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  • 8 hours ago
Get a look at the 'Behind the Gameplay' Trailer for Marvel Cosmic Invasion, a 2D action beat 'em up Marvel fighting game developed by Tribute Games. Players can hear straight from the development team on fine-tuning the gameplay for Marvel Cosmic Invasion that pays homage to classic arcade beat 'em up-style games while being approachable for the modern era.
Transcript
00:00Beat'em Ups is a genre that's really anchored in the early 1990s to 2000s. To bring that to
00:12modern audience, we feel like we need to modernize the gameplay, but we can still keep our signature
00:19art style. We decide to choose like a pixel art art style, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't
00:35have a modern feel to it and modern gameplay to make the game feel more accessible and more enjoyable
00:43to everyone. We feel like we can keep a retro looking art style, but we definitely need to
00:48improve on the gameplay and modernize the mechanics to make sure that it really resonates to a newer
00:54audience. Marvel has an impressive universe, so it's really great to pick and choose from that broad
01:00history and make our own rendition or vision for the game. With Marvel Cosmic Invasion, we really
01:07wanted to push forward what we expect from a beat'em up. With such a rich and large roster of
01:14characters that express themselves in such different ways, for us it was an opportunity to basically
01:21take that arcade legacy that you expect where you have these colorful characters expressing themselves
01:27similar to what's happening on the pages, but also the multiplayer aspect that is very forward and
01:34push it even more by introducing characters that can fly to the battlefield and also characters who can
01:43reach other enemies on the field with ranged attacks and such. Narrative-wise, we were trying to figure
01:49out how we could push it further and express the characters like even more to the game, which is
01:56giving them more dialogue, more lines and make more animation like as if there was a whole universe
02:04happening behind the scenes of the actual adventure, just like in the actual comics. Each of the characters
02:10really expressed themselves like you would expect them to do so, with Spider-Man using his webbing as
02:16part of his moveset, but also with the Phoenix being able to telekinetically grab opponents from far
02:24away and you know having Nova being able to blast through hordes of enemies. We really wanted to build
02:32from that arcade legacy that is known for the Marvel games and have you know these beat'em up experiences
02:38that are more focused on the crowd control and disposing of all of these enemies entering the
02:45field in a very high intensity way, but we also wanted to make sure that we would push the formula
02:50forward for a modern audience by introducing new concepts to the genre. For example, having more
02:57ranged characters interacting with the play field, but also having an extra layer with the flight lanes,
03:04because hard heroes, some of them are known for being able to fly and express themselves this way.
03:11So it was important for us to have this very unique and different experience that would be fresh and
03:18new to the genre. A big inspiration for us was also how faithful these characters felt back then in the
03:2790s arcade games. So we wanted to have the same type of faithfulness to the characters and maybe try to
03:33go above and beyond to give them specific moves that really resonated with how they were portrayed
03:41in animation and on the page as well. So that was something that we wanted to take from them, but also
03:48bring it further. A big focus of us was also to have a strong multiplayer experience, not only by having
03:55you know four players played together, but also as a single player being able to play more than one heroes. And this is where we
04:02introduced the Cosmic Swap. Cosmic Swap was something that came early on on the production. When we settled on having 15 playable superheroes,
04:11we were worried that maybe players would have a fear of missing out, you know, playing with their favorite superheroes,
04:18or simply, you know, not experiencing the whole game at the same time. So we thought maybe we could
04:24have them select two players that could work together, just like in the comics.
04:28Yeah, exactly. The whole Cosmic Swap thing is canon. It's a it's a part of the lineage of the Captain Marvel character,
04:35especially like File of El and the Cosmic Bands. And when they
04:41hit together, like she can swap places with another character. So it felt like a good
04:47thing from the comics that we could justify gameplay with.
04:50And gameplay wise, the Cosmic Swap is an amazing tool because it not only helps you out, you know, address
04:57different situations with different characters, but also enables you to extend your combos by swapping
05:04midways and creating these amazing looking combat sequences, or even just call in an assist so that your,
05:13you know, teammate can take care of an enemy while you're taking care of another one.
05:17And also it is part of the Marvel legacy to have these combinations of characters working together
05:23in video games. The Cosmic Swap ability is also very flexible in the sense that newcomers can only
05:29tap the button to basically extend their combos and have their teammates jump in the action. But more
05:35advanced players will use it in more creative ways by summoning, for example, their partners to perform
05:41a specific action that will be, you know, openers for extra combos or even have two superheroes on the
05:50field, tackling a target from a different angle. So it is really a playground for players to figure out
05:58all of the possibilities with it because the combinations are endless.
06:02Obviously, we want to build on Marvel's legacy with arcade games. And you can see that
06:08with our retro pixel art style, but we want to infuse it with some modern game design as well.
06:13And it's a really fun game to pick up and play if you have no experience at all. But if you are a
06:20seasoned player, it's really something that you can go deep with the strategic aspects as well.
06:25You can choose two characters and the two characters will really affect how the game is played. So you can go
06:32more strategic, choosing a character that can fly and a character on the ground, a melee character and a range
06:40character. But you can also choose characters that you prefer and recreate those classic team-ups that you
06:47saw in the comics or in the cartoons or movies from Marvel as well. Marvel Cosmic Invasion is playable with up to
06:54four players. It's drop-in drop-out multiplayer. So at any time, somebody can pick up a controller and join and the game
07:02automatically adjusts to the amount of players that are active. So our goal is really to try to make the
07:07experience as accessible as we can and make it an experience that you can share with your friends and family, both
07:13online or on your couch at home.
07:15What's really important for us is for anyone to pick up a controller and feel like they can master the game
07:22right away. Young or old, they need to be able to have fun and enjoy the game. Can't wait for you to join in and fight for the
07:29future of the Marvel Universe.
07:32We'll see you next time.
07:34We'll see you next time.
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