Updated and upgraded games are something we reluctantly expect in today’s era of gaming, with Capcom leading the charge. The publisher is notorious  for their re-releases and updates dating back to the original Street Fighter II. The announcement of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was expected, but its timing was a bit shocking with a release date only nine months after the release of Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Many believed it to be a cash-in, while some thought the release was necessary. In reality, it’s a strange mix of both.

A new cast of characters

The main draw of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is the 12 new characters joining the roster. From the Marvel side there is Nova, Doctor Strange, Rocket Raccoon, Iron Fist, Ghost Rider, and Hawkeye. Nemesis, Frank West, Vergil, Firebrand, Strider Hiryu, and Phoenix Wright are the new Capcom additions.

One of my favorite new fighters was Frank West, and his interesting level-up ability. By doing combos and taking photographs, Frank will level up like he did in Dead Rising. He begins at level 1 as an extremely weak character, armed with a golf club and a plunger. However, leveling up gives him stronger moves reminiscent of his Dead Rising creations (which usually involve a chainsaw), and more versatility overall. At level 5, Frank becomes one of the strongest characters in the game, with incredible reach and massive damage ability. He isn’t the best character here, but damn is he fun to play.

The only problem characters seem to be Wesker and Vergil. Wesker retained just about everything he had from MvC3, with a couple small nerfs such as his health. However, he gained a new ability: When his sunglasses are taken off or damaged (which can be done with his basic level 1 hyper), Wesker gains a significant speed and damage boost, which can be related to a small version of X-Factor. Combine this with the real Level 3 X-Factor, and Wesker is ridiculously strong. I was moving around with him online with both of these effects and I laughed to myself, because he almost felt too fast for the game, able to wipe out a character in 4 or 5 normal hits.

Vergil might not have as many options as Dante, but it doesn’t make him any less of a threat. His most valuable asset is the reach on his normals, which is obscene considering he isn’t massive or slow like Nemesis. He’ll be able to catch any enemy mistake with a long swipe from his sword, and immediately turn it into a combo, finishing with Dimension Slash, which has the same power as most hypers and hits full screen. Add this to his teleports and the incredible mix-up ability of his Spiral Swords, Vergil is truly a force to be reckoned with.

Objection!

I have to mention Phoenix Wright in this conversation, specifically his Turnabout mode. During Turnabout mode, Phoenix gains three key abilities. His normal attacks turn into massive finger pokes, which can combo from across the screen. His assist, Press the Witness, becomes 100% invincible. Even beam supers like Akuma’s Messatsu Gohado or Nova’s Gravametric Blaster do no damage to him while out in the middle of the screen. Finally, his level 3 hyper hits full screen, and does 600,000 damage unscaled. Still, you can’t call him overpowered because of how difficult it is to reach this mode. Until then Phoenix Wright is weak and has to have a full team defending him. Everyone who plays this game should try him out however, because he is hilarious.

Excluding Wesker, the re-balance of the former characters turned out well. Wolverine and Phoenix were the overwhelming problems of MvC3, and both of them have been toned down significantly. Phoenix was heavily hurt by the new slower meter building, making it more difficult to hit that five bar mark. The fact that Team Aerial Combos also drain meter, teams opposite Phoenix can use these to make sure Dark Phoenix never makes it. Dark Phoenix herself was also toned back a bit, taking away some speed and damage, as well as taking away her ability to spam her double fireballs mid-air.

The reliance on research

Part of exploring the new characters was taking them into Mission mode, which gives you a set of ten combos to perform for each character. Outside of the challenge, it is also meant to show off some of the things you can do with the characters. The reason I bring up Mission mode (which was already a part of MvC3), is the inclusion of Phoenix Wright and Frank West. Both of these characters have different phases they must progress through to become effective. Mission mode completely leaves Frank’s level ups and Phoenix Wright’s Turnabout mode out, which are crucial to making them viable characters. If you didn’t know about these abilities going in, you would have to find it out yourself in practice mode, which still doesn’t give you a proper idea of what to do. It also surprises me that they haven’t added a preview function to see what the combo is supposed to do.

Pro-tip, guys like Maximilian below will improve your game greatly!

The gameplay itself was tweaked for the better, making it a fairer fight with less exploits available. The X-Factor system was changed a bit, making level 1 and 2 X-Factor weaker, but still retaining the incredible power of level 3. Along with Phoenix, it is now harder to gain meter, and it can be drained through use of Team Aerial Combos, making it more of a strategical bout. It is also clear that they wanted to change up the gameplay, making zoning more of an effective option. Characters like Dormammu or the new Rocket Raccoon can effectively keep their distance and shut down opponents across the screen, making them more viable selections.

The Online Warrior

I bought Marvel vs. Capcom 3 back in February, looking for a fighting game to compliment my Super Street Fighter IV play online, only to discover that it was a mess. Ranked match searching was broken, and when I did find a Ranked or Player Match, it would be laggy to the point of being unplayable, or the other player would be using Wolverine, Phoenix, or pre-patched Sentinel. It was the perfect storm of crap. It seemed impossible to improve the online infrastructure, but Capcom has done an admirable job.

I played online via two separate Internet connections: a shoddy college connection, and my high-speed at home. On both, the matchmaking process worked marvelously (pun intended). Finding a game was a quick process, and while there were some failed attempts, you finally have the option of immediately searching again rather than getting kicked to the main menu (seriously, who’s idea was that?) Connection in-game was typically solid, and replay mode was also added back in for player matches, but frankly it should have never been gone. I would call that more of a fix rather than an addition.

Destroying Earth, oddly unsatisfying

The only real gameplay addition outside of the new characters is Galactus Mode. Instead of going through with your team and beating Galactus, the tides are turned and you become Galactus himself. The premise seems cool, to take over and use a character that takes over 3/4 of the screen and wipe out everything, but after a couple minutes it becomes stale. Galactus doesn’t have a command list available, so you won’t have any idea what you’re doing, and his moves are so slow and uninteresting. The game does try to make it difficult for you, as the computer-controlled teams will perform some solid combos, but it never feels like you are in the driver seat for the destruction of Earth at the hands of Galactus.

When referring to Galactus mode I said “only real gameplay addition,” and I mean it. There is NOTHING else added to the game. One of my main gripes about the original was that it lacked the features to make it a $60 release. In fact, the updated version of Street Fighter III: Third Strike, released in August, has more content as a $15 release than MvC3 or UMvC3. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is only $40, but most people who want this game will already have the original, making everything outside of online and tournament play essentially worthless. I’ve spent most of this review talking about positives, and it might not seem like there are many apparent negatives. This is because the negatives lie in what the game doesn’t have.

It all depends on you

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is a massive improvement over the broken product that was Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The new characters are fun, the gameplay balancing and tweaks are effective, and the online component is massively improved. However, the game still rubs me the wrong way, even as a $40 release. Creating a new release for a limited replay mode and an uninspired alternate arcade mode just doesn’t seem right, and can make this game worthless to many.

Here’s how it breaks down if you’re interesting in purchasing it: if you are a tournament level player, buy it. It is what MvC3 should have been, and one of the 12 new fighters will become a staple on your team. For those who held off on the first one but are still interested, make sure you are into the gameplay first by renting it. If you are a casual gamer who owned the first, do not buy Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The sad fact is, it was not created for people to pick up and play who just want to mess around. A certain mastery of this game is required, and there are no new additions to draw casual gamers in, unless you have an undying obsession with Phoenix Wright.

Review Statement: This game was reviewed on Xbox 360, and a retail copy was provided to VGW by the publisher. 

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