Once I visited Skybound Leisure to get my palms on Invincible VS forward of its June reveal, I emerged impressed by the technical proficiency and over-the-top motion the 3v3 fighter delivers inside a product that feels real to the supply materials. And it is smart, seeing as how the staff is made up of writers, artists, and expertise concerned with the present and comedian, in addition to builders who beforehand labored on the Killer Intuition reboot. Because the roster continues to construct out, with the director of the International Protection Company, Cecil Stedman, this tag-team preventing sport is trying to be increasingly more of a dream challenge for followers of the collection like myself.
Although I did not get my palms on Cecil’s gameplay like I did with Invincible, Atom Eve, Bulletproof, and Thula again in Could, I used to be given an advance screening of a gameplay trailer. Cecil appears to be like surprisingly technical, with a whole lot of units, teleportation, and even summoned ReAnimen blended into his gameplay model.
“It might have been very easy for us to only have him be a ‘Man within the Ear,’ however we wished to do one thing greater than that,” narrative director Michael Rogers says. “Cecil is a fan favourite of lots of people on the staff, myself included, and the best way we figured it out was simply being creative. I had a wishlist of issues that I wished within the sport from a narrative perspective, and that was teleportation, the White Room, ReAnimen, and all of these issues have been issues that our fight designers already had on their mind.”
Cecil joins a roster that already consists of Invincible, Omni-Man, Atom Eve, Bulletproof, Thula, Rex Splode, and Battle Beast. In the event you’re a fan of Invincible, you may fairly shortly understand that Cecil is the primary character with out superpowers. “In the event you have a look at it from a gameplay perspective, you’ve all these completely different archetypes from grapplers to strikers to rush-down powerhouse characters that push you to corners, after which you’ve mid- and long-range characters,” government producer Mike Willette says. “The idea of Cecil, what he does is he manipulates and he can keep on the skin. So, in his equipment, we’ve got a whole lot of long-range weaponry, from his GDA tech, like his sonic mine, to the ReAnimen that he can name in, to the White Room, the orbital strike, the Flaxan weapons; he has all these items obtainable to him. So, for him, he is simply establishing the battlefield. He is establishing traps and issues that you need to get round. […] He cannot fly, he would not have a double-jump, so he takes benefit of his GDA tech and costing the taxpayers all that cash by teleporting throughout the stage.”
The Mysterious Story Mode
Within the Invincible collection on Amazon’s Prime Video service, Cecil is voiced by actor Walton Goggins. Whereas J.Ok. Simmons has been confirmed to reprise his function as Omni-Man within the sport, Quarter Up hesitates to substantiate anybody else within the solid. Nevertheless, voice appearing performs a distinguished function earlier than, throughout, and after the fights, as characters change quips, however it should, in principle, play a fair greater function within the story mode, about which, thus far, Quarter Up has not revealed many particulars.
Although we have recognized the sport may have a narrative mode for fairly a while, particulars have been terribly scarce, with the staff declining to debate a lot about it throughout my preliminary interplay with them. That is why, once I spoke with the builders once more final week, I used it as a possibility to ask them for every part they might inform me.
“The concept is that it is a standalone narrative set within the Invincible universe,” Rogers says. “We wished story mode to really feel like an episode of the present that you’d play; that was our strategy with it. I used to be fortunate sufficient to work with Helen Leigh, who’s one of many writers from the present, and a detailed collaboration with [co-creator] Robert Kirkman. […] We wished to create this kind of specialised, particular, standalone piece of story that additionally feels prefer it matches and is correct at residence within the universe.”
Rogers additionally hints that there is a very particular motive tied to the story concerning why Cecil is playable. “I felt prefer it was a very good time to convey up story mode once more as a result of having the ability to convey him out of the ‘Man within the Ear’ and put him really on the battle line, it gave us much more to play with within the story,” he says. “I do not need to spoil an excessive amount of as a result of we love our surprises within the Invincible IP, however there is a motive why he is playable. In reality, each playable character that we have revealed to date has a job of some type within the story.”
Although Quarter Up stops wanting confirming what period of the Invincible present this playable “episode” often known as Invincible VS takes place fairly but, the staff did write with a particular period in thoughts, which is maybe greatest mirrored within the character Invincible, Mark Grayson. “I believe that undoubtedly informs how we write a personality and what kind of facets we convey, particularly to Mark, a personality that is evolving continuously throughout the IP,” Rogers says. “We wished to ensure that Mark felt like the best Mark, and in the best time and area. You’ll be able to see from the gameplay we have launched for him, he is bought a few of that whimsy that you simply see in a youthful Mark area, however he is additionally bought somewhat extra of that seriousness that you simply generally see in Mark as he is rising as a superhero and studying.”
A New Hero (or Villain) Emerges
Earlier than I depart the decision, Willette goads Rogers to “inform him concerning the tremendous secret factor.” That tremendous secret factor is that Quarter Up labored in shut collaboration with Skybound Leisure to create a totally new character for Invincible VS. “We will have a brand-new character who has not appeared wherever within the Invincible VS universe, in story and within the sport,” Rogers says with a smile. “Actually, it was so thrilling to have the ability to convey somebody model new and produce them into this, into the story, and into the universe. I am bursting to let you know extra, however I might be in a lot bother.”
Although Rogers could not discuss way more concerning the authentic character that may seem in Invincible VS, he does share that the staff labored intently with the staff behind the opposite elements of the IP to make sure it looks like an genuine inclusion. Nevertheless, artwork director Dan Eder was in a position to communicate a bit extra concerning the shock inclusion of this character and the staff’s general strategy to authenticity.
“Throughout the board, the creators are closely concerned on this challenge, and I believe that is one of many privileges of being first-party [to Skybound],” Eder says. “We’re part of Skybound, so we’ve got the best entry to them, and they’re tremendous hyped concerning the sport; they have been concerned from day one. Loads of the most important selections, we brainstorm with them, with the brand new character, with a few of our present characters, or sure story components, and so we need to get their first impression and first reactions, after which we go from there. Who is aware of these characters higher than the individuals who created them? We need to ensure that it is an genuine expertise, but additionally that we’re in a position to have our personal particular footprint in terms of the sport and the way we present one other aspect of the characters that you simply would not have been in a position to see in different media.”
Invincible VS arrives on PS5, Xbox Collection X/S, and PC in 2026. For a extra in-depth overview with hands-on impressions, try our deep-dive hands-on preview right here.
