Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth is a fighting game developed by Ubisoft Quebec. It was originally released for Xbox 360 (Kinect) at the end of 2012, though has now been released on the Wii U. This review will only cover the Wii U version – I will not mention which version is better out of both the Xbox 360 and Wii U versions of the game.
Being a fighting game there isn’t much of a story, though there is still a loose plot to the fights you carry out. The story is based upon the race known as ‘Skrulls’ – extra-terrestrials which are able to shape shift, which take over and replace earths heroes – looking identical and having all of that hero’s powers. The other heroes must battle the imposters to prevent the invasion of New York City. The story mode features five areas which get repetitive very quickly, it would have been better if the story switched stages for each fight – though instead you have 8 levels on each stage. The story features 40 levels and you can play the first four levels of each stage to start with, though to unlock the last four you must play the first four of every stage. Story mode/Campaign is interesting and has a nice story, it is also the way you unlock all of the locked characters for use within the other game modes – though I wish the difficulty would have been increased as the earlier levels took less than 5 minutes to play through.
The Wii U version of the game has two control schemes that can be used; the Wii U Gamepad or the Wii-Mote and Nunchuck combo. We’ll start off with the Wii-Mote and Nunchuck combo. The controls are not very fun to use and are generally unresponsive, making the game not pick up the motion or thinking you’re doing another motion. To attack you use various motions such as pushing forward and bringing the Wii Mote upwards, and I do have to say for the first few matches I played it was a great – but as you get into the game you realise how the controls don’t work very well compared to the other options. Playing with the Wii U Gamepad felt enjoyable and comfortable when pulling off moves. The player traces shapes on the touch screen to perform certain moves – sometimes this isn’t pulled off well because the Gamepad didn’t pick up the stylus input correctly, though 99% of the time it works fine. Unless you are playing with friends (where other players will need to use the Wii-Mote and Nunchuck combo) I would recommend using the Wii U Gamepad. The one downside I can add to using the Gamepad is that the TV is then not used, but if you have a Wii-Mote you can simply select ‘Camera’ and it will display what is on the Gamepad. This to me was strange as I would have assumed that placing it on the TV would be a beneficial choice for people watching the player.
Battle for Earth features 4 different game modes; Campaign mode (already mentioned above), Versus Mode, Arcade Mode and Challenge Mode, on-top of this there is also a Training. Versus Mode allows you to play a local 2 player match, choosing which stage to play on (out of the 5 featured in the Story Mode) and which two characters (out of those unlocked) you wish to play as. Arcade Mode can be played Solo or Co-op. The mode allows players to choose two of any already unlocked heroes/villains and face ten stages with those characters. Finally there is Challenge Mode. Challenge Mode features ‘Characters’ which allows you to see details on all the characters (even those not yet unlocked) and ‘Trials’ which are small challenges for players to overcome. There are twenty trials to complete overall each ranging in their difficulty.
The graphical style of Battle for Earth fits the game type, using a cel-shaded style throughout the game. This seemed slightly disappointing when I first played as the game opens with a realistic-style introductory video which shows all the characters fighting, which made it seem as if the whole game would be in that style.
Voice acting and the games soundtrack are excellent and fit the game perfectly. The only complaint could be for one or two characters where the voice acting doesn’t seem to suit the character very well.
Overall Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth is a fun game, though after you’ve played through it once you probably won’t pick it up again. Multiplayer wise this game doesn’t live up to other popular fighting games and probably will be overlooked when you have friends over. Though if you are a fan of Marvel then you have a game with a great selection of characters, where you can choose a team of your favourite heroes or villains and fight other heroes and villains. If you’re a Marvel fan definitely check out this game as you will have a ton of fun, though if you’re not really a fan this game may not be the one for you but if you can try it out for a reasonable price then I’d recommend giving it a go.
Pros
- Great selection of characters
- Cel-Shaded style works well and looks great, but after the intro cut scene a more realistic style was expected
- Wii U Gamepad controls work well
Cons
- Fights against AI are very easy, with only the 4/5 star rankings being somewhat challenging during Story Mode
- If playing with the Wii U Gamepad you cannot play on the TV, unless you have a Wii Mote you can have varied camera views of the fight
- Wii Mote controls don’t feel fun, seems like a gimmick
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
You must be logged in to post a comment.