Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite

We got a chance to play Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite at this year's E3, and while we weren't too impressed with its story mode, we still had some fun playing around with the newly-revealed characters and Reality Stone. Although character models have a tendency to look plastic and lifeless in stills, they look much better in motion, and combos still move with a speed and flashiness that many fighters lack. The tag system works fluidly, too, and even though I didn't have time to learn any particular team's combos well, I was able to improvise some decent combos simply by using a mix of auto-combos, basic combos, and tagging. If you think of some cool new combo or set up, you can probably pull it off, and as a result, Infinite feels as malleable as other Marvel games, which I appreciated.

We also got to talk to producer Peter "Combofiend" Rosas about the some of finer details about the game's combat system. The biggest detail we learned was that long-winded combos of Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 are being curbed, to some degree, for Infinite. In high-level matches, it was commonplace for a stray hit to mean death for many characters. For Infinite, touch-of-death combos will be much more rare, thanks to the increased hitstun deterioration (a system where every hit causes the next hit to stun the opponent for a shorter amount of time). When it comes to longer combos, Rosas said, "You're fighting for pixels."

I then asked Rosas about whether one of his favorite characters, Spencer, would retain some his tricks from the last game. Specifically, Rosas told me that one of his signature combo tools, which involved using an airborne version of his claw-grab move to extend combos, would be much harder to use. For example, it's no longer possible to grab someone who's been hit by his Bionic Lancer super. However, due to the way tagging works, players should be able to find new ways to use that airborne claw to grab opponents using another character's moves.

Finally, we asked Rosas several of your burning questions about the series. Here are his answers.

Will there be any improvements coming to the faces for characters like Chun-Li, Dante, or Chris?
We’ve heard the feedback from the community and are looking into it, but we have no specific announcements at this time. 

Will we get remixes of the MvC3 character themes? Rocket Raccoons and Nova's in particular?
Character themes in MvCI are different from those in MvC3 as this is a completely new game. Some are completely new, while some carry influences from classic themes. 

Can nova still do his elevator combo from MvC3?
Nova’s been adjusted and he can still perform fly combos, but players will have to figure out how they work in MvCI.  

Does Dante still have some form of Bold-cancelling?
Yes.

Can you still “Tiger Knee” certain attacks like you could with Spencer’s hook in UMvC3?
Yes.

Will there be any sort of character customization (mainly cosmetic customization)?
We have nothing to announce at this time.

Can you still do tri-jumps with certain characters?
Indeed. 

Will there be fly/unfly mechanics? Will they be as fast or have more recovery?
They’re still present as the fly/unfly mechanic really opens up creativity with those characters who can fly. It’s pretty fast. 

If you go into training room does the announcer say "MUH MUH MUH MAXIMUM" when the bars fill up?
The announcer does say maximum when your meter is full. 

Does Spencer's Up Grapple into Reel-in Punch still deal 80,000 damage?
No. Damage is calculated differently in MvC:I. 

Is damage still measured by the absurdly high numbers of UMvC3?
No. Damage is much easier to keep track of and measure in MvC:I.

Do reflected fireballs deal the same damage as regular ones?
Yes. 

Are Chris’ bullets projectiles when it comes to things you can reflect with Advancing Guard?
For some of Chris’ bullet based special attacks, yes, you can reflect them. 

Can fireballs be reflected forever?
Depends on the fireball.

Can you reflect all the fireballs from Arthur’s fireball super?
No. You can’t reflect hyper combos.

Can you still rely on “chicken-blocking” to avoid mixups?
Nope. You can’t block on the first few jump frames. Now, you have to properly guard mixups coming your way. 

Will there be a Hot Ryu costume?
We’ve made no announcements about this. That said, there is a cool Evil Ryu costume available if you preorder the game. 

Are there any additional ways combo scaling can kick in more quickly, like after throws?
Starting combos with light punch is a sure fire way to have your combos scale greatly.

What character has the highest health of the ones revealed so far? Lowest?
Hulk has some of the highest. Rocket has some of the lowest.  

Can you do any other kinds of jumps besides the high jump and wall jumps?
There’s a lower super jump. By pressing down during a super jump, you can use the momentum of the super jump to close in on the opponent faster and attack from new angles. 

Can you turn off the auto combos and two-button supers?
Yes.

Outside of half-circle and dragon punch motions, will there be any special button combinations for certain attacks, like Wolverine’s Drill Claw or Frank West’s roll in UMvC3?
Yes. There will be some attacks that will be performed by pressing two kick buttons together. 

Will the final story mode have different difficulties? Will there be in-game rewards for beating it at different levels?
Yes, there will be different difficulties. If a player his having a hard time with a particular fight, they’ll be able to choose whether they want to lower the difficulty or not.

Will the mission mode trials pertain to one character, or will there be two-character combos to try and learn?
The mission mode trials emphasize how to utilize each character’s attacks and how they function within MvC:I. That said, as active switching is part of mastering your character within a team, there will be two-character trials present to give the player a taste of the infinite possibilities that are present. 

For more specific details about the game, check out 50 details we learned from our first hands-on with the game.