Thanks to PS Plus Extra, I have the opportunity to play a game I was interested in, but couldn't because I didn't have a decent machine. BACKGROUND:
I naturally heard of this right when it was announced, and I was curious as to how it would be different from the Square Enix Avengers game that came before. Like I said, I didn't have the means to play it until now, so hooray! PLOT: Though this Guardians roster is one-to-one with the MCU version most are familiar with, this is by no means a rehash of that. Like the Avengers game, this is kind of its own thing and can be interpreted as an alternate universe. At the beginning of the game, we see that this incarnation of the Guardians is only getting started, as they aren't yet recognized across the galaxy as heroes. While that raises questions on as to what circumstances led them to referring themselves as the Guardians of the Galaxy, that's not really the focus of the story. Instead, we're jumping right into one of their hero-for-hire missions as they try to make a name for themselves (and some cash). It unfortunately goes awry, which draws the attention of the Nova Corps (who have criminal records on everybody), angers their client (because they end up not delivering on their promise), and accidentally releases a mysterious and dangerous entity. The story starts out with the Guardians just trying to get out of their jam (trying to get out of the Nova Corps' radar, escaping their client's wrath), but as they do so, a powerful cult known as the Universal Church of Truth amasses their power and gradually starts brainwashing entire planets for galactic domination. While it takes a bit for everyone on the team to come around, the Guardians face overwhelming odds and take on the threat to save the galaxy. I love that the conflict features an antagonist that hasn't really been featured in any high-profile adaptation, and I really enjoyed how their method of brainwashing (preying on the grief and loss of their victims) leads to compelling character moments. Exploring the consequences of not letting go of grief isn't a new theme for stories (and I appreciated their tackling of it), but the novelty of that being the cause of interstellar danger (and that our heroes can go through the same thing) made for interesting stakes. Most of the characters are an interesting mix of portrayals, blending traits many would recognize from the movies, elements I know from the source material, and bits of original stuff sprinkled in. Star-Lord, for example, mixes his MCU origin (kidnapped as a child, taken in by Ravagers) and disposition, retaining the fact that his father is J'son of Spartax and not Ego, and provides a unique explanation for his name's origin. The proportion of what stuff they blend varies per character, and that ends up making these versions of the characters distinct while still feeling familiar. While everyone on the team gets some fantastic character arcs, the standout for me is Drax. Between his messy comics origin and the MCU mostly made him comic relief, he's the one out of the MCU roster I have the least attachment to (even if I find him hilarious). This game does what none of the movies ever did and actually explore his origins (from his home planet, family, and grudge with Thanos) while simultaneously making him more than just a strong guy who says weird things sometimes. His grief is tackled front and center in one of the game's chapters, and it is compelling. The characters outside the main cast are no slouch, either. From the game's version of Nikki Gold (who is an obscure character) having the hardest struggle with grief besides Drax, Cosmo's humor paired with an over-the-top accent, Mantis actually being the Celestial Madonna she is in the comics (and being a different kind of adorable weirdo), and Adam Warlock's hilarious habit of speaking in alliterations, nearly everyone was memorable to me in some way. I suppose the only ones that don't really hook me are the cameo characters (obviously because they don't do much) and the big villain (they aren't around for too long and they're pretty one-note). This game was a delight to explore in terms of me being a massive comic geek. From characters actually having some of their comic book backstories, the use of a less prominent villain like the Universal Church of Truth, the featuring of surprising characters or locations in the Marvel Universe, cute nods to big characters like Richard Rider, deep cut inclusions like Ruby Thursday of all people, and even a whole Easter egg museum in the Collector's Emporium on Knowhere, there was so much that got me going "oooh!" Sadly, the game doesn't take the time to build on these bits of lore, but given how much I enjoyed the overall story, I'm not complaining about that at all. What I appreciate about the game is how its in-game compendium (which provides lore on pretty much everything you run into) also tells you what comic a character first appears in. I wish more adaptations did that so people who don't read comics have at least one starting point if they're curious about somebody or something. The game has plenty of moments where you get to make choices in terms of dialogue or what action to take. I don't know to what extent the story changes depending on these choices, but I have seen some drastically different outcomes in other people's playthroughs compared to what I myself experienced. That said, these variations seem to be restricted to only a select few choices, and the rest are simply for the fun of it or for callbacks later in the story. PRESENTATION: Unsurprisingly, we have another case of AAA graphics here, and the game absolutely looks impressive. Outside the rare oddity like models blipping in and out of existence or combat animations not lining up properly, the visual fidelity and level of detail is impressive. The character designs of many are similarly a blend of what people may recognize from the movies with original elements or stuff from the comics (again, with the proportion varying per character). Gamora is a good example of this, with her sporting armor similar to her outfit during the mid-2010s, having the dyed tips from the MCU version, as well as having eye makeup reminiscent of her classic design but having its own unique look. If you're not into that, you can unlock costumes for the main roster more closely based on their many costume designs over the decades. These include the Annihilation uniforms, designs inspired by variant cover art, and outfits that are more or less just the MCU costumes. The selection here is a treat as well to me, of course. While the game's score is a great fit for the action-adventure blockbuster vibe of the story, it also takes a page from the MCU movies and incorporates licensed music from the '80s in big story moments and in gameplay. It's a delight to beat the shit out of enemies to Holding Out For a Hero or Never Gonna Give You Up, and the big moment during the finale is made more epic thanks to an excellent choice of song. The voice acting is excellent as well, with everyone putting on a solid performance that helped elevate the characters further. I'm a big fan of Mantis's portrayal (who really captures her whole cute but also eternally confused vibe), that of Lady Hellbender's (who has an imposing yet alluring presence), and Nikki Gold's (whose pain and trauma really comes across in the performance). GAMEPLAY: Guardians of the Galaxy is an action-adventure game where you explore each key location per story chapter, solve puzzles to unlock the way forward, and battle waves of enemies. Unlike the Avengers game, you unfortunately only play as Star-Lord, but you are almost always joined by the other Guardians, who you can call upon as leader to help with various situations. As much as I would have preferred being able to play as the others, this setup is actually plenty of fun, and I'll get into why as we go along. Each story chapter has you explore one big area for the duration of it (e.g. Knowhere, Lamentis, or the Universal Church of Truth's ship). While they're all disconnected from one another and are mostly linear, each area is big enough to have room for bonus collectibles and secrets. These include components for upgrades (I'll explain later), the alternate costumes I described earlier (which were always exciting to find), and trinkets that lead to interesting dialogue with the other Guardians back on their ship (worth picking up if you want to learn more about the characters). As you explore, you'll often find things impeding your forward progress, like various obstructions, hazards, and more. Many of these can be navigated around by calling on your teammates to help. For example, Drax can lift or topple large objects with his strength, Groot can grow a bridge out of his branches to give you a path over large paths, Rocket can get into crawlspaces and use his engineering knowhow to deal with terminals, and Gamora uses her sword to clear out certain barriers or as an anchor to walls. Granted, nearly all the puzzles that make use of the Guardian abilities are super simple, but I still found enjoyment in actually making use of their skills to move us forward. I also liked specific story moments where your ability to issue commands is affected, like an absent member's ability being unavailable, needing to issue commands more than once because someone's being stubborn, or even members performing their actions without being prompted. It's a great way to keep whatever character dynamic's going on in the story in sync with the gameplay. Star-Lord himself is able to use his jet boots to double jump or dash across gaps, blast debris away with his Element Guns, and calls the shots with certain interactables (elevator terminals, specific doors). There are puzzles that are specific to his guns' special abilities, but I'll elaborate on that in a little bit. Combat is more or less a third person shooter since Star-Lord's main weapons are his Element Guns. Simply aim and shoot at one of the many enemies coming at you while your AI-controlled teammates do their own thing. Your guns have an overheat mechanic, so holding fire isn't the most ideal strategy especially if there are a ton of enemies. You can also fight hand-to-hand (though it's slow and risky) and make use of your jet boots to dodge and give yourself a higher position with a double jump. As you play through the game, Star-Lord's Element Guns are actually able to shoot elemental shots (something I really wish the movies emphasized, but that's beside the point). They each have their own effect in combat (ice can freeze, lightning can chain across enemies, wind pulls people in, and plasma does damage over time), certain enemies are weak or resistant to specific elements, and they are used in puzzles outside of combat (e.g. freezing geysers to make platforms, zapping electrical conduits). I'm happy that Star-Lord's weapons actually do more than just shoot generic energy blasts, and I really like that the elemental shots are used in puzzles. Guardian commands can also be issued in combat, and each teammate has special moves that can turn the tide of the battle. Rocket, for instance, is great at crowd control with his penchant for explosive gizmos, while someone like Groot can keep squirrelly enemies still by entangling them with his roots. You'll eventually unlock four abilities for each Guardian (including Star-Lord himself), and using them to completely take control of a fight is super satisfying. There's a decent variety of enemies here, from all sorts of weird aliens, evil soldiers, and more. Admittedly, the variety hardly matters with judicious use of Guardian abilities and exploiting elemental weaknesses, so if you were hoping for some complex combat, I'm not sure this is the game for it. That said, I was personally satisfied with calling on the others to thin the crowd or give me an opening, so I don't personally mind the simplicity. Certain enemies have a stagger bar that fills as you deal specific types of damage. You usually just stun them for a bit when it's full, but there are situations where you get a prompt which allows you to execute team attack moves that can instantly take down an enemy or severely damage them. Working towards this stun state is worthwhile strategy, and ganging up on a stunned enemy is as equally satisfying as mowing down an entire crowd with smart use of Guardian abilities. Objects in the environment can also be used to your advantage, as you can ask your teammates to interact with them to deal massive damage. Examples include asking Drax to hurl rocks or explosive barrels at enemies, or having Gamora cut down a cable to drop a heavy object on a crowd. As you fight, you fill up a special bar that, when full, allows you to call a Huddle. This stops combat momentarily and gathers your team together in, well, a huddle. Here, they'll comment on how the battle is going, and you'll be given two dialogue options for a response. You'll have to pay attention to what your teammates are saying to figure out the correct option, as if you pick the wrong option, only Star-Lord gets the bonuses from the Huddle (like a brief period of no cooldown on Guardian abilities). Pick correctly, however, and everyone gets the bonuses. Regardless of your choice, anyone who is incapacitated will be brought back by a Huddle, and as an amazing bonus, one of the licensed tracks will start playing for a little bit. I have to say, tearing through an entire swarm of enemies to the tune of Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go is a transcendental experience. With the components you find while exploring, you can upgrade Star-Lord's abilities. Some of the upgrades are basic, like more health, a regenerating shield, a magnet for enemy drops (health, elemental shot ammo), and even a component detector. The more interesting upgrades are more involved with combat, like a Gears of War-style active reload that lets you shoot a powerful shot if you time a button press after your guns overheat, a perfect dodge mechanic that works exactly like Bayonetta's Witch Time, and a charge shot that does a lot of stagger damage. These upgrades are neat, though there's sadly not much else besides these once you get all fifteen of the available upgrades. I found myself wishing for more since the game gives you way more components than you'll ever be able to spend, but at least the upgrades that do exist give you more options in combat. On occasion, you'll run into quick-time events and even a few sections where you pilot the Milano (the Guardians' ship) in a Star Fox-style rail shooter where you fight enemy ships in a dogfight or simply fly forward to a set destination. The Milano sections are pretty simple (you only have one weapon type, have a few maneuverability options, and a temporary boost), but they're enjoyable for what they are. VERDICT: Guardians of the Galaxy was a blast to play through, especially as a longtime Marvel fan. The story was super enjoyable with great characters and the lovely mix of comics lore, movie portrayals, and original ideas, the game looks awesome, and the use of licensed music next to an already solid score elevated the experience. The gameplay isn't all that revolutionary with basic puzzles, mostly linear exploration, and combat you don't have to think too hard about, but I still had a ton of fun with it thanks to the ability to call in your teammates for help. If Square Enix wants to publish more Marvel games, I would be happy if the devs they call on took their cues from this one and worked towards improving the gameplay aspects further. If you like the Guardians of the Galaxy, I think this is well worth playing for the story alone. You'll probably be OK with just a vague knowledge of the movies, and you don't have to think about other corners of the Marvel Universe since this is standalone. There are plenty of accessibility options if you want to fine-tune the game's difficulty, which is a boon for casual players. On the flip side, more seasoned players may not find the combat or exploration that deep, so that's a caveat there. Guardians of the Galaxy is available on Steam: Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy on Steam (steampowered.com) - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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