Deadpool (PS3): Breaks the Fourth Wall, but not much else.

So, full disclosure: Up until early 2011, I really had no idea who Deadpool was. I considered myself to be a comic fan, but really wasn't all that brushed up on anything that happened after the early 90's. Priorities changed, and me and comics just kinda drifted apart. Thankfully, I work in a library so I have been using its connections to catch back up with my favorite franchises.

But around February of 2011 came the release of Marvel vs. Capcom 3. I remember when selling reserves of the game some of my coworkers and people picking it up were very excited about the appearance of this "Deadpool" character. I shrugged it off. But then at a fight night later that week, someone played against me with him, and I laughed my ass off as he yanked the lifebar off the screen and proceeded to smash me with it. From then on, I was hooked. I've been reading much of his back catalog, and now after a hilarious Comic-con announcement last year, Deadpool has his own game in.....

DEADPOOL: (PS3)

So the overall meta of the Deadpool game's story is that Deadpool is basically holding High Moon studios hostage after they rejected his initial video game pitch. After giving a much more "explosive" proposal, High Moon Studios sends over their script for the Deadpool game.  Deadpool is clearly not happy going off a script and starts cutting through it with a crayon without reading to make his changes. After arguing with his voices a bit and dicking around his apartment, we jump into the script...

Deadpool receives a contract to kill Chance White, a corrupt media mogul. Deadpool has no idea why he's accepted this contract because he didn't read the script. But none the less Deadpool cuts and shoots his way through White's armed guard in his headquarters to make his kill. In the wake of his destruction (and blowing the games budget in the process), White escapes with the help of Mister Sinister.

This irks Deadpool because he won't get paid if he doesn't actually kill White. Sinister makes his escape to the island of Genosha. While in pursuit of Sinister, Deadpool teams up with his old collegues with the X-Force in Wolverine, Rouge, Domino, and Psylocke and after a bit of an argument about who gets to fly the Blackbird, the group of them give pursuit to get revenge for robbing Pool of his pay (oh, and stop Sinister's scheme.)

So alright, the premise for the story is both completely fitting for the Deadpool character and at the same time feels slightly lacking. The biggest problem in the area of story is the lack of a really strong set of supporting characters. For the weeks approaching release they would tease and release images showing that Wolvie, Domino, Cable, and Rouge were all in the game. At the onset, I was pretty happy about that since these are characters I generally like and am familiar with.

But really, the only ones who gets any real extended screen time in the game are Cable and Death. They mainly serve to kinda push Deadpool along in the story, but he clearly has little interest in doing so. Its funny because those were pretty much the exact feelings I had as well. I found myself a couple of times wondering if this was meant to be something they did on purpose, or if the writing was particularly weak in that area. This really is a theme you might find yourself in for a number of the game's aspects.

Cable can be described as the game's Grumpy Dad.

The main antagonists, Mr. Sinister and his gaggle of D-list villains (Blockbuster, Vertigo, and Arclight) all feel kinda thrown in. Which again, seems like something that could be intentional or slapdash. You'd feel that that this is a Marvel licensed game they'd have the right to throw in characters from the entire universe. Then again because of the very nature of the Deadpool character, this allows him to completely trash how awful this cast is. It makes sense in that regard. 

But what sticks in my craw about it is if you are going to advertise that these more popular Marvel characters are going to be in the game, one would hope that its going to be more than just a lame token appearance which many of these characters seem to be. You get one small section where you "sort of" play as Rouge. I don't think Psylocke even gets a line of dialog. Wolverines contribution to the story is marginal at best. It's really kind of a letdown considering the history between characters like Deadpool and Wolvie/Domino.

Full disclosure: I thought Arclight, Vertigo, and Blockbuster were made up for this game.

I know that Deadpool for the most part of his series deals with some pretty off the wall main antagonists for the majority of his main stories, but he's clashed with almost every hero and villain in the Marvel universe a one point or another. There could have been an actual fight with Wolverine or Domino, any of the previous Weapon X products, no mention of Spider-man after one small reference at the start, none of the Avengers make and appearance. There isn't even people who are more commonly known to his own franchise in there (probably because a lot of them are dead, but still.)

Really, I think a lot of Deadpool's best story arcs are where he's a support character to a major player. Thor, Hulk, Spidey, and so on. I feel the game might have been better served as a series of disconnected missions with the other characters universes. Sadly that's not how it played out.

"Deadpool, we need to go off screen and be ineffectual to the plot for the next few levels, bub."

So the Deadpool game's combat system I guess can be considered pretty cookie cutter for those action adventure spectacle fighter kinda games we've seen. You got your light attack, heavy attack, jump, dodge, counter functions, you can use your shoulder buttons to go into the over the shoulder 3rd person shooter kind of control scheme with pistols, shotguns, and machine guns. If you have been playing video games at all for the past 10 to 15 years nothing about the game's control scheme is gonna throw you a wild curve ball. Its about as cut and dry as it gets.

However on the same token, sometimes it can feel a bit loose too. If you go into the menu for your unlocks and upgrades you will see that certain levels of weapons unlock different and more extended combos to use. But my mashing of the combos never seemed give me the inclination I was doing my combos properly. This is really an area where Deadpool can take a page from the God of War playbook. When I hit my specific button presses in that game, the combos on the screen look clearly different enough for me understand that those specific presses triggered that specific move.

Occasionally you will get the QTE button press to counter an enemy, but the window of it is small or sensitive to directional button presses, so I never seemed to be able to really rely on the ability to counter certain enemies, sans a few fights with Blockbuster where his counter is very highly telegraphed. Which makes that boss fight almost insultingly easy. Luckily for the most part if your counter doesn't work you will still teleport dodge away so you remain safe. A friend of mine thinks this was done intentionally, to make a mockery of bad gameplay, but I think that's a bit too subtle for the Deadpool universe. I think it just doesn't work well.

During the course of the game Deadpool will continue to break the fourth wall in cutscenes and a number of those deal a good amount of laughs. There was a concern that, much like recent Spider-Man games, Deadpool would overuse some of the pool of quips he has ad nauseum to the point of irritation. Depending on how long you play the game, this might be an issue or not. I for the most part didn't have much of a problem with this, but there was one line that I seemed to get much more than others: "Two extra slices for just 9.99."

It came up just enough times for me to find it irritating but not so much that it ruined the gameplay for me. What they really should have done here is give Nolan North the script, let him run through his lines, and then let him ad lib for like and hour and cram every bit of those you could fit onto the disc. This would made certain things come up a lot less frequently, or if anything allow them to play at random but no repeat until it cycles through the whole list. 

The game has a tendency to keep you bottled up in some pretty lame environments through the whole game. Buildings, Sewers, factories, or dilapidated buildings. I know there is only so much you can do with environments in a game like this but a couple splashes of color would have been nice. Genosha is an island in the middle of nowhere, a few stages could have taken place in the jungle or something with some wild animals to fight. 

Ultimately the game is pretty samey though and through. You'll find yourself running around hack and slashing your wear through faceless baddies until they start to shoot at you, which will be your cue to pull out your guns and fire back in kind. There is an occasional stealth element where you can sneak up on a guy and hack them to ribbons without being seen, but its so rare and so likely to go wrong you might as well keep powering through with your swords anyways.

Lastly the game also features a series of challenge maps that are kind of like horde modes. The more you beat the more you unlock further difficulties and if you manage to get a gold medal, you can get an alternate costume for Deadpool. The thing is, you can only use said costume on said challenge map, and only for its unlimited mode. So basically you only get the new costume for a section of the game you can't win or unlock more things for. Seems like a massive oversight, let me use them on the other challenges or in the story mode.

So did I like Deadpool? I have to say that I did for the most part. Its not a game that's going to break any molds or show you anything new, but for the most part its pretty functional and fun to play. The difficulty curve is a little ridiculous from time to time where in some stages you'll find yourself slashing things to bits like a red and black katana cloud of death, yet 5 minutes later you'll find yourself getting gunned down in the same section over and over again. It can be frustrating but not so much that'd you would stop playing.  I'd say the games biggest flaw is what I perceive to be a lack of replay value. 

The Deadpool game is made for those people who are clearly fans of Deadpool. I wouldn't say its a great introduction to the character for those who aren't exactly familiar with him, but he does make the transition from comic to game pretty well with his character intact (for those of you who saw the X-men Origins: Wolverine, that is not how Deadpool should be).

Ultimately though, it shows why it came out at a lower price. I think the game could probably get a sequel, but I suggest that they focus on really beefing up the story aspect of the game bring in more of the more notable Marvel universe. It's not the best game to ever come out, but not bad either. Its safe. You'll get your yucks, and its fun enough to see to the end, just don't expect to keep playing it to perfection. Here's hoping for a more polished sequel, because it has potential.

Even D-Pool appreciates "Yo Dawg". Love it.

Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 (XB360/PS3): Hi, We're Capcom. We Love your Money.

Aside from perhaps Killer Instinct, a fighting game I have always been pretty proud about being good in was Marvel vs Capcom 2. I played the game constantly in the arcade (remember what those were?) and I've whipped many a chump out of their hard earned quarters with the surprisingly simple Ryu, Akuma, Morrigan combo. So I was pretty excited for Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of two Worlds and purchased it in kind. But if there is anything Capcom loves to do, its to rehash the shit out of a game they're released instead of just making a new one. And MVC3 was no exception. I said I wasn't going to buy this, but a combo of peer pressure and trade value drove me to update to....

ULTIMATE MARVEL VS CAPCOM 3: (XB360/PS3)

Essentially, this review can double up for both Marvel vs. Capcom 3 games as functionally they are identical between to the two, sans the addition of the 12 extra characters. I usually start off my reviews with a brief summary of the plot or story, but as is with most fighting games, there really isn't one. Essentially to get any kind of story in this game you have to complete the arcade mode, and the character you land last blow to the final boss with the ending vignette you receive. If you played the first MVC3, none of the ending have changed for the current remaining characters. But its still fun to see some of the crossovers. One of my favorites was She-Hulk's, A character I don't really use, but in her ending she presides over a trial with Miles Edgeworth and Phoenix Wright (now playable). It made me laugh.

It was hilarious at the time, little did I know Phoenix would become playable

One of the biggest complaints surrounding this game is that the controls were "Dumbed Down". If I am remembering right, MVC2 didn't use the Street Fighter control scheme either. The Street Fighter franchise typically used three punch and three kick buttons with a light medium and heavy power. In MVC2 the reduced it 4 buttons and two assist buttons. MVC3 has done away with the punch and kick buttons to make way for a light, Medium, Heavy, and launch button in addition to the assists. This takes out the need to hit strong punch or kick for certain moves. For most of the characters, this doesn't change how their specific move sets play. If anything, its made using people like Akuma more fluid for me. Sure it takes away some of the complexity of the game but it still has some of the other control aspects like the advancing guard, air combos, and tag attacks. many people see this as a detriment, I personally had no issue with it.

There really isn't much variance in the play modes of the game. You have your standard arcade mode, where you just play 8 or 9 fights to the last boss. You have a training mode to play around in and a mission mode to try to learn specific combos. When you beat the game you unlock the ending and soundtrack to the character you won with. But unlike the original MVC3, there are no characters to unlock. I personally have never been a fan of this because it gives the player very little incentive to play by them self they do not have anything to earn by doing it. Then we have the online mode, its basically the same as the Verses mode you can play with a friend at home, but with more lag, people interrupting your arcade mode,  and people quitting if you are too good.

The last thing I guess I should address is the characters as well. On the Marvel side they added: Nova, Rocket Raccoon, Iron Fist, Hawkeye, Dr. Strange, and Ghost Rider. I have heard of 2 or 3 of these guys tops. None of them really made me go ape shit to play as any of them and I've yet to use them for any major length of time. On the Capcom side they added: Strider, Firebrand, Phoenix Wright, Frank West, The Nemesis, and Virgil. Now this line up was pretty stoke about since only one of them I'm pretty unfamiliar with and i never used  anyways (Strider).  While I love the addition of these characters, some of them just don't make sense to use. Phoenix Wright is nothing short of hilarious because none of his attacks are actually attacks. He has a very short range and requires you finding 3 pieces of evidence and hitting them with an objection before you really unlock some of his bigger moves. Frank West, the character I wanted most, as lots of different moves that change as he levels during the match, but you have to hit the camera snap at the right moments to go up a level and for me its been pretty difficult to hit. People like Firebrand, Nemesis and Virgil mesh with this game perfectly though, and combo together very well.

Virgil may be a bad ass, but I call bullshit: Nobody messes the Nemesis up.

Its difficult to rate a game like this because I begin to question their relevance. With online gaming taking a front seat these days in the development of gaming, the one on one fighters seem like a natural fit. But when I play the game online, it doesn't feel as satisfying. I don't get any real enjoyment out of seeing a number next to me name informing me that there's about 1.8 million other assholes who are better than me at the game. It pretty much feels like I am playing the game in the single player mode. Less so in fact because at least in single player mode I can unlock an ending when I win 8 times, I don't get lag from the arcade mode, or have people drop out of the game just as I am about to win. But just as I go to say that you probably could skip out on getting a game like this, I go to a fight night with some friends where we are all playing in the same room. Now the games are tense, heart rate jumps up. I can hear cheering or AWWWS when close match finishes. WAY more fun that playing the game solo. This is why they make games like these, the are intended to be played in a group that's what makes them fun.

But in this same fight night, I realized something. There are two types of people who play games like this. People like me, who find some characters they like learn some core moves and develop a strategy. Plays the game, has fun with it, and generally enjoys it. Then there is the "Other guy". You know that guy. Has one character he never deviates from. Learns their entire move set. Learns everyone Else's move set. Knows you are going to throw that Hadouken and is going roll forward MP at the 5th frame of the animation which will counter your move, bounce you up and then allow him to string together an air juggle that will deplete an entire life bar. We did a tournament at the fight night and a lot of the games were very close. But this one guy would just participate on another level. I refuse to use the word play. Because that kind of person doesn't play the game, they study it, make it a chore. The execute the game. Personally, I think if you are playing the game that way then you are missing the whole point. Unless you are professional or competitive gamer, you're just a prick to everyone else you are playing with.

I suppose I could give the game a recommendation if you are a fan of fighting games, fan of the series, or just have a number of people over to game on a fairly frequent basis. The fights are fast, flashy, and easy to pick up and play. It's a fairly competent fighting game and it definitely works in a groups setting but unless you are one of "those guys" I can't imagine you will keep playing it after a few weeks. I just rather that Capcom would have waited another few months and put all the characters in the first time instead of charging me an extra 40 bucks for it.

Pricks.