The upcoming Marvel Avengers game (a collaboration from Square Enix, Crystal Dynamics and Marvel Entertainment) has already set tongues wagging in anticipation of how it’ll differ from the Marvel Cinematic Universe that we all know, love and quote with far too much regularity.
But there’s one key difference that I’m super pumped for, and after giving the game a go over the course of PAX AUS last weekend, I’m sold. For those who don’t know, PAX stands for Penny Arcade Expo, and it’s a convention that showcases the best that gaming has to offer.
During the convention I was fortunate enough to play through a training scene for Marvel’s Avengers, and I have become so obsessed with Kamala Khan that I want to adopt her.
<3
First revealed at the Marvel Games panel at New York Comic-Con, Kamala Khan (you may know her as Ms Marvel) is the newest addition to the game’s line-up of playable characters — but she’s so much more than that. She’s a linchpin for the game’s story line and she can make her hands real big.
No, really. If you’ve seen the game’s trailer, you’d know that due to an accident on A-Day (Avengers Day), San Francisco was covered in a substance called terrigen gas — a gas which has caused people to become inhuman.
After spending five years in hiding, Kamala and her powers resurface to bring the Avengers back together to face up to Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM), a science-focused corporation whose synthetic AIs are trying to stamp out any inhumans.
As you can see, Kamala’s power is polymorphism, which is very cool to me. In layman’s terms, it means she can change her body at will. And girl can get REAL BIG. We’re talking the ‘grow tall enough to stomp on your enemies’ kind of big. Even when she’s normal sized, she can grow her limbs to have big hands for big punchies.
The demo that I played through featured a training simulator called the HARM room, where 15 waves of enemies come to try and take you down as you come to grips with your powers. Now, I usually opt to play stealth games where I can get rid of enemies at range, but playing as Kamala is a whole different kettle of fish.
Her massive fists of fury can whack enemy henchmen into the wall from far enough away that it doesn’t send me into a panic, and when she grows her whole body, you can essentially just squish ’em.
big squishy
The thing that really made me fall for Kamala though, is that at her core she’s still just an Avengers superfan. She’s not trained, so her moves feel a bit more scrappy (which I’m all about) and yep, the newly formed hero still writes fanfiction about her fave Avenger: Captain Marvel.
While chatting with Scot Amos, Studio Head for Crystal Dynamics, we found that the studios behind the game are just as pumped for players to get their (admittedly normal-sized) hands on Kamala.
“She is one of the playable six heroes but she’s also a protagonist for the campaign,” he said. “It really is awesome for us because this whole story hinges on the fact that she’s a fan of the Avengers … We think players are going to instantly relate to her.”
it me
So not only will Kamala Khan be instrumental in the rejuvenation of the Avengers, but she’s a goddamn hero in her own right.
I want her to cradle me in her ’embiggened’ hands and tell me that everything is gonna be okay.
Please, it’s all I ask.
