Marvel's Avengers: from Spider-Man to the controversy, the interview with the developers

Index

The Spider-Man issue Balancing and multiplayer Hunting for secrets A few weeks after the official release of Marvel's Avengers, the superhero game developed by Crystal Dynamics for PC, PlayStation 4, has returned to talk massively and Xbox One. Whether for the recent war table, the start of the beta of the game or the controversial announcement of Spider-Man as an exclusive character for PlayStation consoles, the Avengers have populated our pages and ignited discussions among fans. We had the opportunity to temporarily leave the game's war table to take part in another type of table, a group interview in the company of team manager Scot Amos and game designer Lauryn Ash. The result was a chat that ranged from the choice of heroes to the progression of the characters, from the level structure to, of course, the exclusivity of a certain character.

The Spider-Man question

Let's start with the recent announcement of Spider-Man as a PlayStation version exclusive character. Can you explain a little better how this exclusive was born? Could you have ported the character to other platforms?

It was a unique opportunity that we only had thanks to the relationship between PlayStation and Marvel. This is the only way it could have come about and it is thanks to them that we were able to add Spider-Man to the PlayStation version.

I wish we were clearer: you are telling me that Sony's consent was needed to insert the character in the game?

The decision as to who can use Spider-Man and who not is up to them [Sony]. They told us "we would come if you put this character in the game". Since they have this relationship with Marvel they had to agree on the modalities and only then they told us "ok, you can put the character in the game".

and Yet I was convinced that Sony had the rights only for the film production of Spider-Man, and not also on the use of the character in the video games.

Unfortunately, you should talk with Marvel and Sony for details of the rights. We refer to them for all of this, and not owning any of the intellectual property, we allow the issues to be resolved by our lawyers together with their lawyers.

Since each character will come with a set of stories and missions created ad-hoc, what should we expect for Spider-Man? As a character limited to only a portion of the players will be treated in the same way as others, or have less content?

we can Not go into details at the moment. We wanted to make the announcement now so that the people knew that the character would come, and to allow them to make a choice, but for now we will not go into more detail. Sure to explain everything in due time and keep in mind the feedback you can make the most of this unique opportunity that we had with Spider-Man.

At the announcement of Spider-Man have followed many controversies on the part of the owners of PC and Xbox. What do you say to those who believe that without the Marvel character, will be to purchase and play a version of "the bottom" of the game?

I Would just like to emphasize how this was a fantastic experience. If people look at all the content that we inserted, from the heroes to the events of the story, and if you consider the plan to add and expand this universe over the years... here, I think all will find themselves inundated with content, things with which to play, stories to experience and characters to improve. We are doing everything we can to make a game for the fans. We understand the controversy, we knew it could happen, but as I said it was a unique opportunity that was only possible thanks to Marvel and Sony. This game will be an opportunity to feel part of the world of the Avengers , and live it for the next few years and seeing it evolve and be enriched over time: we can assure you that you have not seen nothing yet.

Balance and multiplayer

How difficult is it to balance a multiplayer experience with the characters so strong and different, in a way that is fun for everyone but at the same time remain authentic and consistent with the powers of the heroes?

In creating a cast of characters drawing from such a large amount of heroes, the collaboration with Marvel proved to be crucial. In doing so, however, we have never looked at a character and think, "how can we fill in with the other", but we have made the reasoning opposite, focusing on what makes them unique. Once isolated these differences we think of as you go to mix with others.

our team has a secret weapon that is called the Vince Napoli. Vince is the manager of the combat system and that in the past he has worked with the team of God of War. I know from the times of EA and Visceral, and he was living bread, and the combat system from the very beginning he approached the project thinking, "how would the fight if this was a game entirely on the Black Widow?", "And if you were all about the Hulk?", "If it was an Iron Man game?". This way of working has allowed us to highlight the features of each of the heroes and create a combat system that is extremely versatile, capable of evolving as we add new characters, com hawkeye and Spider-Man.

For us it was fundamental to offer a system that is much more flexible, allowing the occurrence of to redistribute the skill points on more areas. Take, for example, Kamala Khan: she is good for crowd control, is a great support character, but I like to use it as a sort of tank-always in the middle of the fight, and I can do it through the strengthening of its statistics defensive.

In the beta, you can face a big mechanical spider, but we wonder if in the multiplayer experience, we will face all of the villain the most popular together with our friends.

Certainly. What we can say at the moment is that there will be some enemies as Taskmaster, and the Abomination that you might have defeated in the single player, but you don't know what they are doing behind the scenes and may return at a later time. Let's not forget that along with new heroes come new villains, with new stories and new enemies famous. Everything is designed to be played alone, or with your team in multiplayer, and you will begin to see the first examples already with the arrival of hawkeye.

We've noticed that the loot equipped are not visible on the character: you do not think that people might lose interest in the loot system if you do not have a gratification immediate visual?

We are convinced that the players love a lot to the system of loot , both for the powers that you get, both as these will change the way you play. An example are those that take advantage of the particles Pym: without this technology, it is not possible to reduce the size of the enemies. There are all these technologies that give the Avengers a variety of powers; powers that maybe people know because they saw them in the movies. It is important for us to re-create through the instruments a gameplay emerging, to stimulate fighting and to the game of the team. To change the appearance of the character, we have a huge amount of skin, and make sure that they were not modified further by equipping the instruments was not realistic for us, and would not have done justice to the characters. So, for us the importance of the tools lies in how to alter the gameplay.

hunting secrets

beyond The missions that we have seen, how do you intend to keep engaged on a weekly or daily users? We can expect a playlist of activities and events daily or weekly that will reward the player or do you have other ideas in mind for the endgame?

Also in this, we can't go into detail, but our design philosophy is to make amends for the time that you spend with the game. Regardless of whether that you return once a week, once a month or once a day. In the beta there is an example in the form of the Challenge Card for each hero you have, and expect to face challenges that involve the whole team.

In the beta there is also another example, and is represented by the vault of the tundra covered in snow. There is a secret level within the beta, and to find it you have to find a chest with a treasure chest. Inside there will be the coordinates of a unique scenario that will appear in your table of war. You will not find this setting in any other way: it's a secret. If you visit it you will find yourself in this gigantic area full of unique rewards, and this secret is one of the ways that we want to repay the time spent exploring the game carefully. We hope to keep the interest high, and to this are added then the Hives, and the Lairs of the Bosses that we have mentioned in the last War Table are things that we have not yet explained but which we will discuss soon.