Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite's first gameplay trailer shakes up the fighting formula

Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite was announced with an awesome CG trailer yesterday, and now we have our first look at actual gameplay, which debuted at last night's Capcom Cup. The series' over-the-top fighting is present, but there seem to be quite a few changes to the well-known formula.

First off, the change from 3v3 battles to 2v2 is immediately present, and while the super moves are still as crazy and delightfully excessive, the gameplay looks closer to 2011's Tatsunoko vs Capcom, a popular fighting game released exclusively on the Wii, with a few twists.

The actual tagging, where you call your second fighter in, looks more like Street Fighter X Tekken. In MvC 3, players would tag a character in and that character would introduce themselves by attacking their opponent. However, Infinite looks like it'll ask players to time the tagged character's first attack in order to keep a combo going.

Other changes seem to have been made to the Marvel vs Capcom system as well. Wall bounces are still present, allowing you to send an enemy flying backwards, knowing full well that they'll come back to you with a nicely timed bounce. However, MvC 3's Assist attacks and launches are not present in the trailer. Assists are used in battle by having a resting character send out a single attack to help without actually tagging into the fight. 

Launches, on the other hand, were a big part of MvC 3's combo system. You'd hit a button to launch a character into the air, allowing you to jump up and punish them to your liking. This also allowed for tagging other characters in during the mid-air assault and giving everyone on your team a piece of that sweet, sweet combo pie.

The game's Infinity Stones are also demonstrated. We see Ryu trigger the Power Stone before bullying his opponent with an onslaught of attacks—there also seems to be a unique Stone-based attack in there, too. Captain Marvel also gets her turn, activating the Time Stone, which seems to make her go faster. At one point, she teleports through Ryu, kicking off a combo from behind the Street Fighter character.

Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite releases for PC next year. You can read up on more details about it here. In addition to the new fighting game, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 is making its way to PC in March 2017. It'll cost $25 and includes a new gallery mode and all previously released DLC.

Latest in Fighting
Dancouga blasting the heck out of Mazinger Z in crossover mecha fighter Iron Saga VS
This fighter is Marvel Vs Capcom for classic mecha anime sickos, launching into early access with a strategy RPG story mode on its heels
The four Ninja Turtles, back to back, slam their shells into Brainiac
Great moments in PC gaming: Injustice 2's over-the-top super moves
2XKO promo image - Ahri
2XKO fans despair for a 2025 release as Riot pushes back a planned 'larger-scale global playtest' in favor of a 'much smaller one'
The Joker in MultiVersus
MultiVersus is somehow using its dying breath to go full looney tunes and put out what may be one of its best patches, and now fans want it to be saved
Virtua Fighter 5 key art
Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. isn't just a PC port of a 19-year-old game: it's the reason a diehard fighting game community can 'finally reach out and play with each other across the world'
Tasmanian Devil
Multiversus director addresses fans angered by its upcoming closure: 'You're entitled to what you say and think, but when there are threats to harm it's crossing the line'
Latest in News
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'
Starfield: Shattered Space
By the time Bethesda was on Starfield, you'd 'basically get in trouble' for breaking schedule, says former dev: 'A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having the freedom to do what you want'
Otter AI Meeting Agent
As if your work meetings weren't already fun enough, now Otter has a new all-hearing AI agent that remembers everything anyone has said and can join in the discussion
Monster Hunter Wilds' stockpile master studying a manifest
As layoffs and studio closures continue to deathroll the western AAA industry, analyst points out 5 of 8 major Japanese companies hit all-time share prices this year