I received a rather personal one-on-one session at Gamescom for Ubisoft’s Kinect gaming showcase – because not a single other journalist turned up for the appointment – leaving me in a room, on my own, with excited developers who tried to convince me that their implementation of Kinect would result in a great game. One of the titles those masochists made me play – after four days of straight walking – was Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth.
In a new, motion-controlled brawler that has not a damned sausage to do with the recent Avengers film, you’ll get to play as one of 20 heroes from the Marvel universe, trying to put paid to a Skrull invasion. Playing the game’s single player, you’ll be able to select two heroes, and switch them out at anytime – something that should be second nature to those of you who play traditional fighting games.
Far more alien – about as alien as the Skrull, really – is actually having to physically do the moves – and you’ll have to use your arms and legs, flailing wildly to pull off over 80 different moves available to the 20 characters – including four unique super moves for each character. I played in a team comprised of The Amazing Spiderman and the Hulk – and what resulted, as you’d expect, was a heck of a lot of punching and dramatic gesticulation – which can be a lot of fun if you’re 12.
I’m not.
The game also features Vs, online multiplayer and arcade modes – and is coming for Kinect in November. It’s also headed to the Wii U – but no date’s been given for that version. We haven;t seen the full roster of heroes you’ll be able to embody – but I did notice one or two Skrull variants of heroes, which may or may not be cheating.
Last Updated: August 20, 2012
