After a behind closed doors demo of Marvels Avengers at PAX west this week, we spoke to executive producer Scot Amos about how the team at Crystal Dynamics reimagined the Avengers by taking 80 years of history and crafting something new.

"This is what is next for the Avengers. These last 10 years have been great for the films and we started this before those years were over.  We have been originally looking from the beginning talking with marvel about what we do at crystal dynamics. We want to do an original take on these heroes.  We want to do what's familiar but keep it fresh."

"Back in 2013, we reimagined Lara Croft an iconic hero we knew and loved for years. We wanted to do something new with her and made a trilogy of games. Take iconic heroes epic storytelling that bestills human spirit. We told marvel about that and they said that's exactly what we do. Epic stories with a human heart. It's an absolute treat for us to take the heroes we love and interpret them in our own way that feels fresh and new."

"Marvel brings authenticity and originality.  Authenticity they have been making these characters for 80 years. They know what great heroes look like and know them better than anybody. Certainly, they know their fans better than anybody. The MCU has built up an amazing universe over the past ten years. With the marvel canon, we are trying to push that canon and add some new DNA to it.

"What can we do that will put a fresh angle on these characters.  Perhaps in costumes or in their powers or maybe the storytelling how they actually play. Original twist to make our version of the Avengers."

Playing an original Avengers story.

"The opening mission starts during A-day, where the Avengers are celebrating the launch of their headquarters in San Francisco and not to mention their shiny new Helicarrier powered by an experimental energy source. Things start to go south when there are multiple explosions on the Golden Gate Bridge and the Avengers must spring into action to save the day.

"Concluding the events of A day with the destruction of their new Helicarier and much of San Francisco. The Avengers are blamed for the incident and Captain America is pronounced lost for San Francisco."

Epic adventure that expands the entire globe.

Beyond the introduction level, there is a massive world to explore and interact with and upgrade your heroes.

"The helicarrier is the base of operations for the Avengers. There is a device called a war table where you will launch single-player and co-op missions. When you first approach the war table there are two different types of missions called Hero and Warzone."

"Hero missions are single-player focused missions in a traditional campaign setting, featuring big pieces of the story and unlocking Warzone missions as well. Throughout the story this where you will play and unlock all the individual heroes, which gives us a dedicated canvas to showcase any one particular hero."

"You can find a Hero mission for Iron Man utilizing his specific abilities and powers, being able to fly around and such.  Finding a Hero mission for Hulk will feature a mission with objects for him to destroy and smash since it is a mission dedicated to that character."

"Warzone missions can be played at any time with any hero you have collected in your roster single-player or multiplayer with up to four players. Warzone missions are spread around the globe and will also expand the overall world narrative as well as areas to go and search for more gear or secrets and cool enemies to battle."

"There will be more difficulties and a wide array of objectives and game types inside the missions. Perhaps you are chasing a specific piece of intel or maybe looking for a piece of gear or an outfit. These missions can also be character-specific follow that heroes story."

"More content will unlock as you play both Hero and Warzone missions on the war table. All the missions drive the narrative forward. All your progress is seamlessly transferred between the two types of missions. There will be a dynamic scaling system put in place so you can enjoy both types of missions at a consistent pace while leveling up your heroes. This blend of story-driven single-player and online co-op gameplay is the best of both worlds."

"This war table is just one region called the American southwest. If you were to zoom out you would have more regions in North America. Zoom out again and you will have regions around the globe which you can go to where the action is. Icons on the map will indicate where the next Hero or Warzone mission is. You will always be able to follow the trail of missions leading you on that core campaign."

Reassemble and rebuilding the Avengers.

There are many ways you can min-max your hero into something that suits your playstyle.  

"One of the things we love about our heroes are all the different outfits they have. Personally, some of our favorite outfits are Iron Man's original sin or Black Widows classic outfit, Thor's (Lord of Asgard), Bruce Banner's (Joe Fixit), Captain America's (Scale Mail) and many more. We are drawing from 80 years of history. This is just a state of the outfits we have. We have so many outfits we can imagine from but we also have that push for an original take on creating new outfits and asking the players what they will want."

"The outfits are purely cosmetic and do not impact your gameplay. It is important to look the way we want to look. When we get into the progression system you can change the gear and skills around enabling your hero to play the way you want to play or look the way you want them to. Costumes will never limit how your character will play. Some of the outfits can be unlocked in-game while playing through Warzone and Hero missions."

"As you explore different battle regions and missions you will be able to upgrade your gear. Gear is character-specific and ranges in rarity common and uncommon to rare, epic, legendary and beyond. Gear can modify a heroes playstyle with different perks. Higher quality gear will carry better and an even higher amount of perks. The gear can change everything down to your offensive and defensive capabilities or even a team buff. There will also be special gear in the form of a set. Perhaps you will get something like a Star Industries set of gear containing some unique synergies and boosts from having a matching set of gear. Gear can be earned from playing through missions and challenges with the rarest gear being obtained from playing on the highest difficulty."

"As you play the game and complete missions you will level up and gain skill points to spend on skills. Every hero has their own set of skill trees that are unique per hero giving you access to new moves and abilities. Some of these are classic moves and some are completely original to this game. For example, unlocking Iron Man's rockets and laser abilities allows you to seamlessly switch between them. Going deep enough into the rocket tree will allow him to set up an attack with his rockets across multiple enemies and then quickly switch to his lasers and do a melee sweep and then switch to repulsers for a ranged attack. How you set up your hero can lead to some devastating combos."

"There are also superpowers for each hero called heroics. You may have recognized some from the game so far such as Iron Mans laser from his chest and Hulks thunderclap. They will also be upgradeable from the skill tree putting more investment into those characters."

Embracing your powers as your hero.

Scot Amos emphasized how important it was for players to be able to customize their hero to make it feel like their own.

"Some of these heroes are masters of melee or excel at ranged combat. There is also aerial and ground combat. We now layer in weapons, power, gadgets, and perks.  We have had to build a very flexible combat system. As you get into these larger expansive areas you will start to see how this will all play into effect. We have to accommodate multiple play styles and multiple players. We want players to feel as awesome as Iron Man flying around in the air or if you are playing as Hulk we want players to feel like they can weaponize the environment around them."

"Each hero has tons of unique moves and abilities and you get that sense as you are going down the skill trees you can go as deep as you want to invest in them. Perhaps you invest skill points into Thor's heroics so they recharge faster to do more lighting attacks and have more crowd control."

"Maybe you prefer a melee centric Thor and you like to get into the face of the enemy and invest your skill points into making him like a tank powering up his melee abilities and hammer. The idea is to play your hero in your own way. Thor will never play like the other characters such as Black Widow, however, he can be pushed and pulled depending on how you want to invest your time. We want players to be able to have a sense of being able to min-max their heroes."

For more on Marvel's Avengers, read our hands-off impression at E3 2019 seeing how each of the five main Avengers played.