IN THE (WAR) ZONE

Crystal Dynamics devs talk to Oscar Taylor-Kent about building Marvel’s Avengers’ heroic co-op multiplayer

- Oscar Taylor-Kent

With the Avengers having been disbanded for five years following the A-Day disaster, it’s up to the newly superpowered Kamala Khan (AKA Ms. Marvel) to get them back together, uncovering the nefarious schemes of Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM), which filled the vacuum of power with science.

Led by the villainous Modok, AIM’s plan to steal the Inhuman superpowers created on A-Day is hidden beneath a PR spiel that claims the organisation provides an alternate way to protect humanity. Marvel’s Avengers’ campaign promises a lengthy adventure where you get to play as Kamala, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow to bring AIM down. But it’s also just the start. As you customise your heroes with lootdropped gear you team up with your friends to tackle War Zone missions in co-op (or go solo with AI companions).

“Imagine the campaign as sort of the Kamala origin story, reassembling the Avengers, right? That’s the campaign. But that’s just the jumping-off point,” says creative director Shaun Escayg, (who was also creative director and writer on Uncharted: The Lost Legacy). “Once the campaign resolves […] it opens up [into] this sort of larger world and sort of AIM versus citizens, the superpowered, and the heroes themselves.” As any comic reader knows, a stomped threat rarely stays stomped for good, and the War Zone missions see you taking on AIM and other adversaries in an ongoing fight on behalf of factions from the Inhuman resistance to SHIELD agents Dum Dum Dugan, Maria Hill, and Nick Fury.

WAGING WAR