If you, just like me enjoyed the Square Enix-published Avengers by Marvel Avengers and said you thought to yourself “I wish this had just focused on the single-player campaign instead of all this game-as-a-service stuff,” then I have good news for you Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, also published by Square Enix, has flown in to bring some relief. There aren’t any microtransactions in the game, no multiplayer, and a pretty well-written story, it’s confirmation that linear, single player campaigns haven’t disappeared. The game’s simple and entertaining combat and straightforward design won’t transform the genre or anything, but the solid fundamentals and the metric tons of fun that’s poured on top of them are more than enough to make Guardians of the Galaxy some classic fun.
Even though the character’s name comes from the team, you’ll can spend the entire nearly 18-hour long campaign playing Peter Quill, AKA Star-Lord. It was an unexpected choice to mebut one that ultimately works great for the story in the telling. The plot is exactly as you’d expect an epic comic book adventure about the Guardians trying to get out from financial debt, learning how to be a team, and possibly saving the galaxy on the way, but it’s framed by events that are much individual to Peter. This results in an entertaining story that balances the constant barrage of spectacle and banter with some genuinely heartfelt moments which are for Peter and the rest of the group: Gamora, Drax, Rocket and Groot.
While the story itself is almost entirely linear, Eidos Montreal’s Deus Ex roots do come through in the sheer amount of dialogue choices you are given during it. There are always options on what Peter will respond to different conversation, whether at crucial moments in the story or just while walking around with your co-workers and friends. There’s not a moment in which players or Guardians will not be talking which is a great thing, especially in a world where the writing and the performances are all as hilarious as they are. These choices of dialogue are usually just a fun bit of part-time play in an on-rails story, but some of them couldhave unintended consequences.
It is for instance that making the appropriate choice of dialogue to save your character in the beginning might result in them coming back to assist you later. Another time I made a decision which could have resulted in the following level to be a stealthy section and then finding out after finishing the story that opting for the other option could have transformed everything into a massive battle. The vast majority of the campaign is likely to look the same for all, but these tiny differences definitely added the personal element that made my experience more enjoyable and also got me intrigued to play New Game Plus to see what else may have occurred.
It’s not only the story that is told from Peter’s point of view Also, when fighting you are only in direct control Peter and his two pistols. Instead of taking on the roles of the other Guardians you can unlock the ability to use four different abilities each of which you are able to instruct that they use on command. It could be Groot spreading roots to create a chain around enemies, or Gamora performing a large degree of damage a single particular target. This game gives you the ability to choose from a variety of options anytime, and the pace of how they’re rolled out and the method in which they’re connected to your controller makes it a satisfyingly manageable job to play during a fight.
Peter has some tricks as well, obviously. You can get four powers of his own, among which can activate the jet boot and then fly in a short duration, as well as four different types of elemental shots that allow him to melt or freeze baddies with his standard laser blasts. Combat can be a lot of fun due to the range of options, even if it’sn’t necessarily the deepest or most complex dance I’ve participated in. Between giving orders to your teammates Guardians in the game, you’ll most likely hold the left trigger , which locks the enemy in place and it’s the left trigger that lets you unleash a stream of lasers. An active-reload system can bring you more damage and keep you paying attentively, but for the most of the time, you’ll probably be pushing that trigger right frequently.
In spite of that, combat never let you down during all the time. It’s partly due to the nature of the enemy, which can be unique enough that you’re able to use different elemental attacks in order to take advantage of weaknesses and remove obstacles, and bigger enemies that can be staggered by certain abilities. Your teammates have different functions they fulfill – Gamora’s strengths generally provide large damage. Drax is more focused on staggering, Rocket has the best AOE, and Groot can bind individuals. It’s a good thing that their abilities make a difference, as you’ll almost all the damage on your own; however, your teammates’ auto-attacks can do as much damage as an intense massage.
Another element that keeps combat fresh throughout is the banter. There is plenty of voiced dialogue in this game. Also, the dialogue between players can be both interesting and educational and you can see their interactions change throughout the narrative. There were undoubtedly moments where I’d hear the exact same thing heard a couple of times however, overall there’s a wide variety of each of these barks. That meant overly similar fights might be given new appeal based on their nature or the discussions that occur during the fights.
The option to speak is brought directly into combat with a powerful move known as The Huddle. When it’s activated (which is done quite easily with the pressing of L1 and pressing R1 at the same time), Peter gathers everyone together to discuss the fight. After that, it’s your turn to select your pep-talk response depending on what they’ve said to earn themselves a buff. The game will also play one of Guardians ‘ of the Galaxy’s licensed songs from the 1980s for the time period of the buff. This can be either thrilling or funny depending on the result. Fighting a massive alien squid while “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” by Wang Chung played has got to be one of the most absurdly joyous moments I’ve had in latest games all year long with the song of Bobby McFerrin “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” suddenly pop up at the end of a crucial battle was an entirely different kind of hilarious.
Between cutscenes and fights it’s a journey through Guardians Of The Galaxy’s many locations, which encompass everything from Nova Corp space ships to amazing alien planets. As with the story, these chapters are extremely linear paths with an occasionally-occurring environmental puzzle or optional collectible to find with fights in open arenas. In the same way as the combat and combat, they’re entertaining throughout due to the banter and visual variety instead of being particularly engaging or deep by themselves.
You may need to instruct your team members here, too for instance, perhaps asking Rocket to hack into a terminal or Drax for a task of carrying something big and heavy to another. It can result in some fairly simple and amusing puzzle-solving as you try to figure out the ideal way to combine different abilities. Working with your group can add a touch of excitement to these routes, as you can see the possibility of them looking for things of their own, or standing around bored while you search for a different way – their presence assists with that issue in determining whether a certain path is the right path as well as more of the “wrong” way full of good things, since they’ll normally be able to move to the next main path on their own and make remarks whenever you’re looking for treasure.
The most sought-after collectibles to find are the crafting currency you can use to upgrade Peter’s capabilities costumes that are cosmetic for other team people to wear (all of which are cooler than a remake, with a variety in new outfits as well as throwbacks that are similar) Also, logs with written entries for adding a little story flavor or items that unlock new conversations when the crew is gathered at the end of your vessel between chapters. It was always an enjoyable experience to accumulate these things, even if the side roads were not as easy to find and navigate as the main ones. The only complaint is that crafting currency is so widely used that it can become a little difficult for players to obtain, however that’s probably due to the omission of the ability to sprint.
The overall theme continues with the upgrade system, it is satisfying and enjoyable till the end of time although it might appear a bit unbalanced at times. In the course of fighting, you can earn points that allow you to unlock more powers as well as crafting currency which can be used on any of 15 different perks that are available to unlock right in the beginning. With everything being available immediately is a great thing because it gives you the ability to prioritize the upgrades you’d like to get in the order you’d like however it also signifies there aren’t any surprises as the game progresses. However, even without that, I enjoyed that perks felt significant – only some of them are actually stat enhancements that unlock new actions like a dash punch or time slowing in a split second when you make a last-minute dodge.
For a final point you should know that I did experience some issues during my time on PlayStation 5. With the exception of two crashes, I didn’t encounter any major problems or arousing. Square Enix has said that a number of the issues I experienced will be resolved with the release. However, I did discover that my progress was limited a couple of times due to an event that didn’t trigger correctly and a button not responding it, and there were some weird visual issues here and there, like Peter, the grown-up Peter model being brutally squeezed into the scene of childhood Peter for one scene. All it required was the quick reload of the checkpoint to resolve the issue while the auto-save function and checkpoints are so tolerant so that even the worst of issues didn’t leave me feeling sour, but it’s not clear whether or not that problem is going to be the case on the day of launch.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy nicely balances a goofy, action-filled journey with some genuine story moments. Additionally, the choices available can bring several unexpected personal twists your game. The game’s combat and design are relatively simple if still constantly entertaining, but it’s the interaction and banter that happens between its characters that keep everything new as they develop. It’s certainly not going to light the world on burning but Guardians of the Galaxy is an excellent example of how entertaining simple, unpretentious, single-player game can be.
