Marvel’s Avengers has MMO elements, like a cooperative mode, but in many ways, it is more of a classic single-player game. The developers now explain the reasons for their design decisions against an open world and multiplayer campaign.
This is how the campaign of Marvel’s Avengers works: In an interview with the site IGN, the developers from Crystal Dynamics discussed the gameplay of the story campaign of the upcoming Marvel’s Avengers.
Contrary to initial assumptions, it is supposed to be a purely solo affair. You play as different Avengers in various story sequences, each one at the center of the action.
The narrative patterns and structures are intended to flow like in games such as Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which is also developed by Crystal Dynamics.
There will be heavily scripted scenes that hardly work in multiplayer. Thus, to ensure optimal suspense and atmosphere, these are purely solo missions.
That’s why there’s no open world: According to the developers, this narrative structure and the Avengers theme work best when there are multiple locations.
The Avengers, after all, do not stay in one place like Spider-Man all the time. Instead, they travel around the world (and beyond) to tackle the numerous threats to humanity.
This, in turn, is hard to reconcile with an openly accessible world. Therefore, there are individual, self-contained scenarios that you will visit and play through in the missions.
Multiplayer Co-op for Side Missions
This is how it goes in co-op: The co-op mode of Marvel’s Avengers, where you can play with four different heroes together, will definitely not be part of the main story.
Instead, the co-op mode is reserved for side missions. You unlock them during the main campaign and can then play them with your friends as you wish.
Those who prefer can also tackle the co-op missions solo, even though they are fundamentally designed for 4 players.
This is how fans are reacting: Many players from the community view the solo-only campaign skeptically. Among the comments under the article on IGN were the following:
- “Avengers, assemble! But only in side missions, please!”
- “A game about a team that you can’t play as a team, what a terrible decision!”
- “So multiplayer will be a lame wave defense mode or something … why should one even play that? Oh, to show off their cool microtransaction skins to their friends!”
Other players defend the design decisions, as it ensures that the story will be better:
- “The game should never be a multiplayer game. It is designed as a proper single-player experience.”
- “I really like this. At least we know that the main story is well structured and scripts each hero into the scene while you can experiment more in multiplayer during side missions.”
What do you think of the developers’ design decision?
