Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds Review

Marvel vs Capcom 3 Review

Beyond the characters and three-on-three setup, Marvel vs Capcom 3 keeps to the usual tropes of the genre. There’s an Arcade Mode to run through in singleplayer, but it gets old after the first few run-ups against the planet-sized end boss. It’s worth a few goes for the unlocks, but repetition does sink its claws in quickly.

Although the singleplayer game is almost wafer thin, the online mode claws back some points. The AI can prove a formidable opponent on the harder difficulty settings, but there’s nothing quite like taking on a human opponent. Thankfully, the online multiplayer mode is pretty good too - you can either jump straight into a game or choose from a selection of ‘rooms’ if you want to be choosier.

Annoyingly, we were unable to connect to a multiplayer game with the Quick Game feature, although we couldn’t be sure if that was an idiosyncrasy of our network or a fault with the game. We also had to endure fairly long waits to get a game going, which was off-putting.


However, all was forgiven once we got stuck into a fight; the relatively lag-free battles represent Marvel vs Capcom 3's finest moments. The fights with the random human element and banter are a huge amount of fun, and a ranking system provides some much-needed longevity.

As with most beat-'em-ups, the singleplayer experience is unlikely to captivate you for very long and those aching for a variety of modes will be left sorely disappointed. It's all about the three-on-three battling, with little else beyond that except for a feeble challenge mode. It all feels decidedly bare.

The same can be said of the character roster too, which has somehow lost 20 combatants in the last ten years. The absence of Venom, Forge and Ken is painfully evident. The cynic in us wonders if a DLC pack is on the horizon, which would be both good and bad news. On the one hand; new characters! On the other; more money spent!


Credit where credit is due, though; Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds is an achievement. It’s given what could easily have been another jaded beat-'em-up one hell of a revamp, with glorious graphics and enough characters to dwarf the competition, despite the reduction in their numbers.

The action is mesmerising, the characters are interesting and the controls are tight. It’s a shame there’s not any more meat on the bone, as that would be enough to push Marvel vs Capcom up past its peers, but it’s by no means a bad game just because it follows the conventions of the genre.

Then again, that also means it can’t climb any higher than the rest of the herd.

Score Guide