Marvel’s Avengers might present itself as a straightforward action-adventure title on the surface, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find that simplicity is only skin-deep.
That’s the leading impression I’m starting to get, at least, what with developer Crystal Dynamics’ recent reveals concerning the superpowered title’s RPG-inspired features. Whether it’s Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow or the newly-announced Ms. Marvel that you’re most looking forward to having as your main, each character has an accompanying stat sheet in-game that can be tinkered with. It’s this system, says the developer, that will allow multiple different versions of the same hero to have completely different playstyles and some gear will even confer extremely powerful set bonuses.
Once you’ve obtained these items – likely through quest rewards and/or random drops, Crystal has yet to confirm either way – the benefits they bestow will depend on rarity ratings from common, all the way up to a secret grade above legendary that the developer is keeping under wraps.
Of course, if you’ve been closely following the slow trickle of details for Marvel’s Avengers so far, you’ll assuredly be well aware of the above.
What you might not know, is the effect that equipping different gear items will have on a character’s visual appearance. As per a recent interview with IGN, senior producer Rose Hunt revealed that gear choice won’t be reflected at all in the player’s current costume of choice.
“[Gear is] part of or underneath your suit, but the visuals are separate. We thought [players] would rather have the visuals that we’re pulling from comic books or the original suits that we’re making up, rather than have a bunch of attachments on the outside of it making them loot not as cool.”
Hunt’s explanation for the lack of visual changes is certainly justified, but it’s a tough balancing act to get right. On one hand, visual changes when equipping new gear is a surefire way of giving players the feeling that they’re progressing up the ranks of strength but on the other, donning random drops from multiple different sets all with distinct looks often looks messy and unappealing.
Crystal has found what it thinks is a suitable replacement, however, with Hunt explaining:
“When you scale up or when you level up gear, there’s definitely going to be some different visuals for VFX. Generally, it’s going to feel like a celebration. It’s also going to have probably some different animations at different times.”
That’s a decision I can get behind, but what about you? Let us know what you think of Marvel’s Avengers‘ progression systems via the usual place below!
