Marvel Contest of Champions

Marvel Contest of Champions

Developer(s) Kabam
Publisher(s) Kabam
Platform(s) iOS, Android
Release date(s) December 10, 2014
Genre(s) Fighting
Mode(s) Single-player, Multiplayer

Marvel Contest of Champions is a 2014 free-to-play mobile fighting game[1] developed and published by Kabam. It was released on December 10, 2014 for iOS and Android, and works on smartphones and tablets.[2] The fighting game is primarily set in Marvel universe. This includes Avengers, Thunderbolts, X-Men, Inhumans, Guardians of The Galaxy, the Brotherhood and X-Force.[3] This game requires an internet connection in order to play.

Kabam Creative Director Cuz Parry describes the game as a "one vs. one, arcade-style fighting game with multiplayer as well as RPG [Role Playing Game] elements with a quest/story mode where you're pitted against a wide range of heroes and villains from the Marvel Universe". Marvel Contest of Champions is based off a limited series of comic books where readers could find pages and pages of epic fights between the heroes.[4] Upon release in December 2014, the game was immediately named Editors’ Choice on the App Store in more than 100 countries has already exceeded 33 million downloads.[5]

Ultron Invades

To tie in with the release of the second Avengers movie, Age of Ultron, a range of Marvel games have been updated in late April to include Ultron-centric events and characters. Due to Marvel's movie and gaming divisions being so close (i.e. literally down the hall), this has enabled early and easy access to content. The other games involved in this Ultron tie in include Marvel Heroes, Marvel Puzzle Quest, Marvel Avengers Alliance and Marvel Pinball.[6] To assist in the Ultron missions, all Summoners (i.e. players) receive a 2 star Black Widow character.

In game screenshot of Marvel Contest of Champions showing the Ultron missions.

Gameplay

A game-play screenshot of Marvel Contest of Champions. Here, Spider-Man fights Captain America in the arena.

Gameplay of Marvel Contest of Champions is similar to that of Injustice: Gods Among Us and Mortal Kombat. The fighting arena is rendered in 3D, albeit the 2D plane for the superheroes' movements and actions. Players begin with two champions, and can collect up to 35 characters (25 total characters at launch) with more soon being added. Players will have access to characters like Iron Man, Spider-Man, Hulk, and even more, each with their own classes, movements, traits, abilities and special moves.

The game features an energy system that limits the number of quest-based battles players can compete. The energy recharges automatically over time or players can refill their energy manually. Additional crystals and other items may be found in chests as players finishes battles. In addition to quests, users can battle against opponents in the game’s PVP mode. The players can choose their own username to identify them in the battle and can go against others in one-on-one quick matches or three-on-three limited time arenas. Opponents are A.I. controlled and not by actual players in real-time.

The controls are designed especially for touch, with no need for buttons or virtual joysticks. There are a variety of basic attacks including light, medium, and heavy, as well as block. You can shuffle back or sprint forward, and each hero has 3 of their own unique special attacks, as well as abilities and a signature ability. Synergy Bonuses reward you for combining characters who have a unique relationship. For example, combining Black Bolt and Cyclops rewards your entire team with a +10% block proficiency. As stated by Cuz Parry from Kabam, "There is also a combo system that rewards players for mixing up their moves and performing well-timed blocks. The higher the combo, the faster your special attacks regenerate." [7] As you take damage and deal damage, you will fill up a special meter that powers your character’s unique moves. As you level up the heroes, more unique moves are possible, and these require you to save up for longer to use them.[8]

Characters can be leveled up by using ISO-8, gold and catalysts, which are all gained when fighting in story quests and special events. Class specific ISO's and Catalysts provide heroes of the specified class a bonus. XP is gained via story quests, and as you gain more XP, it will unlock the ability to add more heroes to your roster, starting from the initial 3 up to 5 heroes.[9] The gameplay of Marvel Contest of Champions is very similar to those in the Japanese social RPG scene. The game is also viewed as a competitor to DC's Injustice mobile game. There is an option to join alliances also, where you can chat amongst each other, help your teammates to earn alliance points which earns its own type of crystal. There is also a global chat feature where you can ask other players to help or just for general banter.

On 22 April 2015, a number of new features were added to the game. These include:

• Summoner Masteries - new beneficial effects for your Champions such as extra health, damage, chance of critical hit etc.

• Social Hub - access all social features here, includes friends list

• Duels - Take on other Summoners’ Champions for bragging rights and prizes

• Work together with your Alliance to complete objectives and receive rewards

• Ultron invades, new quests available due to release of Age of Ultron movie [10]

Characters

Marvel Contest of Champions currently features 35 playable characters, including the playable superheroes and villains. Some heroes and villains are rare, coming in exclusive "crystal packs" and arenas, such as Dr. Strange, Rocket Raccoon, Daredevil, and Ms. Marvel. The current roster is smart too, focusing on characters seen in Marvel's various filmic endeavours and forthcoming TV expansions.[11]

Playable Non-playable
Cosmic class Tech class Mutant class Skill class Science class Mystic class

Arenas

There are a number of different arenas where the fights take place. These include the Avenger's Tower, Dr. Strange's Dimension, Asteroid M, Asgard Throne Room, Asgard Vault, Dr. Strange's Sanctorum, The Kyln and the Asgard Power Station.[12]

Character Tiers

Playable characters can come in one of four tiers, signified by 1 through 4 stars. Not all characters are available in every tier, and while some can be obtained through various Crystals, others can only be obtained via the Versus tournaments.

In general, most characters who are obtained through a tournament eventually become available through some form of Crystal.

Character Class 1* 2* 3* 4*
Black Bolt Cosmic N Y Y N
Captain Marvel Cosmic N N Y Y
Drax Cosmic N Y Y Y
Gamora Cosmic Y Y Y Y
Ms. Marvel Cosmic N N Y Y
Ronan Cosmic N Y Y Y
Superior Iron Man Cosmic N Y Y Y
Thor Cosmic N Y Y Y
The Collector Cosmic N N N Y
Thanos Cosmic N N N Y
Iron Man Tech Y Y Y Y
Rocket Raccoon Tech N N Y Y
Star-Lord Tech N Y Y Y
Vision Tech Y Y Y Y
Ultron Tech Y Y Y N
Kang the Conqueror Tech N N N Y
Colossus Mutant Y Y Y Y
Cyclops Mutant N Y Y Y
Deadpool Mutant N Y Y Y
Storm Mutant N Y Y Y
Wolverine Mutant Y Y Y Y
Magneto Mutant N N N Y
Black Panther Skill Y Y Y Y
Black Widow Skill ? Y ? ?
Daredevil Skill N N Y Y
Hawkeye Skill Y Y Y Y
Punisher Skill N Y Y Y
Winter Soldier Skill N Y Y Y
Abomination Science N Y Y N
Captain America Science N Y Y Y
Electro Science N N Y Y
Hulk Science Y Y Y Y
Rhino Science N Y Y Y
Spider-Man Science Y Y Y Y
The Maestro Science N N N Y
Dr. Strange Mystic N N Y Y
Iron Fist Mystic N Y Y Y
Juggernaut Mystic Y Y Y Y
Magik Mystic N Y Y Y
Scarlet Witch Mystic Y Y Y N
Unstoppable Colossus Mystic N Y Y N
Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings(iOS) 75.00%[13]
Metacritic(iOS) 76/100[14]

Character Classes

Each character is assigned to one of six classes: Cosmic, Tech, Mutant, Skill, Science and Mystic. There are relationships between the classes and certain classes have an advantage over others. Here is a list of the class relationships. (Stronger class on the left; weaker class on the right.)

Cosmic > Tech > Mutant > Skill > Science > Mystic > Cosmic

Expansion to China

On 28 April 2015, Kabam and Longtu Games announced a strategic agreement for Longtu to distribute Kabam’s popular mobile game Marvel Contest of Champions in China, in late 2015. Marvel Contest of Champions will be Kabam’s first game created for the West, then being published in China, with some elements to be culturalised. “Our goal is to provide the same high fidelity graphics that players in the West enjoy, in a gameplay experience that will resonate with gamers in China. Longtu is one of the most successful games publisher in China and is just the right partner to help us do this.” said Kabam CEO Kevin Chou.

Longtu CEO Shenghui Yang says “Kabam has proven time and again to be the industry’s best steward of iconic Hollywood franchises, we believe Marvel Contest of Champions is the next big hit in China. Leveraging Kabam's expertise in developing hit games and Longtu's industry leadership in publishing popular games in China, this is an unbeatable partnership.” [15]

References