay, true to the characters, compelling story. Without hitting those notes, we shouldn’t do it. Gamers, they know better. They’re not going to flock to something that’s sub-par.”
To that end, Jefferson said, “I think the fact that there wasn’t an Avengers game turned out in time for the film is indicative of Marvel’s new attitude and the approach to how we find partners and build games. I think in the heyday of the movie licensed game, these games were popping out all the time and most of them sucked.”
As someone who played the Iron Man games that were released alongside the movies, that final statement couldn’t be more true. And I personally feel that canceling the FPS Avengers game was a smart move, mostly because the first person idea felt a little silly.
It’s possible to make good comic book games, just like you can make movies. Look at the Arkham Games for Batman or The Incredble Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. The basic idea they seem to share is that they manage to put you in the driver’s seat of your favorite character the way you would expect it. They don’t co-opt or hijack gameplay to the point of mimicry and they manage to inject the spirit of the character into the gameplay.
It’s refreshing to hear a company take a step back and want to do well, but it isn’t like it is a new thing to hear. Fan service is a big way to score points and still put out sh*t wrapped in a shiny bow. But given the success of the Marvel films and The Avengers in particular, I think it could be interesting to see how things play out.
(Via IGN / Destructoid)