Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 PS3 Review

Not even a year ago, Capcom once again revitalized the fighting genre with a decade revival of its classic, frantic fighting series, Marvel vs. Capcom. Enhanced visuals, a new cast of characters, and new gameplay implementations all brought a breath of fresh air into the once-again increasingly stagnant fighting genre. Capcom has done it once again with their release of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. A whole new slew of characters, stages, and gameplay tweaks bring a much-needed fulfillment to what was an endearing-but-incomplete endeavor to usher in a new era of Marvel.

The immediate change to anyone who played Vanilla Marvel vs. Capcom 3 will be that of the user interface. Instead of the ‘tech’ feel that Vanilla Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (and 2 by extension) retained via the globular character select screen, Capcom has instead chosen to revamp the interface so that every element is full of comic book-loving fanservice. From the character artwork prominently displayed in the background of every menu, to the comic book character select screen, it is all too clear that Capcom wanted this revision to have an “over the top” feel and they most certainly hit their mark.

The next thing that you’ll have noticed are new additions to the roster. Newcomers such as Doctor Strange, Vergil, Hawkeye, Iron Fist, and Phoenix Wright join the cast alongside “Vs.” veterans Frank West and Strider Hiryu. Most everyone plays uniquely and together bring the total roster count to 50. Out of them all, I personally favor Doctor Strange who relies on a strong teleport game and projectile mixups. In addition to new characters, a number of tweaks have been made to the returning cast. Various bugs, glitches, infinities and exploits have all been removed. While this is a much appreciated gesture, I do feel somewhat overcharged for what could have been a simple series of patches. Nevertheless, the changes are welcome and provide a much more enjoyable and fair fighting experience than Vanilla provided.

Another content addition worth noting is that of new stages. While I am a sucker for variety, I’d prefer it done right or not done at all. Capcom has chosen to make “weather” changes to various stages and paste them in as new locales. Instead of duking it out on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier during the fall of night, I can now let the punches fly on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier during the day. Most every ‘new stage’ is just a daytime, nighttime, wintertime, or summertime variation of an original stage and this extremely disappoints me.

The very gorgeous graphics from Ultimate’s predecessor are still intact. Character models are highly detailed for the most part. A few outliers stand out, and some models are downright ugly (I’m looking at you, She-Hulk). The new stages, though repetitive, also showcase the colorful and zany visual engine. In addition, Capcom has promised new character costume packs as DLC and have already released the ‘Rising’ and ‘Evil Twin’ costume packs. I have since purchased the content and can without a doubt say each and every one looks fantastic, though a little overpriced.

If you are looking for the definitive version of current-generation Marvel, then without a doubt this is the title for you. The £29.99 price point may leave fans who purchased the original title at the standard £49.99 a little put-off, but the new characters, stages, and DLC opportunities make Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 arguably (and I do mean arguably) one of the most content-packed, disc-based expansion packs that gaming has seen in some time. Regardless, I can’t help but wish that this was the game we received in February. Without a doubt, Capcom has successfully re-marketed what should have been a series of downloadable content packs into a fully-fledged disc release.

7 out of 10