Marvel's Avengers Game War Table Features Intense Thor Gameplay, Customization, And More

The Avengers War Table stream gave more details on the upcoming superhero game from Crystal Dynamics, and opened with a big story reveal that outlined the central villain. The presentation also shared loads of gameplay details, including customization options and an in-depth look at Thor. We also saw footage from another character who appears to be the actual main character, as well as a brief look at cooperative action. It's shaping up to be a huge adventure, and the characters you customize will be different from your friends. Here's what we learned.

MODOK

As detailed in the new trailer, the protagonist Kamala Khan (aka Ms. Marvel) doesn't trust the promises of AIM, an organization founded by Dr. George Tarleton. Khan believes AIM is experimenting on humans and framed the Avengers. At one point, the trailer also mentions that AIM is looking to cure the "Inhuman infection," and comic fans may recognize that Kamala herself is an Inhuman.

Later in the video, Tarleton appears to confront Kamala and attempts to recruit her to his side, but she refuses. By the end of the trailer, Tarleton has become the supervillain MODOK, complete with his enormous head and mechanized hovercraft.

Thor Gameplay

As Khan picks up the Avengers' trail following their disbandment, you'll advance the story campaign and unlock hero-specific missions--single-player story quests that revolve around a specific playable character. During the stream, we got to see one hero mission called "Once an Avenger," which centers on Thor.

The mission begins with Thor doing battle against AIM bots. The god of thunder wields his signature hammer Mjolnir and can use it to bash foes with melee attacks or throw it to attack enemies from afar. Crystal Dynamics says that combat versatility is one of Thor's strengths; he can string together combos of heavy and light attacks, fly around the air, and rain lightning down on foes.

Partway through the mission, Thor meets up with Hulk, who assists in taking down a larger bot. Iron Man also joins the battle toward the end of the gameplay clip, and with his help, the three Avengers are able to destroy the large AIM bot and successfully complete the mission.

Customization, Tech Tree, And Heroic Moves

The presentation then went on to explore the customization options. A tech tree showed branches for Melee, Ranged, Intrinsic Ability, and Intrinsic Overcharge. One of Thor's unlockable abilities, for example, was manual targeting for his hammer, Mjolnir. In addition to unlocking your tech tree, you can also use skill unlocks for upgraded or alternate versions of attacks.

Gear, Perks, and Artifacts offer more customization. Those include attack buffs like Plasma and Gamma that can change the look and power of your attacks, as well as special effects like shrinking enemies. The presentation promised dozens of outfits based on famous looks for the heroes, as well as emotes. You'll buy new cosmetics from vendor Chastity McBride. Some outfits require Iconic Mission chains to unlock, while others are only unlockable as paid content.

The customization section also explored their Heroic Moves, which come in three varieties: Assault, Support, and Ultimate. Assault charges the fastest and can even store multiple charges, and are essentially strengthened attacks. We saw Kamala grow to a huge size, Iron Man use a chest repulsor, and Black Widow's "Widow's Bite" projectile. Support has a longer charge than Assault, and gives effects to team members. Thor's, for example, grants temporary invulnerability to nearby teammates. Finally, Ultimate abilities take the most charge time and are the most powerful. Again using Thor as an example, the presentation showed him using the power of the Bifrost to eliminate an otherwise unbreakable shield.

Co-Op And Warzones

Crystal Dynamics closed out the War Table stream with a look at Warzones. These are co-op missions that can be played either with up to three other human players or solo with a team of AI companions. You'll always make forward progress with your heroes whether you play Hero Missions or Warzones, and you can launch missions from the war table in your Helicarrier.

Warzones range from wide-open areas to dense, interior spaces, and they have a variety of different objectives to complete, bosses to stop, and rewards to earn. Crystal Dynamics says each Warzone mission is grounded in the storyline, so you'll be continually making progress in your battle against AIM.

After selecting a mission, you'll board the Quinjet, where you'll be able to matchmake, switch your hero, and choose a loadout and costume. Once the mission is underway, you'll need to work together with your teammates to succeed. You can team up with another hero to perform devastating team finisher when you max out a larger enemy's stun meter.

As you work your way through the story, you'll be rebuilding and upgrading your Helicarrier, which will serve as your own flying base. You'll also be working together with various members of the Resistance, those who've refused to pledge allegiance to AIM. You'll team up with different Resistance factions like the Inhuman Alliance, and earning faction reputation will open up new challenges, vendors, and more powerful items.

Marvel's Avengers is coming on September 4 to PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

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