Square Enix today conducted an hour-long live stream of "Marvel Avengers," beginning with a new trailer and then delving deeper into combat and character customization. The full live stream can be viewed above.

Despite my enjoyment of Marvel movies, I'm having a hard time getting on board with this one. The trailer doesn't give me much faith in the story. It starts with drawn-out metaphors that parody clichéd villain monologues, and then we are treated to a lot of Avengers infighting in the wake of Captain America's death.

The combat looks impressive in terms of how many unique combos and abilities each Avenger has. Thor drops a big lightning bolt right next to the Hulk and buffs them both? Cool. Using that buff to take down the same mechs you've already taken down 3 times isn't that exciting.

The livestream details how many of the hero's abilities are taken from "signature moves" in comics and movies. Assault moves are basic attacks, while support moves (such as Thor's lightning charge-up) are meant to buff fellow Avengers.

Each hero has a fairly extensive skill tree, a glimpse of which can be seen here.

The gear looks as fun as the enemies look. In addition to basic stats, there are modifiers like pim particles that shrink enemies when they hit them. This is a great idea!

Also, each Avenger has a large selection of costumes taken from the comics, but the trailer mentions that some of them will only be available "from the online marketplace". I'm a Gladiator Hulk guy, though.

The frame rate looks a little rough in the footage so far, but hopefully that will improve by the time "Marvel's Avengers" opens on September 4.

The live stream has also been criticized for reasons unrelated to gameplay. The narration was done by Casey Lynch, editorial director of Crystal Dynamics and former editor-in-chief of IGN. In recent days, his actions at IGN, along with two other senior managers at the time, have been criticized by current and former employees for perpetuating a toxic workplace culture.