Guardians of the Galaxy Game Review
Credit to: Marvel, Square Enix, and Eidos-MontrealI’ve really been looking forward to this
Welcome back, y’all! This time around, we’re taking a look at Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy video game, which actually just released yesterday, October 26th. I’ve been playing since it released until today, collecting items, kicking ass, and paying close attention to the story and team-based relationship building to write up a proper article for y’all. I’m super pumped for this, because this is my favorite Marvel team besides The Defenders and The Fantastic Four, so let me hurry this intro up. As usual, we’ll have the pros section, the cons section, and my final thoughts as the final section. Without any further ado, let’s jump right into it.
Pros
First pro for me, is definitely the art style. You’re exploring the galaxy, so you want things to look otherworldly and alien, and it’s honestly perfected here. The environments you see and explore are all so different while still keeping a sense of “realism” to them. The terms used for currency, or even curse words are also very “spacey”, so you’re pulled into this sci-fi world very well. As a huge Guardians fan, I expect to see some cool space stuff because I’m a geek, and with this game, I get exactly that. While the style of the game is unique, it does pay respects to the portrayals of these characters in the comics and even the movies. As far as the characters go, we see some familiar faces who cameo here, and we also get some brand new characters and monsters to meet and/or fight. I won’t give away these cameos, but you may even hear some familiar voices or references to other characters in certain points of the game. Building off of the characters point, I gotta say, I love the team-based character progression that this game provides. As you all might know, you’re only playing as Star-Lord, and the team looks directly to you when it comes to making decisions. Your decisions impact not only the flow of gameplay, but they’ll also impact the relationships you have with your team. Since your team is actually fairly new, they tend to butt heads pretty often with one another and with you as well, so it’s up to you to build rapport, fix or improve friendships, and to end/start arguments. One thing that I adore about this game, is that there are secret collectibles you can find in different chapters of the game, and when you’re back on your ship, the Milano, you can actually engage in one-on-one conversations with specific teammates based on what collectible you found. For example, if you find a Ravagers item and interact with it on the Milano, Gamora might speak to you in the privacy of your room based on said item, asking about your history as a Ravager and your relationship with Yondu Udonta, leader of the Ravagers. You’ll find out so much about your team as they vent to you and open up about their past, and they’ll listen to you as you vent about your own. It’ll be sad, it’l be sweet, but above all else, it’ll be so insightful, because you’ll look at your friends in a whole new light. The game goes out of its way to say, hey, these aren’t just funny and ignorant characters, they’re their own people, and there’s so much for you to learn about them, and I love that. These moments combined with this original new and amazing story just enhances the experience so much for me.
Speaking of funny, oh man, this game is pretty darn hilarious. The humor is very similar to the humor of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, but they’re all very original. What’s really cool though, is that some of the humor actually references the movies by directly speaking about an event that may have happened in the films. The references in this game is a whole different discussion, though, because there are so many great ones. Like I said, the game references the movies, but it also references the comics, and the characters in them. You’ll hear conversations about Asgard or some of the other realms, you’ll see weapons, clothing, or other items that directly references famous or lesser known characters from the comics AND movies, you’ll spot posters in Peter Quill’s room on the Milano and even in his old home from back when he was a kid, that reference classic films and even a certain superhero in-universe, but I won’t spoil who. There’s even a certain moment in the game that may or may not tease a future sequel, but that’s not necessarily a confirmation for one. All in all, I’ve been having a great time with this game. Yes, it’d be great to have been able to play as the other Guardians, but maybe we’ll be able to do just that in a potential sequel. Fingers crossed. The final pro I have to talk about is the combat. Oh. My. Gosh. I love it so much. You can command the Guardians to do their own cool abilities, you can use your own cool abilities, you can tag team an enemy to do some super strong damage, you can do finisher moves, you can buff your team with a huddle (if it’s successful), and you can use different elements from your blasters to weaken enemies and turn the tide of battle. The combat is so smooth and intense, and you’re rewarded with experience points after each successful battle to unlock abilities for you and your team. Each enemy type and boss have their own respective weakness, and it’s a real treat going through trial and error to figure out what the best way of attack would be in each situation. It really does make the game even more fun.
Cons
Okay, I have two cons with this game. They’re fairly minor, but they do unfortunately lower the score a bit. The first con is that there have been a few minor bugs I’ve come across every once in a while. I’ve seen bugs that make capes on some of the outfits for the Guardians get SUPER long for a few seconds and then return to normal, I’ve seen a few bugs that make enemies glitch out, and I’ve seen glitches that make Guardians teleport to do some of your commands. These aren’t game breaking, but they’re noticeable. My second and final con, is that the facial expressions don’t always do the dialogue justice. For the most part, we see the Guardians get very expressive when they’re angry, sad, happy, etcetera etcetera. But, there have been moments where these characters deliver their lines with a super deadpan face; no expressions, no emotion. It makes the dialogue a bit awkward. Perhaps that’s a bit nitpicky, but it did bother me enough to knock the score down a slight amount.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for a good single-player experience, then this game is definitely for you. It’s a really good story with some great character development, great combat and a great combat progression system, and some great decision-based story outcomes. Beyond some of the bugs you’ll notice, you’ll still have a wonderful experience with this game. I would absolutely love to see these characters again, but honestly, I think the best way to go about having a sequel, would be to have the next game be multiplayer. Allow players to play as the Guardians with their friends and allow players to make decisions together through a voting system so that the story can still be played out with different outcomes. This would also allow characters like Nova, Mantis, Nebula, Adam Warlock, and others to playable. I see the potential of this game, so I know these ideas would work. We’ve got great characters in an intricate galaxy, so allowing us as players to play with our friends as a bunch of other Guardians would only enhance the experience. I believe in you, Square Enix! But as far as this game goes, it was just so fun. I really, really enjoyed my time with it, and again, I know it would do great with a sequel and some multiplayer. But what did you all think? Did you like the game, did you not? Want to see some multiplayer, or should it stay single-player? Let me know on my Instagram and Twitter, and make sure you’re following to stay up to date on the latest entertainment news and reviews. That’s all from me, this has been The Wolf Den!
