Marvel’s Avengers is more or less the next major step for several of the Avengers characters now that the record-breaking movies have come to a close. While Crystal Dynamics has made sure that the Avengers game is a completely new story, it’s still great to see Iron Man, Captain America, and the rest of the gang team up to take on the bad guys.
However, players aren’t limited to the five characters (Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow, Captain America, and Thor) we’ve already seen. A sixth character, who has not made any big-screen appearances yet, is joining the crew as a major part of the storyline and action. This character is none other than Kamala Khan, better known as Ms. Marvel.
For the less comic book-inclined out there, don’t get Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel confused. Captain Marvel, also known as Carol Danvers, was portrayed by Brie Larson in the Avengers and Captain Marvel movies. Ms. Marvel, on the other hand, is a relatively new character, first appearing in comics starting in 2013. Ms. Marvel has the ability to polymorph, or change the shape of her body. Basically, she can grow and shrink parts of her body at will to make her fists huge when pummeling bad guys, or stretch across a room, or even “embiggen” to become a gigantic version of herself to really cause destruction.
So how does Ms. Marvel work in Marvel’s Avengers? She’s very much a brawler character, focusing almost entirely on melee combat. If you want a true brawler experience, Ms. Marvel is your best bet even over more likely picks such as Hulk. Ms. Marvel uses her fists to knock some justice into enemies, and has a special move where she can hit a target with her palm for some major damage. She also has an ability that allows her to heal herself. Her ultimate ability causes her to grow until she’s around triple her original size, allowing you to really clear out anyone standing in your way.
At the demo for Ms. Marvel, I also had the opportunity to try out the intro tutorial level for Marvel’s Avengers. This means I got to try out every character announced so far for the game. There were minor camera problems with all the characters where the camera felt too close in on your character, making it hard to see enemies around you. This issue felt even worse with Ms. Marvel, and there were several instances in my short demo where I had to swing wildly at nearby enemies while they were just off-screen.
Despite the camera problems, Ms. Marvel was arguably the most fun Avenger to control. Her combos felt natural and because her moveset is pretty straightforward brawling, there were no confusing button presses or abilities to forget about. Like other fighters, Ms. Marvel has light and heavy attacks, and the buttons that perform those attacks can be held down for additional, more powerful attacks. Blending the quick tap attacks with the long hold attacks works perfectly, and I got the hang of this system immediately.
While the demo only provided limited glimpses into how Kamala/Ms. Marvel is integrated into the overall story for Marvel’s Avengers, it did show that she plays a major role. Kamala was present at A-Day, the opening moment of the story where San Francisco is attacked that ultimately results in the Avengers disbanding. Five years later, Kamala serves as a major force for reuniting the broken heroes to help save the day. Expect her to fill the story with wide-eyed naivete and charming humor.
There is still a long time until Marvel’s Avengers is released, so expect even more surprises to be announced before the game hits store shelves. Additionally, the team at Crystal Dynamics is planning on supporting Marvel’s Avengers long after release, so don’t be surprised if even more characters join the roster after launch.
Marvel’s Avengers releases for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia on May 15, 2020.
