Friday 15th January
Christ, I hate Friday nights sometimes. Yeah, OK, there’s no work the next day, but the telly offerings are shocking, and nobody ever goes out on a Friday these days.
To reduce the boredom I decided to have a bash on the Xbox. I’m sort of between games at the moment, having finished the very average Modern Warfare 2, and with the quite-good-but-would-be-infinitely-better-with-4-humans Left 4 Dead 2 to come next. I need other people (i.e. Mikey) to but L4D2, so I’m reluctant to play it yet.
Then I remembered I had some Microsoft points lying round, so I had a quick look round the marketplace. I fancied one of the classic beat-em-ups, and found Marvel v Capcom 2. After consulting the Eurogamer review (9/10), it was go! Go! GO!
It’s fast. I’m used to the slower and more considered Street Fighter IV, and in comparison this is incredibly quick. But you can see the potential technical aspects to it straight away, the use of off screen assists and aerial combos being of particular note. With a staggering 56 characters on offer from the start, and their respective strong/weak points to learn, it should be a grower. The 3 on 3 gameplay is taking some getting used to, but offers a fresh set of strategy options to a somewhat tired genre. Plus you can have Ken fighting Wolverine. That’s why it’s awesome.
