- Sorry fans, but the "Marvel's Avengers" game
character designs are not going to change.
When Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics announced
an "Avengers" game back in 2017,
fans were champing at the bit
for the chance to take the reins
of Earth's mightiest heroes,
especially in the form of a triple A video game.
And though details were scarce,
expectations were high
that this was in fact the "Avengers" game
to end all "Avengers" games.
So finally, two years later,
when they got their first look at "Marvel's Avengers"
in the form of a trailer at 2019's E3,
fans were a bit confused.
Reactions to the character designs were all over the map.
On the one hand, yes,
it looked like you would be able to fly around
as Iron Man or smash things as The Hulk.
But on the other hand, who are these people
and what did they do with the Avengers?
Criticisms on the superhero looks ranged from
uncanny valley facial expressions to costume choices.
Like, what's up with Captain America's bulky costume?
Why does Bruce Banner look like
a weird doppelganger of Mark Ruffalo?
And what's up with Thor's beard?
Also, what kind of hair conditioner is Tony using?
But, the ultimate question seemed to be,
are these heroes from the Marvel
cinematic universe or the comics?
Because they feel like a weird mix of both,
while at the same time, getting neither just right.
While we now know that this game
is set in it's own universe,
the trailer left most fans
scratching their heads as to what happened.
Especially since it was coming from
a pretty respectable studio.
Luckily, several outfits, pun intended,
got a chance to speak to the folks
behind the game about the designs
and whether or not we can expect the fan outrage
to lead to some significant changes,
ala the "Sonic the Hedgehog" movie.
Spoiler warning, we've got some bad news for you.
- Dammit, they played us.
- To start things off,
Crystal Dynamic's creative director, Shaun Escayg,
laid things out very plainly by telling IGN
"We are always listening to,
and welcome feedback from our community.
There are currently no plans
to change our character designs."
This seems like a pretty definitive statement.
So, if you are planning on starting a petition
to change the game, maybe stop.
It didn't work for the last "Jedi" remake,
it's not working for "Game of Thrones" Season 8,
and it's not going to work for this.
However, we did get some info about why
they made these design choices for the game
and it turns out, there is a method to the madness.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Escayg said,
"We knew we wanted to make an original Avengers game
and go back to the roots in the comic books."
Reportedly, there was no thought
of using the MCU versions of the characters.
Escayg later added, "We wanted to clearly show
that this was our spin on the Avengers.
Even the way we cast these characters
was based on our story and our narrative."
Vince Napoli, the lead combat director
at Crystal Dynamics, further expanded on this.
"When you see what the movies do,
that's one interpretation of these characters.
Here's ours of something similar
and we're going to look at that as reference
and things we didn't likw about that
or things that will work better for us."
Napoli goes on to say,
"It's creating a new Marvel universe.
We were creating a brand new thing
in collaboration with Marvel
so it really did demand our own characters."
Which sounds an awful lot to us like
the birth of the Marvel video game universe,
something Marvel fans are now starting to clamor for.
Especially since the release of
Sony's "Spiderman" game from last year.
Ultimately, Crystal Dynamics has been aware
of the gravitas of their situation
from the beginning saying,
"We're excited to hear what our fans think.
You've got millions of fans around the world
who have been waiting years for it
and if you do it wrong, you feel the burden."
What are you talking about?
When has a character's costume change ever made fans angry?
(upbeat jazz music)
Most of those are from the 90s.
While Crystal Dynamics won't be changing the designs
to cater to outspoken fans on social media,
Escayg did admit this to IGN,
"The trailer is showing pre-alpha gameplay footage,
which means the level of detail
and overall polish of the character models
will absolutely continue to improve
as we get closer to launch."
So, not all hope is lost.
Things are only going to improve from here.
Plus, as we've said before, maybe we've just
gotta get used to these new designs,
which should be no problem for fans of the comics.
(upbeat jazz music)
And now that the band-aid has been
ripped off with these new Avengers,
we can learn to enjoy them.
But, what do you folks think?
Are you still excited for "Marvel's Avengers"?
Which game won E3 for you?
And seriously, we have to ask again,
what conditioner does Tony stark use?
We gotta know!
Let's discuss.
(upbeat music)
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