Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds preview – 360 – Preview

Fans wanted it. Capcom wanted it. Marvel wanted it.

The problem is that there were details, licensing and such to work out, and the fighting genre was not an overly popular brand in the intervening years between the release of MvC2 and 2009. But something happened in 2009 that put the project back in the forefront of the minds of super-hero company and Capcom – simply put, the fighting genre underwent a resurgence.

So get ready for glory, incredible action and re-imagined characters. Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 is in development and will be ready for release in Spring 2011. Sure, that seems like a long time off, but when considering it’s been 10 years since the release of MvC2, another year for a project that is not on track seems relatively short.

MvC3 was one of the titles Capcom trotted out during the Captivate 2010 media event in Hawai’i last week. And while the look was relegated to trailer (taken from game), it showed characters that might sport a bit of a different look from what Marvel video-game fans might know. Actually, according to Marvel’s Chris Baker, the characters are closer to the comic-book renderings. Who did they show? A more classic-looking Wolverine, a sleeker Iron Man, a more massive Hulk plus Capcom’s Ryu (come on, a fighting title without Ryu? No way would be he left out), Morrigan (Capcom’s Seth Killian stated a bit more work had to be done on her to pass the ESRB board for the trailer) and Chris Redfield (from Resident Evil 5 – and he was not taking any crap from Hulk in their battle).

After considering different takes on the fighting system, the dev team finally decided that using a 2D fighting platform, with 3D characters and environments, would work best, though – according to Killian – the “fighting system is still being hammered out” and will likely end up combining the best elements from MvC2 and the recently released title Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom.

The team is striving to give the game a familiar feel while still allowing it to feel fresh. There should be more than 30 characters available on launch (an exact number was not related), and the game will be available on the 360 and PS3, though PC gamers might get a version as well.

Killian said this promises to be the ultimate “what if?” dream matchup of two powerhouse stables of characters. And there will be a storyline – one that is being crafted by Marvel.

“There is a subtitle to the game,” Baker said, smiling (and the official title of the game is Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds). “It is not a story-driven RPG, but story is very important to Marvel.”

Producer Ryota Niitsuma countered with “this is a fighting game.”

Killian briefly discussed the art style and the game uses the MT Framework and coupled with new shaders, gives the game a “living comic book” style that goes from the catch-phrases to the opening and ending slates.

While more information will be released in the months to come, the teaser was enough to whet the appetite. 2010 should be a great year for gaming, but it appears that 2011 is going to be as explosive.