Guardian of the galaxy review: Guardians of the Galaxy — IGN — Mitspielen — Vampire Live in München

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Review

Guardians of the Galaxy

By Tom Marks

Updated: Nov 5, 2021 7:06 pm

Posted: Oct 25, 2021 1:00 pm

If you, like me, played the Square Enix-published Marvel’s Avengers and said to yourself “I wish this had just focused on the single-player campaign instead of all this game-as-a-service stuff,” then do I have good news for you: Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, also published by Square Enix, has flown in to save the day. With no microtransactions, no multiplayer, and a relatively meaty story, it’s further proof that linear, single-player campaigns haven’t gone anywhere. Its simple but entertaining combat and fairly straightforward level design won’t revolutionize the genre or anything, but those solid fundamentals and the metric ton of personality slathered on top of them are more than enough to make Guardians of the Galaxy some good old-fashioned fun.

Despite being named after the team, you spend the entirety of this roughly 18-hour campaign playing as Peter Quill, AKA Star-Lord. That was a surprising choice to me, but it’s one that ends up working very well for the story that’s being told. The main plot is basically exactly what you’d expect: a cosmic comic book adventure about the Guardians trying to get out of debt, learning to work together, and maybe saving the galaxy along the way – but it’s framed by events that are much more personal to Peter. The result is an engaging story that balances its constant barrage of spectacle and banter with some genuinely heartfelt moments, for both Peter and the rest of the crew: Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Screenshots

While that story is also entirely linear, developer Eidos Montreal’s Deus Ex roots certainly show through with the amount of dialogue choice you are given during it. You’re constantly handed options for how Peter will respond to different conversations, whether those are during important story moments or while walking around chatting with your teammates – there’s rarely a moment where the Guardians aren’t talking, which is welcome when the writing and performances are all as amusing as they are. These dialogue choices are mostly just a fun bit of role playing in an otherwise on-rails story, but some of them can have an unexpected impact.

For example, making the right dialogue choices to save a character at one point could have them come back to help you later on. Another time I made a choice that resulted in the next level being a simple stealth section, only to find out after finishing the story that choosing the other option would have instead turned the entire level into a massive firefight. The vast majority of this campaign will likely look very similar for everyone, but these little differences did add a personal touch to my playthrough and got me more interested in trying New Game Plus to see what else could have happened.

Your choices add a neat little personal touch to each playthrough.

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It’s not just the story that’s played from Peter’s perspective, either: in combat you only have direct control of him and his dual pistols. Instead of swapping into the shoes of the other Guardians, they unlock a total of four abilities each which you can instruct them to use on command. That could be Groot sending out roots to bind up enemies or Gamora dealing a massive amount of damage to a single target. This system gives you a lot of options at any given moment, and the pace at which they are rolled out and the intuitive way they are mapped to your controller makes it a rewardingly manageable task to juggle mid-fight.

Peter has a few tricks too, of course. He’ll get four powers of his own, one of which is the ability to activate his jet boots and fly for a short time, and four different types of elemental shots that can do stuff like freeze or burn baddies alongside his regular laser blasts. Combat is a lot of fun thanks to that variety of options, even if it isn’t exactly the deepest or most complicated dance I’ve ever taken part in. Between giving orders to your fellow Guardians, you’ll mostly be holding the left trigger to lock on to an enemy and the right trigger to unleash a fire hose of lasers. A simple active-reload system will reward you with extra damage and keep you paying attention, but for the most part you’re gonna be holding down that right trigger a lot.

Even still, combat never stopped being enjoyable for the entire campaign. That’s partially thanks to the enemy design, which is varied enough that you’re pushed to use different elemental attacks to exploit weaknesses or remove shields, as well as bigger enemies that can be staggered by certain abilities. Your teammates all have different roles they fill too – Gamora’s abilities generally have high damage, Drax is more about stagger, Rocket has the best AOE, and Groot can bind targets. It’s good that their abilities feel impactful, too, because apart from them you’ll be doing nearly all of the damage yourself; your teammates’ auto-attacks deal about as much damage as an aggressive massage.

Another thing that keeps combat fresh throughout is the banter. Seriously, there is so much voiced dialogue in this game, and the interplay between each team member is both entertaining and informative, in that you see their relationships evolve throughout the story. There were undoubtedly moments where I’d hear the same line yelled a few too many times, but on the whole there’s an impressive variety to all these barks. That meant overly similar fights could still be lent new appeal based on their context or the conversations that take place during them.

Dialogue choice is even brought directly into combat with a super move called The Huddle. When activated (which can be done accidentally a little too easily by pressing L1 and R1 at the same time), Peter gathers everyone around to talk about the fight, and then you have to choose a pep talk response based on the things they’ve said to earn a buff. It will also play one of Guardians of the Galaxy’s many licensed ‘80s songs for the duration of the buff, which can either be exciting or hysterical depending on the result. Fighting a giant alien squid boss while “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” by Wang Chung played has got to be one of the most absurdly joyous moments I’ve had in a game all year, while having Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” unexpectedly come on during a climactic endgame encounter was a different sort of hilarious.

Combat isn’t the deepest, but it also never stopped being fun.

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Between the fights and cutscenes you’ll make your way through Guardians of the Galaxy’s varied locations, which range from Nova Corp space ships to gorgeous alien worlds. Like the story itself, these sections are extremely linear paths with an occasional environmental puzzle to solve or optional collectible to find, broken up by fights in more open arenas. And similar to the combat, they stay entertaining the whole way through more thanks to the banter and visual variety rather than being especially deep or engaging on their own.

You’ll occasionally need to command your teammates here, too, potentially asking Rocket to hack a terminal or Drax to carry something big and heavy from one spot to another. That can make for some extremely simple but still relatively amusing puzzle solving as you figure out the right way to combine different abilities. Having your team around also adds a little more liveliness to these paths, with them wandering off to look at things on their own or standing around bored while you go search a side route – their presence also helps solve that completionist problem of knowing whether a path is the right way or the “wrong” way full of goodies, since they’ll usually move toward to the next main path on their own and make comments when you head off in search of loot.

The collectibles you’ll nab are either crafting currency used to upgrade Peter’s capabilities, cosmetic costumes for different team members to wear (all of which are cooler than a recolor, full of new outfits and throwback references alike), written logs for a bit of story flavor, or special items that unlock new conversations when you are hanging out back on your ship between chapters. It was always rewarding to collect these things, even if the side paths were often just as easy to find and navigate as the main ones. The only real complaint here is that crafting currency is so prevalent that it starts to become a bit tedious to pick up, but that’s probably primarily due to the unfortunate lack of a sprint button.

Continuing the overall trend, the upgrade system itself is also something that stays satisfying and enjoyable till the very end, even if it can be a little flat at times. Completing fights earns you ability points to unlock new powers, while crafting currency can be spent on any of 15 different perks that are available to unlock right from the start. Having everything on the table right away is nice because it means you get to prioritize the upgrades you want in the order you want them, but it also means there aren’t really any surprises as the campaign progresses. But even without that, I enjoyed that perks felt significant – only some of them are pure stat increases, while most unlock new moves like a dash punch or time slowing for a moment when you dodge at the last second.

As a final note, it’s worth mentioning that I did encounter a handful of bugs throughout my playtime on PlayStation 5. Apart from two hard crashes nothing was too dramatic, and Square Enix has said that a number of the issues I encountered will be fixed by release. That said, I did find my progress impeded a couple of times due to an event not triggering correctly or a button prompt breaking, as well as some weird visual issues here and there like the adult Peter model being horrifically squished into childhood Peter’s frame for one scene. All it ever took was a quick checkpoint reload to sort things out, and the auto-save and checkpointing are so forgiving that even the worst issues never left me sour, but it’s not clear how much of that will be there on launch day.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy nicely balances a goofy, action-filled adventure with some genuinely heartfelt story moments, and the choices you’re given can add some surprising personal twists to your particular playthrough. Its combat and level design are relatively simple if still consistently entertaining, but it’s the relationships and banter between its characters that keep everything fresh as they evolve. It isn’t going to set the world on fire, but Guardians of the Galaxy is still another convincing example of how much fun a linear, no-frills, single-player campaign can be.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Review

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Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is yet another convincing example of how much fun a linear, no-frills, single-player campaign can be.

Tom Marks

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy review: a damn good superhero video game

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy surprised the hell outta me. I expected standard, blockbuster action-RPG fare painted with an ’80s nostalgic gloss that would never elicit an emotion more meaningful than, “cool, they got the rights to Blondie!” And while the developers at Eidos Montreal did indeed get the rights to Blondie and an impressive host of other ’80s mainstays, I was shocked to discover a game that had so much heart and emotional depth that on several occasions, I caught myself whispering a reverent “damn” at the screen. Though combat can be a bit of a slog, every Guardian and just about every non-Guardian are so well written and voiced, you don’t mind toughing it out to get at the juicy character development bits.

Guardians of the Galaxy has absolutely nothing to do with the Marvel cinematic universe and just barely kisses comic continuity, though some of the characters’ backstory introduced in the movies still applies. Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, is still a man plucked from Earth in the ’80s to live a ne’er do well life in space before cleaning up his act. Gamora is the face-turned adopted daughter of Thanos. Drax is a widowed warrior from the planet Katath who is incapable of understanding sarcasm. Rocket is a space experiment gone wrong or right depending on perspective, and Groot is still the tri-syllabic tree creature whom only Rocket understands.

We catch up with the Guardians 12 years after the end of an intergalactic war that saw Thanos and the ruthless Chitauri empire defeated. You play as Peter Quill, pilot of the spaceship Milano and leader of the newfound Guardians of the Galaxy — a mercenary group that will do literally anything for money. Peter’s friends and colleagues are prickly, egotistical people who are still getting to know each other, and it’s your job to keep them in line as best you can as you bumble your way through ruining and then saving the galaxy.

The characters in this game are amazing, and I love every one of them, even the ones I didn’t really care for in the movies. To avoid infringing on actors’ likenesses, all the characters look like Wal-Mart brand versions of their movie counterparts. It was off-putting at first, but I came to prefer the uncanny valley Guardian look-alikes. Drax the Destroyer never moved my needle, if you know what I mean. Dave Bautista is a good-looking guy, but I just wasn’t attracted to his Drax. And though game-Drax has the same incredibly dry personality and (mostly) the same look as movie-Drax, there’s a tenderness to him that we just didn’t see in the movies. His extreme aggression and violence are just a smokescreen hiding a man still quietly mourning the murder of his wife and child by Thanos.

Early in the game, you frequently have to defend Gamora (his family’s murderer’s daughter) against him, correcting him when he calls her “assassin” instead of her name. By the end of the game, when all the Guardians have broken down their toughest, prickliest bits, Drax starts calling Gamora by her name all on his own, and he says one of the sweetest lines I’ve ever heard in a video game — saying that if they die on their quest, he’ll ask his god if there’s room for his friends in his heaven. Naturally, I fell instantly in love. It also doesn’t hurt that Drax is a physically competent himbo who is always moving or chucking heavy objects while shirtless. Let’s just say Drax could destroy me at any time.

Square Enix

Rocket Raccoon was another surprise for me. Early in the game, you have the option to throw Rocket like a football across a chasm so he can hack a panel that will create a bridge the party can use to get across. Rocket, naturally, objects to this treatment. If you choose the throw option (like I did), Rocket is furious — not because of the bodily harm, but because you violated his autonomy. Rocket Raccoon is a Looney Toon; he’s a foul-mouthed raccoon that makes things explode. Ha, ha, very funny. It’s easy to dismiss him as a joke — which is exactly how he’s treated in the movie — and it would have been very easy, expected even, for the game to continue to lean into that characterization without examining how Rocket feels about it. Though he has the appearance of a tiny, garbage-eating woodland creature, game-Rocket refuses to let people treat him as less than human. The moment is a really good example of the game’s choice / consequence system because when you throw him, Rocket won’t let you forget it, and he makes you feel like a piece of shit, which, if you do throw him, you kinda are.

Choice in this game is really well done. The game treats your decisions with enough weight to make them feel like they matter while also throwing in cool change-ups in choice presentation. Like most games with a choice mechanic, options are presented as a dialogue box on a timer. The game pauses, and you have so many seconds to make your choice before action resumes with a little “Character will remember that” box ala the Telltale games of yore. Late in the game, in the middle of combat, Gamora says she’s going to chase after the escaping bad guy. In this situation, there was no stoppage and no dialogue box; therefore, I didn’t know there was a choice to be made at the time. The battle arena was set up such that you can follow after Gamora, or you can continue the fight with Rocket, Groot, and Drax. Wanting to back up my friend, I chased after her. The platform I was running on exploded, throwing me into what would have been a fall to my death, but Gamora rushed in to save me, thus denying her the chase. Then a box popped, “Gamora is furious you didn’t let her chase the bad guy.” I was stunned, unaware I was making a decision there, impressed with the way Eidos Montreal switched up how choice was presented, changing it from the expected piece of text you select like picking off a list to something you make your character do.

When you throw him, Rocket won’t let you forget it, and he makes you feel like a piece of shit, which, if you do throw him, you kinda are

The characters are alive in Guardians, and it makes them the game’s biggest appeal. They react to what you do and the choices you make. Gamora frequently brought up me not trusting her to go after the bad guy alone, and if you wander off to explore some hidden nook or cranny looking for one of the game’s many collectibles, they call you out on it, chiding you for wasting time.

Combat is the least enjoyable part of the game, but it isn’t too big of a deal-breaker. As Peter, you’re equipped with pistols that shoot elemental bullets, and you can also command your Guardians, having them execute one of three standard abilities or a special super-move. Once you’ve mastered the stagger system, elemental properties, and issuing commands, combat becomes a rote experience to largely endure rather than enjoy. There’s just enough variety in enemy weaknesses, environmental hazards, and abilities that stringing together successful combos isn’t terribly repetitive, but combat just isn’t where this game shines. Enemies aren’t difficult, they’re time-consuming, and when the game chains battle sections back to back that are filled with the biggest, beefiest monster types, it gets to be a slog. There’s a particularly unforgivable sequence toward the end that was a never-ending corridor of battle arenas with no platforming sections interspersed to break up the action. It was the most tedious part of the game.

I also did not love the controls. It was too easy to get my wires crossed, triggering a huddle when I meant to direct Rocket to throw a grenade. Huddles are an ultimate ability that buffs either you or all of your party, depending on the dialogue choice you make. They started out as a cute, little treat but quickly became very stale. In a game that is extremely good with how characters respond to events in their context, huddles are a strange aberration. The Guardian’s comments are never appropriate to the battle, and if you trigger one during a boss fight, they don’t even mention who you’re fighting. Huddles are also an unexpected source of hilarity. In addition to providing a buff and a heal for party members, a huddle will also play a song from the aforementioned ’80s hit list totally at random. I don’t know about you, but when I think of an ’80s, hotblooded, pick-me-up song, I’m not thinking of “Bad Reputation;” I’m thinking of “Wake Me Up Before you Go-Go.” The game agreed… frequently. In my entire playthrough, I never once got Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out For A Hero” after a huddle, even though that song was played during every one of the game’s promotional videos. I held out for a hero, and nobody came.

Like many, I enjoyed the Guardians of the Galaxy movie duology more than I thought I would. It’s the same for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. It would have been easy to stretch the skin of a typical superhero movie plot over the bones of a standard action game and call it a day — kinda like most of Marvel’s Avengers. But Guardians defied being a lifeless, flesh hulk to instead be a living, breathing creature with a heart that beats and bleeds all over the screen.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is available now on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC.

Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy review — A small masterpiece about the power of friendship — Gambling

Congenial

The film « Guardians of the Galaxy »

The announcement of « Guardians of the Galaxy » was met with some skepticism. On the one hand, the game could not avoid comparisons with James Gunn’s film of the same name, dearly loved by millions of viewers for its wit and originality. On the other hand, Marvel’s Avengers , the previous superhero project from Publisher Square Enix , frankly did not meet the expectations of the fans. And their distrust is understandable: why try to play another awkward cosplay of the popular franchise?

However, the five space villains are not the first to deceive expectations. «Guardians of the Galaxy» is not only not inferior to the films Marvel , but in some ways even surpasses them! Instead of parasitizing on a high-profile license, the Canadian studio Eidos-Montréal offers its own interpretation of the comic universe: bright, dynamic and full of surprises.

The game tries to avoid characters and locations already featured in movies. But here it is full of references to the comic book history of the Guardians

Combat psychotherapy

Of course, the «Guardians» still inherit from Hollywood. Without the popularity of Gunn’s films, there would be no game, and Eidos painstakingly copies their visual trappings. The atmosphere of a hooligan space opera, rich neon colors, a soundtrack from rock hits of the 80s — everything is in place. The composition of the team is also familiar: earthling dunce Peter Quill, nicknamed Star-Lord, the proud warrior Drax the Destroyer, the agile killer Gamora, the intelligent tree Groot and the aggressive mutant raccoon Rocket. If desired, they can even be dressed in alternative skins in the spirit of their movie images.

However, the game Guardians have their own dynamics of relationships and a completely independent plot. It is no longer necessary to save the world from the mad titan Thanos — in this universe, the war with him ended a few years ago. Ordinary people and other intelligent beings remember the past and mourn their devastated worlds. Enterprising crooks (including Quill’s detachment) rummage through the wreckage of warships in space dumps. They are held back as best they can by the Nova Corps, whose thinned ranks have been replenished by powerful artificial intelligence.

The tormented galaxy yearns for comfort, and the comforter comes in the form of the mysterious Shepherd Raker, who promises his followers to undo the wrongs of the past. With each passing day, the cult grows stronger, burning out the heretics with blaster fire. And it would be necessary to fight back Raker, but each of the heroes in the closet is full of skeletons and unresolved injuries. How to resist the temptation and not believe in a different, happier reality?

There are a lot of expositions in the Guardians, but they are being introduced gradually. The player is involved in the plot and motivated to complete his picture of what happened on his own, bit by bit

Those looking for a light, uncomplicated adventure from Guardians of the Galaxy should take another look at the Eidos-Montréal portfolio. The creators of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided even in the Marvel Universe continue to talk about high matters: choice and fate, sorrow and responsibility, free will and the power of faith. All members of the team sooner or later have to look into the eyes of their demons, and several levels unfold at once in the back streets of the subconscious. It’s funny that «Guardians» comes out in a year when the Marvel Cinematic Universe also rushed to psychoanalyze its heroes ( «Wanda/Vision» , «Loki» ), but in the game — you won’t believe it! — This process is filed in more detail and whole. Seemingly random pieces of history by the end add up to a single interconnected mosaic.

It is all the more interesting that, even when addressing difficult topics, the Guardians do not betray themselves. This is still a swashbuckling space thriller with shootouts, jokes and crazy characters: from the musical llama to the Soviet telepathic dog Kosmo, who scares «Peter Quill» with a mental Gulag. There is no less absurdity and spectacular scenes here than in Gunn’s dilogy, and other battle episodes do resemble Jack Kirby’s psychedelic paintings from the original comics.

The script was also «straightened out» for the sake of action: no side quests, optional tasks or moral forks. Yes, many dialogues allow you to make a choice, but its consequences will always be insignificant. Did you manage to negotiate with a potential ally? Great, in an hour or two reinforcements will arrive to help and smash the enemy landing. Did not work out? You have to deal with the enemy yourself. At key moments, the authors completely take away control from the player or force them to replay the “wrong” conversation. However, the annoyance is small: the text is painfully well written.

Space battles are made according to the precepts of the cycle Star Fox : fast, arcade, but very exciting

When my friends are with me

It is much more important that the plot is not limited to conversations. All gameplay mechanics help the story in one way or another, and the developers with commendable frequency dilute the standard “platformer-boy-cutscene” triad with something unexpected. Friendly shooting competitions, starship chases, surreal dream scenes, and even an epic battle with an AI bureaucrat who refuses to accept citizens’ complaints about the impending apocalypse. By the way, a separate (incredibly funny) mini-game is also connected with the llama.

But Guardians of the Galaxy is first and foremost a story about a team of superheroes, which means that the gameplay is based on their interactions with each other. Unlike Marvel’s Avengers, only Peter can be directly controlled, and party members only follow his instructions. Each character has their own skills, useful both in combat (more on that later) and in exploring locations.

For example, Groot builds root bridges, Drax breaks through walls and drags heavy boxes, Rocket hacks into computer terminals, and Gamora clings to sheer cliffs and pulls Peter to new heights. Peter himself also has an arsenal of superpowers tied to his weapons: a miracle blaster inherited from his father turns into a flamethrower, then into a gravity gun. At the same time, interaction with the world is possible only in carefully illuminated trigger places — no amateur performance.

Exploration is encouraged: Hidden in back alleys are upgrade parts, skins, and special collectibles that unlock new dialogues with squad mates. Ratchet & Clank to Batman: Arkham ), but they are varied enough not to get bored. In addition, the team solution of puzzles illustrates the development of relations in the detachment: if at first the Rocket regularly scandals and refuses to help, then closer to the finale, the allies themselves begin to take the initiative.

But, of course, the team spirit is most evident in combat episodes. If only because you simply cannot cope with enemies alone. Opponents hit hard, swoop in in droves, and often combine different types of troops: some are not taken by electric shock, others are poured with fire from the air, and others cover the squad with magic shields of faith. Sometimes there are exotics like jelly monsters: in order to get to them, you must first freeze their shell.

Therefore, to win, you will need the coordination of all the Guardians, each of which has its own classic role. The Gamora damage dealer delivers powerful pinpoint strikes, the Drax tank immobilizes bosses, the rocket support throws grenades at enemies, and the Groot healer holds back crowds of enemies and restores the health of comrades. Peter himself, although he is the main character, is more likely to be responsible for support and tactics: without his instructions, the team is not very productive.

At the start of the game, each Guardian has only one special move. New skills can be obtained for experience points, and the most powerful blows are unlocked only after the heroes overcome their fears in the course of the story. . However, the most effective combinations quickly fall into memory and are activated in a second. The battles are fast-paced, but at the same time require a lot of information to be kept in mind. How much is left before the reception recharge? Which of the opponents is resistant to one type of damage or another? Is there anything in the arena that can be thrown at the boss to remove his shields? Has the time finally come for the Flyer?

Flyer is the pinnacle of Guardians of the Galaxy style and combat. Like a real coach, Peter, right in the course of the battle, convenes the team for a conversation and tries to understand their mood: sometimes the squad is overly self-confident, and sometimes, on the contrary, is about to rush on the run. Having correctly motivated his comrades (two answers are given to choose from), Peter restores their morale — the Guardians receive a powerful bonus to their characteristics, and special moves are instantly recharged.

Every such moment is breathtaking: the heroes are joking and delivering powerful blows, individual QTE attacks are shown in spectacular slow-mo, and legendary rock hits rumble somewhere behind the scenes — just like in a movie! At the same time, surprisingly, the Flyers do not have time to get bored: battles take place relatively infrequently, and some tasks even manage to do without skirmishes.

In general, the developers keep the commendable dynamics of the game. Ideas, mechanics and spectacular landscapes in Guardians of the Galaxy would be enough for two or three projects from some less ambitious studio. Sometimes there is even too much content. Eidos-Montréal seems to be constantly trying to outdo itself: we need another battle arena, another mini-game, another fun dialogue, one more final boss! So, if the schedule allows, it is better not to hurry with the passage, so as not to get tired. Saving the universe can wait — it’s better to pet the llama again and discuss with Groot the new replenishment of his garden on board the ship.

Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the most pleasant surprises of autumn. It’s not stupid, serious and at the same time very funny game. It combines epic scope with touching drama, and whirlwind action with well-written dialogue. For newcomers, it’s a great introduction to the Marvel Universe, and fans will re-discover some of the ugliest (and most endearing) superheroes this side of the cosmos.

Pleased

excellent dialogues;
balance of humor and seriousness;
locations with many secrets;
dynamic, but not primitive action;
constant emphasis on teamwork.

Disappointed

weak plot variability;
some tight levels;
infrequent but annoying bugs.

How we played

What : The key is provided by the publisher.

On what : PS4.

How much : about 20 hours.

Editorial Achievement

Beat Master

Activate the Flyer and land a finishing blow exactly to the rhythm of the song.

About localization

Full dubbing. The layout is lame in places, but the translation is made to last: all the speech features of the characters are observed, the puns are adapted.

Verdict

Guardians of the Galaxy is a rare example of a licensed game that is in no way inferior to the original. A complete set for a memorable adventure: jokes and tears, whirlwind action and unexpected discoveries. And even a musical llama!

unrecognized masterpiece / Computer and mobile games / iXBT Live

Square Enix’s Guardians of the Galaxy was a financial failure. Critics criticized the game, even got it from IXBT in the person of Misha and Vitalik. I ran it with a disappointment in mind, but suddenly got a near-perfect performance.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Review — Unrecognized Masterpiece

WARNING! There are spoilers in the text of the review.

Waiting for the unknown

The announcement of the Guardians of the Galaxy game was surprising in its strangeness. Few people expected the project, its release was to take place in a few months, while it was paid almost no attention to marketing. In addition, just recently, Square Enix released the stunningly terrible Marvel’s Avengers, mired in many of the sins of the modern gaming industry, which greatly undermined the credibility of the publisher. And then, out of the blue, here’s a purely story-driven, high-budget project, without microtransactions and multiplayer. It seemed to smell like something. The gameplay shown from the screens did not inspire confidence — everything sparkles, explodes, flies, but it all felt somehow indirect and there was no strong desire to participate in it. “Where is Deus Ex?” shouted from the fan ranks. But somewhere in those ranks was me, getting high on the Guardian movies and crossing my fingers during the game’s trailer. Once I even went through the Telltail version of the adventures of Peter Quill and Co., although it looked very remotely like the original projects. However, the presentation of the Guardians game in 2021 made not only me, but also the most ardent fans of the universe doubt its quality. The situation at the release did not improve the attitude — the journalists bombed the gameplay, sales were not impressive, there was practically no attention to the project, and I changed my mind about making a purchase. The project turned out to be useless to anyone and it was not that it was forgotten, rather, they did not even remember about it. “I’ll wait for discounts,” I decided at that time. And further monitoring generally led to the conclusion that the game will sooner or later be in Game Pass, then I’ll take it. And so it happened. By the time the game was released on the subscription, I also got a new system, so Guardians of the Galaxy was my first game on a new PC. Wow, what a bet! Two clicks on the shortcut, let’s go.

First emotions

The game immediately greets us with trump cards. The main menu has a juicy soundtrack, Drax is reading a book on the couch, Groot is watering the flowers. These are shots from Milano, the ship of the main characters. It is there that we will live in between missions. In the first minutes after the new game, we are introduced to Peter’s childhood, this will happen in parts throughout the game.

This is a dream from which we soon wake up and see that the team is going to work — you need to quietly get into the quarantine zone and catch the monster there, and then sell it for a tidy sum. Everything is logical, they don’t pay for the profession of a hero. «Milano» — it looks very cozy and beautiful: each character has his own cabin, you can go into it and see everything there, for those unfamiliar with the universe, this will tell a lot about the heroes. But with this, you still have time. By the way, even at the beginning of the game in the cabin of the rocket you can see a record about the order of new suits, which will cost a pretty penny. You will put them on at the very end of the game. Leaving the ship, we find ourselves in a graphic ecstasy — an incredibly tasty picture, with a wonderful design, excellently presented by the camera work. Wow. If you have seen screenshots taken in the photo mode of the game somewhere on the Internet and concluded that all this is a lie, then you know — no, not a lie. The developers did a great job with the plans, colors, detailing of the characters (the Rocket looks just magical), it all harmoniously combined together. There should be awards for this. And if you are great friends with photo modes, then in Guardians of the Galaxy you will get stuck in it. Just look at the screenshots below! That is why, when you get into all sorts of corridors, you feel disappointed — there should be a minimum of these bottle moments in the game. Alas, there are more of them than we would like.

The first large location is the quarantine zone. The colors there are something incredible

There is no multiplayer here, but it seems that there is

Moving forward in the story, already in the first task you notice a bunch of nice features of the game. For example, the characters constantly talk to each other and actively gesticulate even when walking. And these conversations are a real storehouse of vivid emotions and the special merit of those responsible for them. The heroes discuss both current events and remember the past, including those that happened as if before the game. You are free to both remain silent during them, and choose answers from the available options. They do not affect the plot, and thank God. You just relax and enjoy the experience.

Hmm, is this a poster in 2022? Not expected. By the way, to see a very positive Cosmo in all respects, without smeared signs of the USSR, is now also nice. But they have a special relationship with the Rocket

But, it’s not always possible to enjoy. There is an acute lack of Russian voice acting. The fact is that the characters sometimes speak very quickly, and the subtitles simply do not have time. At the same time, the translation itself sometimes raises questions: one day, Gamora, in response to Peter’s remark that someone will write a book about the Guardians, says: No Pressure. Our guys translated it as “Don’t pressure us”, although it would be more correct and better, from my point of view, “No pressure at all”. And there are many such subtle moments. There are no terrible mistakes in translation, but such small jambs also spoil the perception. Although, perhaps, they will be jambs only for me.

Photo Mode is here with more settings and options. For connoisseurs — a real treasure. I’m not good at this, so I just showed you an idea with various posters. There are a lot of them and who understands can create something cool

Dialogues are also not always detached. On the contrary, the whole team constantly reacts to your actions. Turned the wrong way — get a verbal slap in the face, went to explore the area — they will definitely ask if they found anything, shot plants with a freeze — Rocket will admire you with pleasure. This creates the feeling that next to you are not NPC dummies, but really someone alive, you really feel the team. The way comrades communicate during regular runs, tell stories, make fun of each other, sometimes even make fun of each other, is delightful. Through all these jokes you see the characters, you feel their connection with each other, and you understand how much they, in fact, incredibly respect each other.

Groot is constantly distracted by plants. And at Milano he doesn’t forget about them, and about himself

Understanding that you are a team is perhaps the most important element of the game. Thanks to the masterful presentation of this element, you do not feel alone. There is no multiplayer here, but it seems that there is. This is how engagement is achieved.

For example, I am on a ship, I used all the available dialogues, the last one was at the pilot’s seat. There I discussed with Groot that I could not contact one of the important characters in the game. But my team was sitting in the main hall and was not connected with the dialogue, however, when I returned to them, Gamora immediately asked me a question — did it not work out?

Drax never misses a chance to read his favorite book, and you’ll have to remember to close «that» fridge door. The duty of a captain on a sort of like his ship!

This is a reaction. A live reaction to your every action, it is so lacking in games! And if you go a little to the side while exploring the map, the whole team will immediately discuss where you went, why, and you will have a couple of barbs after you. And they are all different, almost never repeated. Wonderful. And once I found some kind of cave, but I had to get there through small areas in the form of frozen waterfalls — it’s easy to fall. And when I came out of the cave back, Gamora asked me — is everything okay? And she asked me to be very careful in such jumps.

The exploration of additional terrain is generally implemented very cool. When you find some secret place, the character will certainly react to it with some phrase. And sometimes the exploration of a seemingly ordinary cave turns into a whole plot point, where the reward is not only a new suit, but also an interesting dialogue with a friend from the team. Super. As a result, the incentive for research is more than enough.

Everything you go through is recorded in Peter’s personal diary. With all its specific self-expression

Battles

We are also introduced to battles in the first mission. That is, with the very thing that we were all so afraid of. You are attacked by some kind of infection in the form of balls and … all of a sudden, it’s cool. The battles are dynamic, beautiful, each enemy has its own reaction to hand-to-hand combat, the same balls can simply be kicked off. Peter is wearing jet boots that allow him to take off, dodge sharply, spin, tack. Each of your partners has 4 abilities, one of which is «killer», and Quill has those too. For example, Rocket’s super ability allows him to pull out all the available guns from the gas chambers and start firing. Just like in famous cartoons. That is, in total, twenty of the most diverse techniques, and this is not counting interactions with objects on the ground, as well as branded finishing moves. Moreover, your team deals with enemies in different ways too — either doing it alone, or in a pair with one friend, or two, and sometimes everyone participates at once. And all the animations, not only during finishing moves, but also in ordinary battles, smoothly flow into each other, there is no feeling of raggedness or just fitting to the button. In the end, you realize that the combat here is very well tailored.

Iron enemies

There is also a very interesting player mechanic. Those who are familiar with the universe know very well how important his cassette music player from Earth is to Peter. Periodically, he loses it, and then heroically returns it. In each view of the universe, this happens in different ways, each author has his own view. Remember that moment from the movie when it impressed Drax himself? «Hero!» he said raptly. Here the moment is also impressive, but, perhaps, in the film it was stronger)

In support of my theory about the causes of the shortcomings, there is also the fact that towards the end of the game, phrases in battles and «street» dialogues begin to be repeated. This is in stark contrast to most of the game, where it was impossible to see the same sentence twice.

The game also has weak bosses. With all the versatility and fascination of ordinary battles, it is worth reaching the most important guys and you will be disappointed. Your opponent turns into something like a stone from Resident Evil 5, which you just hit until it falls off. Of course, here, at times, you will have to dodge enemy attacks, but what’s the difference. An exception is, perhaps, a crazy priest, who not only moves around the location, but also uses interesting tactics.

Although, you know, sometimes the corridors here look gorgeous

And one more unpleasant, and, I must say, unexpected drawback is that there are only three save slots. Why? Seriously, why? Why set such a limit? Yes, after finishing the game you can replay the chapters, but what if I don’t want to wait so long? What if I passed a moment in one way, and then it became interesting to try the second, why should I fit such moments in three slots?

Useful little things and attention to detail: the game shows how much time has passed since the previous save, the icon in the second screenshot means the training tab, and in the third screenshot, the adult Peter also imitates the sounds of his weapon periodically

Afterword

The existing problems do not spoil the impression of the game at all. It is made so harmoniously, diligently and with soul that you don’t want to finish it. And now, while I was writing this review, I thought even more about how sorry the developers of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy should be for the actions of the management, because it was the consequences of their decisions that caused the complete commercial failure of this project, the fate of which is now unknown. On the other hand, there is a theory that games like Guardians will not appear if the company cannot rake in money with a shovel from service projects, although this may be a hoax on the part of the entrepreneurs themselves 🙂

In some places you can hang out like this and enjoy the scenery with your favorite music on your headphones work for the sake of dough, then the soul was invested in the Guardians. And I really hope that the new owners of the studio will not abandon the project and let it develop the way it did now. After all, this is a well-known brand, with a huge potential of the universe, with very colorful and charismatic characters.

On 27 февраля, 2023 By alexxlab

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