Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (KManX89)

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is a 2017 crossover fighting game developed and published by Capcom. It is the sequel to Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and the sixth entry in the titular Marvel vs. Capcom series of fighting games. Like previous entries, characters from both the Marvel and Capcom universes unite to compete in a series of tag-team battles.

The game was built from the ground up using Unreal Engine 4. It features whole new fight mechanics designed to create accessibility from previous installments. Unlike previous entries, it features a very cinematic feel, using photorealistic graphics as opposed to the comic book-style cell-shaded visuals from its predecessor, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The game also features the series' first-ever Story Mode as well as the all-new Cinematic Mode for PlayStation VR users, rendering the game's assets in motion picture-inspired 3D effects. Also included in the PSVR-exclusive Cinematic Mode is a VR Guardians of the Galaxy Milano ship mission featured in the Story Mode.

The game is slated for release on September 19, 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows.

Base

 * Story: Full cinematic story mode. Heroes and villains from the Marvel and Capcom universes unite to collect the Infinity Stones and stop Ultron Sigma.
 * Arcade: Select a pair of fighters and fight a random series of CPU opponents until you face the end boss.
 * Versus: Fight against another player or CPU in singles matches.
 * Player vs CPU
 * Player vs. Player
 * 2-Player vs. CPU


 * Infinite Survival: Face an endless string of random CPU opponents with the Infinity Gauntlet. Withstand as many enemies as possible while controlling all 6 Stones simultaneously. As a newly-implemented feature, foes keep jumping into the stage in rapid succession as opposed to each fight being separated by rounds.
 * Mission: Complete various tutorials or character-specific challenges.
 * Training: Hone your skills against a bot using set parameters in order to hone your skills.
 * Online: Play against other players online in a number of different modes:
 * Casual Match (2 players): Battle other players online without the results affecting your rank.
 * Ranked Match (2 players): Battle other players online to advance in the rankings.
 * Scramble: (2-4 players): Tag bout where both fighters on each team occupy the screen at the same time, each controlled by individual players or player/CPU.
 * Team Battle (6-10 players): A variant of Street Fighter V and Ultra Street Fighter IV 's Team Battle mode. Teams of up to 5 players duel each other in succession until all players from one side are eliminated. Players can be actively tagged in by the point player at any time. Only 2 players on each team are idle at a time, however.
 * King of the Gauntlet (4-8 players): Starts with a preliminary one-on-one match between the first two players in a party of up to 8, each combatant wielding 3 Infinity Stones with the winner obtaining the Infinity Gauntlet. He or she will then face all other partied players one-by-one with the challengers lacking Stones until he or she is defeated. Afterwards, the newly-crowned Infinity Gauntlet wielder will face all other players in a reset queue. Defeated players have the option to change their character should they so please.
 * Collection: View all the unlockable media content straight from Dr. Light's library:
 * Movies: Replay the cutscenes from the Story Mode.
 * Characters: Read character bios and view character models and (unlocked) character endings.
 * Soundtrack: Hear character themes and other in-game music.
 * Artwork: View concept art for the game.
 * Voices: Hear all character voices.


 * Options: Change game settings.

Bonus/DLC
The following game modes were later added as DLC throughout each of the seasoned digital updates for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite.

Season 2

 * Story Mode v2.0: Updated Story Mode complete with new chapters, new battles, all DLC characters from season 1 and 2, Sentinels and Doombots as new enemies, NPC bosses, new stages, and 3-v-3 bouts.
 * Challenge: Compete in a series of 10 bouts against random CPU teams with random challenge modifiers applied to each fight, such as X Factor (from MvC3), falling loot crates, two Stones (or no Stones), random stage effects, SFxT's Pandora Mode (which grants the user infinite Meter, use of Stones and damage boost at the expense of a partner and gradually health), etc. Also available online.
 * Chaos: A side-scrolling, beat-'em-up-styled game mode similar to Tekken 's Scenario Mode. Teams of 3 can roam around open world stages from MvCI as part of season 2's newly-implemented 3-on-3 format. Infinity Stones and power-ups, such as X Factor are randomly scattered around each stage and can be picked up during battle. Can be played either online with other players or offline with AI-controlled partners (who can be swapped at any time) and enemies.
 * Sentinel VR Battle (PlayStation 4 exclusive): A first-person fight mode exclusive to PlayStation VR. Players are divided into teams of 8 and battle with and against other PSVR users in an open world Manhattan with each side either controlling Sentinels or Heroes. Each Hero has their own unique abilities, including flight depending on the character. Also compatible with PlayStation Move.
 * Playable Heroes: Iron Man, Star-Lord, Wolverine, Captain Marvel, Ryu, X, Nina and Monster Hunter.

Season 3

 * MvC Zombies: A Marvel Zombies-themed spiritual successor to Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 's Heroes and Heralds Mode. Defend the Earth from a zombie (B.O.W.) apocalypse as Team Heroes or help Wesker achieve his goal of human saturation by infecting the remaining Heroes (via defeating them in battle) as Team Zombies in special 4-on-4 battles. Each side is responsible for quarantining or infecting contested zones with the infection rate affecting the amount of B.O.W.s occupying each area. Unique ability cards can be obtained as well as Stones and weapons from the Marvel and Capcom universes.
 * Mutant Reckoning: Story Mode expansion. Scarlet Witch, under her father, Magneto's leadership is attempting an incursion of all 9 Nordic realms using a unique weapon with Midgard (Earth) via Xgard as the collision point. It's up to a new squad of heroes, led by fellow mutant, Psylocke to stop her.

Season 4

 * Devastation: A second story expansion. After Scarlet Witch's plan failed, Silver Surfer returns to earth to warn the heroes of a new, universal-level threat... the reawakening of the destruction God, Abyss! With unparalleled destruction imminent, the heroes go to recruit an unlikely comrade to help stop this new threat once and for all: Akuma.
 * Boss Mode: A new unlockable mode allowing you to play as either of the end bosses upon earning and successfully completing a secret boss battle against Akuma Thanos, a new secret boss encompassing the merged form of the two behemoths in an alternate ending to the game's story.

Plot
One day in the Marvel universe, a spontaneous convergence occurs, merging them with the Capcom world. The architect of the convergence is none other than Ultron Sigma, the merged form of Ultron and Sigma, the robotic foes of the Avengers and Mega Man X, respectively, using the Reality and Space Infinity Stones. United as one, they've unleashed an evolved form of the Sigma Virus in an attempt to purge all organic life, turning them into cyborgs and thereby placing them under his control. 88 days after the convergence, upon learning that Ultron Sigma has infected and taken over all of Hydraloo with the Sigma Virus, A.I.M.Brella lead researcher and bioterrorist, Albert Wesker devises a plan of his own with its leader, M.O.D.O.K. via satellite cams, who orders him to retrieve the Mind Stone. Having already retrieved a secret sample, he reveals his plan is going smoothly and is about to begin the next phase as they prepare to use the captured Hawkeye in furtherance of their own goals, having imprisoned him in one of their stasis tubes.

Some time later, in Hongshiang (the emergence of Marvel's iteration of Hong Kong and Lanshiang from the Resident Evil universe), the city is under attack by a siege of Hunters deployed by A.I.M.Brella. As Hydraloo sends Dreadnoughts to battle them, XHydrants (Hydraloo guards infected by the Sigma Virus) begin searching for a fugitive. As they search the city ruins, they are suddenly attacked by a passerby Strider, who begins fleeing the ensuing chaos after getting lost in the city. Along the way, he runs into a rogue Chun-Li, who destroys all incoming monsters and cyborgs, being sent to hunt A.I.M.Brella and Hydraloo forces by the Striders and Interpol, respectably. They escape through the ravaged streets together, evading all incoming threats. After eventually taking out a unit of XHydrants, they continue fleeing, only to run into a Hydraloo Terror-Carrier, who fires at them through the air. They evade its fire until it gets taken down by a silhouetted mercenary. Revealing herself as Juri Han, she leads them straight to the Hydraloo main headquarters via side street, defeating safeguarding Hydraloo Dolls and Ultron drones upon their arrival. Juri leads the two into the Control Center upon clearing out more Dolls where they discover that Hydraloo is harboring Psycho Powered doomsday weapons known as the Black Moons that could destroy the merged world, but she knew the code to deactivate them. She escorts them into the H.I.N. (formerly Shadaloo's S.I.N.) portion of their base which had been merged following the convergence. However, they encounter Albert Wesker standing beside a downed Vega, having seized their assets for himself. Juri betrays Stridr and Chun-Li in the double-crossing and reveals her allegiance to Wesker. After easily defeating the heroes, they try to asphyxiate them, exerting their dominance, but are subdued by Juri's rival, M. Bison, who's been infected with the Sigma Virus, allowing Strider and Chun-Li to escape. Juri and Wesker manage to defeat Bison and order his imprisonment via Third Energy Raft along with the Dolls.

Some time later, following an anonymous phone call exchange between Albert Wesker, members of S.H.I.E.L.D. arrive outside the base via Quinjet to retrieve Strider and Chun-Li. Director Nick Fury appears alongside Black Widow, Captain Commando, D.S.O.'s Leon Kennedy and S.O.R.T.'s Regina, who have been invited to take command after joining S.H.I.E.L.D. as part of the United States government following the convergence. Informing them of the double-crossing, they explain that Wesker had colluded with Juri to build a B.O.W. using the acquired sample, having imprisoned Hawkeye after retrieving it from him and unleashed a planet-devouring force in the process. With various alien races locked in an intergalactic war for the Soul Stone in an effort to stop it, the Skrulls had built an omega weapon of their own using Hydraloo's completed BLECE engine in exchange for Super Skrull drones, which are now in Wesker's possession along with the Black Moons. Fearing an incursion, the Guardians of the Galaxy joined Captain Marvel's Alpha Flight space team to battle the Skrulls, destroying Skrull ships and their fleet harboring the weapon via their Milano ship. However, they were too late as the entity arrived, narrowly escaping death at the hands of Captain Marvel.

During this time, at the Alpha Flight Space Station, with the entity quickly approaching the Dark Kingdom, Captain Marvel searches the database for a weapon that can defeat it, pulling up a superpowered Goddess named Nina on her supercomputer. She teleports to Draghala in search of her, during which time, a pair of Kree henchmen discover the Guardians' Milano ship which crashlanded in their escape atttempt. Searching the premise for bodies, they're taken by surprise via Star-Lord's elemental gun and Rocket's Laser Cannon. They escape out into the open wastelands and join Captain Marvel and Nina in a rogue hunt for battling Dragon Clan and Kree soldiers, who are locked in a war for control of their merged world. Alerting their superiors, the leaders of the two clans, Zog and Ronan the Accuser, respectively agree to set aside their differences and track them down together. Searching for Ryu Bateson, Nina is eventually found by Captain Marvel, who tries to recruit her in an attempt to stop the approaching entity. Nina initially declines and battles Captain Marvel, taking her for a threat. However, they find themselves joining forces with the arrival of Ronan and Zog, defeating them together. Rocket and Star-Lord show up to greet the two victorious goddesses. They're double-crossed, however, as they're met with the arrival of the planet destroyer. The Alpha Flight Space Program loses contact as the entity obliterate Draghala, seemingly taking them with it.

During the invasion of Draghala, Dr. Strange searches the Dark Kingdom for the Soul Stone along with an inhabitant, Morrigan, which is under attack by an endless swarm of Mindless Ones after being summoned by Dormammu via a mysterious force, who speaks to them telepathically. Causing mystic distortions and ripple effects within the dimension, they battle their way through the Mindless Ones in search of the gateway. Eventually discovering a Hell Gate marked with the Satsui no Hado emblem, Dr. Strange tries to destroy the Hell Gate using his magic, but is unsuccessful, being sealed by a mysterious force. Morrigan continues to fend off the Mindless Ones and finds the Eye of Agamotto inside a nearby chest which destroys the Hell Gate. After shattering the Hell Gate, they find a mutant wreath-like crevice harboring an organic substance buried inside it. However, it causes a giant rift as it levitates off the surface, welding the nearby pathways together to form a graveyard composed of dark matter in the transformation. The Chituari emerge, revealed to be trapped inside the other end of the void within the Hell Gate. As Dr. Strange and Morrigan battle the Chituari, the dimension suffers more ripple effects, slowly withering away. With the land deteriorating, Ghost Rider arrives on his motorcycle, rounding up the remaining Hell Gates on his chain and smashes them against the Chituari. Using his magic, Dr. Strange summons the Devil Arms from the remaining chests and destroys the Hell Gates. In doing so, the Eye of Agamotto creates another terra-forming fissure as the ground crumbles beneath them, leaving nothing but scattered landmasses floating in the air. In the space surrounding them lies vortexes from which Chituari Leviathan begin to emerge. With the approaching Leviathan set to devour the floating Soul Stone, Morrigan's own Aensland Castle and even themselves, Dr. Strange casts another spell, chaining the landmasses together and launches them at the Leviathan while Morrigan defends her base with missiles. After obliterating the Leviathan, Strange merges them back together and reforms the terrain.

After searching the reformed dimension, Dr. Strange finds the Soul Stone and proceeds to revive the injured Morrigan. As she awakens, Strange's nemesis, Dormammu appears through a portal with the reality-controlling Kobik cosmic cube and Cosmic Control Rod. He bids to merge the converged world with the Negative Gen (the Negative Zone from the Fantastic Four universe merged with the Majigen from Darkstalkers) using the Kobik, thereby placing all beings under his control in a deal with Jedah, granting him rule of the Dark Dimension. Using the Kobik, Dormammu creates a gateway between the two dimensions inside the mutant structure and begins the process. With enslavement imminent, Strange casts a spell, linking the Soul Stone with the portal and destroys the Kobik via Soul energy, preventing the convergence. With the Kobik shards getting sucked into the portal, Strange banishes Dormammu to the Negative Gen through the portal using the Soul Stone. However, the Soul Stone gets sucked into the gateway device by an unknown force in the process.

As this is happening, Wesker plays an archive of the newly-formed Ultron Sigma's speech at the dawn of the convergence via satellite screens at A.I.M.Brella's HQ. Laying claim to Ultron Sigma's Godhood aspirations, Wesker contends he will soon own the keys to his own-and humanity's-destruction, having already decimated entire galaxies and even his own Hydraloo servants and that he will soon learn to fear him.

Meanwhile, back at base, Captain Marvel notifies the group that they were able to nullify the cosmic force with the help of newly-recruited ally, Nina, of whom she is returning to base along with the Guardians of the Galaxy. As she signs off, F.O.S. agent Ingrid Hannigan contacts Iron Man about a time displacement pertaining to images picked up from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s satellites following the convergence. Showing a WW2-era Hydra concentration camp merged with an African TRICELL lab in which Red Skull infected refugees with a stolen Plaga and a post-Destruction Incident Raccoon City sign located on the Brooklyn Bridge, Ingrid reveals that the time jump was caused by the detected presence of Third Energy near Rybis Island. Moreover, Wesker plans to use it for his own gain in another insidious plot, having caused the destruction of Raccoon City two decades ago via t-Virus outbreak. During this time, Dr. Strange appears via portal, informing the heroes that he lost the Soul Stone inside the gateway device in thwarting Dormammu's attempted purge of Earth via the Kobik. Sensing a connection, Thor suddenly shows up and informs the heroes that Ultron Sigma has returned and plans to capture the remaining four Infinity Stones after placing his fellow Asgardians under his control via the Sigma Virus. As the heroes concoct a plan to retrieve the Stones, the Avengers Tower is suddenly attacked by a symbiote, turning the heroes against each other as it seeps through the Tower interior. During the in-fighting, Dr. Strange casts a spell to repel the symbiote from the infected heroes with the help of Thor's Hammer. With the Tower defenses down, Loki arrives and mocks his brother, Thor for failing to end the convergence and destroy Ultron Sigma when given the chance. Claiming to uphold justice, Thor battles Loki. As Thor obliterates his kin, Dr. Strange casts a spell, allowing Thor to trap Loki inside a frozen symbiote strand with his Hammer. However, Jedah arrives and frees Loki, sinking away with him inside the symbiote.

Following Loki's departure, Captain America takes issue with Thor, feeling betrayed at his brother's revelation, but Dr. Strange breaks them up following a heated fight, claiming that Jedah is systematically manipulating events in light of Dormammu surrendering the Dark Kingdom to him. His theory proves true when he plays back events to the group using the Eye of Agamotto, revealing how he obtained the Kobik.

After the fall of his master at the hands of Ultron Sigma, Jedah led his forces to Xgard using his Cosmic Control Rod, which had now been taken over by Ultron Sigma. With an invasion looming, Loki, at the behest of Mistress Death, enlists the help of his brother, Thor, to retrieve the Kobik buried in a secret vault underneath the palace in an attempt to destroy Ultron Sigma and end the convergence once and for all while freeing their fellow Asgardians in the process. Meanwhile, Jedah, fearing the imminent discovery of the Soul Stone, strikes a deal with Dormammu, offering him reigns to the merged world and all its inhabitants, including Ultron Sigma as well as his own Negative Gen army in exchange for control of the Dark Kingdom. As Loki ventures the Underground Prison, Ultron Sigma sends his Xgardians after Thor upon entering the Throne Room. Loki enters with the Kobik after Thor defeats the Xgardians with which he revives and turns them against their master, luring Ultron Sigma to attack. Loki intercepts him with the Kobik, splitting Ultron Sigma to their standalone forms and obtaining the Space and Reality Stones from them. After defeating Ultron and Sigma with the Stones, Loki demands their immediate extermination. Thor refuses, claiming they must be held to answer for their crimes. During the ensuing argument, Dormammu appears and takes the nearby Kobik, secretly waiting in the wings. Betrayed, Thor and Loki battle. However, before a decisive victor is crowned, a suddenly-revived Ultron Sigma emerges and snares the Infinity Stones from their hands. Ultron Sigma then appears to destroy them both. However, they're taken away by a mysterious force with Thor appearing back at Avengers Tower.

With the truth revealed, Dr. Thomas Light informs the heroes via the Tower's secondary power source that the Third Energy was responsible for creating an alien symbiote when coming into contact with the Baxter Building's Negative Gen portal. During which time, Leon Kennedy arrives with S.H.I.E.L.D. in their Quinjet, revealing that Wesker plans to merge the symbiote with the sample stolen in the heist leading to Hawkeye's capture. With Wesker planning to take control of the city-and soon, the world-Leon leads the heroes to Hell's City to recruit DareDevil for intel on a crime syndicate run by Wilson Fisk. During this time, Wesker sends A.I.M.Brella's top mercenary, HUNK to the R.P.D. to retrieve data pertaining to said program as he prepares to collect needed combat data on the heroes. Meanwhile, a mysterious man can be seen observing Wesker live from a computer via encrypted file after briefly watching Oscorp CEO, Norman Osborn's televised press conference revealing the company's planned weaponization of newfound Third Energy against growing crime waves.

Base Roster
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite will feature a base roster of 36 playable characters from the Marvel and Capcom universes. Among them are 16 newcomers to the series with more to be added post-launch via downloadable content (DLC).

DLC
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite will release 6 post-launch DLC characters throughout the year, bringing the total roster to 42 characters. A season 2 digital update, which can be redeemed free of charge with the Season Pass, will add 6 more characters to the roster and a plethora of additional content. A third season update, which will bring the total roster to 54 characters, is planned for 2019 which will further expand the contents of the game along with a fourth in 2020, bringing the roster to 60 characters. Each subsequent seasonal update will feature X-Men and Fantastic Four characters, who have been omitted from the game's initial roster and DLC plans due to a licensing dispute with 20th Century Fox, who own the motion picture rights to said franchises.

Enemies

 * Kree
 * XGardians
 * Mindless Ones
 * Ultron Drones
 * Dragon Clan
 * A.I.M.Brella Soldiers
 * Sins
 * Velociraptors
 * B.O.W.s

Bosses

 * AB.O.W.mination (Abomination mutated into a Tyrant via G-Virus)
 * Tyrannosaurus Rex
 * Mutant Wesker
 * M. Bison
 * Ultron Sigma (Sub-Boss)
 * Ultron Omega (Final Boss)

Assist Characters
Several characters have their own NPCs used for assists during hyper combos.

Stages
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite will feature 17 stages where you fight against either a CPU or another player-controlled opponent. More will be added post-launch via DLC.

Locations
Due to the game's storyline, most stages in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite are a combination of iconic locations or ideas from both worlds.

Trivia

 * The season 2 update features Wolverine's new burning claws ability as seen in the recent X-Men comics, and the first Marvel vs. Capcom game to utilize his burning claws.
 * Punisher's level 1 hyper (Capital Punishment) was originally supposed to feature Punisher visibly torturing the character (suspended via rope) on-screen as seen in the comics and 2005 game. However, this was changed during development due to concerns that it would earn the game an M rating by the ESRB. Instead, the screen blacks out with body-piercing sounds heard in the background.
 * Similarly, THQ had to make cuts of their own to the titular 2005 game after originally receiving an AO ("Adults Only") rating due to the gruesome depictions of torture and dismemberment.
 * Demitri's gender-bending Midnight Bliss hyper attack reportedly used preexisting character assets in place of several characters in order to cut development time and costs. These include Hela, Death, Elektra, Alex Wesker, Spider-Gwen, the comic-based female forms of Loki and Ultron and Jane Foster's iteration of Thor in place of Juri, Ghost Rider, DareDevil, Albert Wesker, Spider-Man, Loki, Ultron and Thor Odinson, respectively.
 * The move similarly swaps Chun-Li with her famous Battle Costume iteration from Street Fighter V and Jedah with his blonde female form from Darkstalkers III.
 * Leon Kennedy was chosen as the Resiident Evil rep on the Capcom side (with Ada Wong as a Season 2 DLC character) in order to promote the upcoming Resident Evil 2 remake. Likewise, Hell's City, a mixture of DareDevil 's Hell's Kitchen and Resident Evil 's Raccoon City features the R.P.D. from Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.
 * Blade's inclusion in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite was supposedly made as a promotion for a Blade Netflix series that's been teased with the release of a new Marvel Legends figure.
 * In August 2018, rumors began to surface that Wesley Snipes is in ongoing talks to bring Blade to the Marvel Cinematic Universe following the currently-untitled Avengers 4 with two potential projects.
 * Blade was also reportedly included as a potential pairing with Dante in an interview with GameSpot.
 * Blade was originally featured in Jill's character ending in (Ultimate) Marvel vs. Capcom 3. He was also planned to be a playable character, but was cut due to concerns that he'd be play too similarly to Deadpool.
 * Rumors suggest that Marvel originally planned to use Gamora, but instead featured Star-Lord, the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy on the base roster and used planned assets for Blade due to the characters being more prominent and popular.