Project L preview: An intoxicating cocktail of Marvel vs Capcom and Street Fighter 6 that’s hard to put down
The moment the doors opened on Evo 2023, people flocked to the Project L booth. The first time the public have been able to play Riot Game’s fighter, it feels like a great unveiling for the game. The creme brulee is coming out of the oven, and aside from the small spoonful influencers nabbed while grandma wasn’t looking, it’s time to taste the dish. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.
It turns out grandma can throw down. Project L’s public demo – itself a small taste of a game due to drop in the murky, mysterious future – is staggering as far as first impressions go. It has blemishes here and there, a few burnt bits on the edges, but if we’re sticking with this overworked creme brulee metaphor… grandma may as well be Julia Childe.
Let’s start with the basics. Project L is indeed a very easy game to pick up and play thanks to simplified inputs (a la Street Fighter 6’s modern controls). Simply hold a direction and press a button, and a whole new attack emerges and disarms a common barrier to many a casual. It is easy to perform a combo and super attacks. The game has a shallow end…