When Square revealed Crystal Dynamics latest game, Marvel’s Avengers, the discourse around what the characters looked like was… let’s say, less than thrilling. They were clearly going for the look the characters had in the MCU but they didn’t have the license to actually recreate Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, and Scarlett Johanson so they made weird doppelganger versions of them. Imagine a celebrity impersonator but like C tier. Things didn’t get better for the game in regards to online discussion after the multiplayer beta was released either. Complaints of dull, repetitive mission design, boring gameplay , uninspiring enemy design, and lackluster environments were everywhere.
All signs said DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME. Yet here we are. I still played it.
And Marvel’s Avengers is fine. There are some issues and the complaints that emerged from the beta are legitimate but there is also some real fun to be had here.
The game starts strong with putting me in control of a young Kamala Khan. She’s at a fan event called Avengers Day where she was selected as a finalist in a fan fiction contest. As Kamala, I was able to explore the convention, going on a mini scavenger hunt to find some comic books that would grant me access to the VIP viewing area. Along the way, I got to meet up with our favorite Walmart Brand MCU heroes, and seeing how Kamala acts around them was super sweet and touching. She really believed in them as heroes.
Things go south pretty quickly though when a terrorist attack happens on the Golden Gate Bridge. From here, we get our first hands on with our iconic heroes. This is the level that has been shown over and over in press coverage and it mostly serves as an extended tutorial for each of these characters, which ends up being redundant because each of them has their own tutorial section as well but whatever. The Avengers stop the threat on the bridge (kind of) but the real threat was back on the Helicarrier and oops…
Fast forward a few years and the Avengers have been disbanded, Stark Industries seized, and a new corporation named AIM has taken over where both left off. Superheroes are basically outlawed and deemed violent threats to society. Oh and that incident in San Francisco, it infected hundreds, if not thousands, of people with genetic modifications. These modifications grant these victims powers but with superheroes being bad now, they are hunted by AIM as inhumans. Kamala happens to be one of these inhumans.
The game puts us in Kamala’s shoes and we see her evolve from superhero fangirl into a true superhero herself, Ms. Marvel. She’s our main character and we’ll spend a lot of time either with her or as her. Also, she’s awesome and the best character in the game.
Early levels as Kamala will have her platforming across rooftops and hiding from AIM patrols as she tries to uncover clues as to who can help her. Later she’ll be running through the helicarrier, fighting AIM patrols, and then setting about reuniting the Avengers. It’s pretty fun. At certain points I was able to take control of the iconic heroes that are featured on the cover. Hulk has his own level where you’ll smash things real good, Iron Man has his own level where you can fly and shoot your fancy handcannons and a giant chest laser, same with all of them. And those levels too are fun and enjoyable to play. Yes, they are heavily scripted, and everyone kind of plays the same (everyone has an effective ranged and close combat attack, a support and assualt special move, and an ultimate power), but that’s generally where this game shines.
Where it gets less enjoyable is when they start to shoehorn missions and assignments that are clearly designed as part of the games as a service platform. In some cases, these missions are unskippable to advance and yes you can play them solo (and take your favorite Avenger pals with you as AI), the missions themselves are less than fun. They all are pretty standard.
Step 1. Start in a large open area and make your way to the enemy facility.
Step 2. Fight through some enemies to open the facility.
Step 3. Ride an elevator or train somewhere else in the facility.
Step 4. Play a weird version AI horde mode type thing that resembles King of the Hill or Control Points (mixing between holding a control point or destroying one) or fight a large boss.
Steps 3 and 4 can sometimes repeat themselves multiple times in a mission depending upon how involved it is and when this happens, it makes the already dull missions just feel like a slog. This wouldn’t be an issue if it was just one or two to introduce you to the multiplayer stuff but in the back half of the campaign, it becomes a near even split to advance. This kind of sucks because I just wanted to get to the next cool character level but instead it just kept punching me in the face.
Of course once the campaign ends, it is these missions all the time. For me, I’m out. I have little desire to play more of these dull missions, even though there is post game story content. I just don’t care. My take is this should have been a straight single player game with a focus on the scripted linear levels. It is where the game is its most fun. This other stuff just doesn’t do it for me.
And look, if you enjoy the multiplayer portion of this, that’s awesome, I hope you have fun with it. For me, I think I’m likely done. I didn’t hate any of it (OK, I may have hated that Tony sounds exactly like Nathan Drake and it was distracting) and I liked a good portion of it but together, its just… fine I guess.
3*
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