Marvel’s Avengers stream reveals MODOK, new solo and co-op gameplay

Crystal Dynamics offered a new look at Marvel’s Avengers, the upcoming single-player and cooperative action-adventure game, on Wednesday during its War Table livestream. Here’s what we learned.

MODOK is the big bad

We’ve seen a few Marvel villains, like the Abomination and Taskmaster, in gameplay snippets from Marvel’s Avengers. Players will also battle hundreds of mechanized soldiers and robots built by AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics), which deploys its creations under the guise of security after the Avengers disband. At the head of AIM is George Tarleton, better known as MODOK (aka the Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing). Ms. Marvel has an encounter with Tarleton in a new story trailer — you can watch it above — released during the War Table livestream, which apparently kicks off Kamala Khan’s journey to reunite the fractured Avengers.

More story insight from Thor’s Hero Mission, “Once An Avenger”

In what appears to be an early mission from Marvel’s Avengers, Thor returns — dressed as his alter-ego, Donald Blake — to help the Avengers take on an AIM threat and prevent the crash of the helicarrier known as the Chimera. Thor teams up with Hulk, Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, and Black Widow as MODOK taunts them — MODOK accuses Thor of being responsible for Captain America’s death in the game.

Hero Missions is Crystal Dynamics’ name for story-based single-player missions, and will move the story-based campaign forward. This particular Hero Mission showcases Thor’s melee and ranged abilities, as well as his ultimate, in which he summons the Bifrost to break through enemy shields.

The preview for “Once An Avenger” appears to show a modern-day version of Phil Sheldon, the newspaper reporter/photographer at the center of the 1994 Marvels miniseries. Sheldon appears as a television reporter.

A look at co-op War Zones

War Zones are repeatable, cooperative missions that take place in “wide-open spaces” and “dense interiors,” where players will take their customizable Avengers out for a spin. Each hero in The Avengers has “dozens” of unlockable cosmetic outfits, some of which can be earned by completing missions and objectives, and some of which will only be available through an in-game marketplace. Those outfits draw inspiration from classic comic book and Marvel Cinematic Universe designs. Unlockable powers and gear also draw from the various Marvel universes: Black Widow has her Widow’s Bite, while Thor can charge up his teammates with his lightning-based powers.

As players embark on co-op missions, they’ll work with a variety of factions, including an Inhuman resistance group and former SHIELD members, such as Nick Fury and Dum Dum Dugan. (Anyone who has played Destiny will find much of Marvel’s Avengers faction interactions very familiar looking.) Players will also rebuild their own helicarrier, and team up with other players for special two-on-one finishing moves.

It also appears that players will get access to Iron Man’s Hulkbuster armor at some point.

Marvel’s Avengers will be released Sept. 4 for Google Stadia, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows PC. Square Enix confirmed earlier this week the superhero game will also be playable on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, and that those who purchase a PS4 or Xbox One version of the game will get a next-gen upgrade for free.

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