Game Review: Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

 

When I saw the reveal trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy during the E3 2021 livestreams I was initially apprehensive. I thought visually it looked pretty fun and interesting but the gameplay seemed uninspired and a bit janky? It’s a shame I came off of that initial reveal with that preconception weighing on me, because it prevented me from going and picking up Guardians during its initial release window. After lending the game from a close friend and beating it fully I can happily admit my preconceptions of this game were all wrong and besides Insomniacs Spider-Man series I’d happily call this one of the best Marvel games I’ve played on a video game console.

Developed by Eidos Montreal and published by Square Enix, Guardians of the Galaxy is a 3^rd person linear action-adventure game centred around the titular characters as they seek to save the galaxy from complete annihilation.  It’s worth noting how popular an entity the Guardians are in modern day pop culture. Ever since the 2014 feature length movie, this ragtag gang has risen to immense heights in popularity across different mediums. This isn’t the first time the Guardians have had their own mainline video game either, as Telltale Games did a great job introducing the guardians into the video game space back in 2017. I think it’s important to look at the history of the Guardian’s across all these different mediums when looking at the qualities of the 2021 game, as I believe it utilises a lot of the core strengths from all of them.

On the narrative end, the game has a remarkably compelling set up.  The game follows the Guardians at some point past their initial inception, choosing to follow them in the midst of a mission to acquire a rare creature for a mighty warrior named Lady Hellbender. As is typical for Peter Quill and co, the mission goes awry and they end up setting in motion a series of events which will lead to the total obliteration of the known universe. To begin with, I think the creative decision to follow the gang after their formation is a great idea. As most of the general audience knows who the Guardians of the Galaxy are by this point it makes sense to skip the origin story angle and choose to explore the relationships of the gang as they try to work together to overcome the perilous situations they find themselves in.  I think the relationships outlined between Peter, Drax, Rocket, Groot and Gamora as the story progresses is one of its strongest elements too. The way each of these characters are written feels incredibly in depth and true to the characteristics we have come to know them for. Comedy is the heart of their banter but what made me appreciate the narrative all the more is that it found ways to explore each of the crew in interesting and dynamic ways. There’s a clear sense of progressive development between these characters as time goes by and it’s an amazing reflection of the games writing quality when they get the guardians, their personalities and their relationships down this well and find ways to further explore them.  What’s also commendable is they pull all this off on top of telling a comprehensive and engaging adventure, filled with a flurry of emotional sequences. How the story of this game pans out is so smooth and natural and I never felt it was wasting my time for a single minute. There’s so much thought put into the supporting cast and the plot that ties the guardians on along for the ride.  There’s so much spectacle and appeal splattered all across the game plotline and I cannot overstate how much bloody fun it was to follow it along.

On the gameplay end there’s a really approachable and well-structured offering to play about with here. You play Peter Quill/Star Lord and the gameplay revolves around you navigating, fighting and talking your way out of a multitude of situations. On a navigation level, the gameplay feels quite akin to most standard 3^rd person linear adventure titles. There’s a multitude of interesting locations to explore throughout the game with many secrets and collectables hidden away for you to find. An extra element to navigation which I liked was how it incorporated obstacles in which only specific Guardians can help you traverse. Drax can lift heavy objects, Groot can form bridges, Rocket can crawl through small gaps and Gamora can slash through weak structures. It’s a nice way to reinforce the unity and comradery between these people when they rely on one another not just within the narrative but in the gameplay. This element is further reinforced in the combat too. Arguably the game’s most engaging element, the combat revolves around the Guardians shooting, slashing and beating their way through the wide array of enemies. Peter Quill as the main player character has his trusty Quad Blasters and has a range of elemental abilities to help him stagger and stun enemies with. As the leader of the Guardians, he can command the rest of his crew to utilise their abilities to help overcome the battlefield in such fun and varied ways. It’s not the most deep or layered element of the game but despite its simplistic nature it’s still fun enough to wade through. If they ever do a sequel, I’d hope they can reimagine the combat to be a bit more in-depth and have you be able to swap between the characters as opposed to just commanding them.  The final element of the gameplay I feel is worth recognising is the interactive dialogue and choice-based system. You can definitely tell they took inspiration from the Telltale game on this as there’s a number of moments in the game in which you get to make an impact on how things play out. For the most part these choices don’t impact the overall plot all that much as it is a linear experience, but there’s just enough variation there to make you feel your choice does matter in defining the course of the story that follows.

On the whole, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is such a fun and enjoyable game to play through. There are so many elements to the games overall package that feels well thought out and structured. The core concept of the Guardians and the ragtag family dynamic that defines them is on show constantly throughout the game’s narrative and technical elements. I am glad I was wrong about this game, because my initial preconceptions allowed me to come into this game with little expectations. Now that I’ve finished it, I am more than happy to acknowledge how impressive this game really is and I would be fully behind a full-fledged sequel to this series.