Comics and video games have gone hand-in-hand for decades, though the quality in regards to turning print media into a digital, playable experience hasn’t always worked out in the gamers’ (and the developers’) favor. For every “Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage”, there was a “Batman” on the NES. But as the years progressed and technology grew more capable of handling the enormous worlds once reserved for ink presentations, video game developers staked their claim and hoped to provide fans of both video games and comics a chance to enjoy both hobbies at one time.
Telltale Games did a masterful job embracing the eccentric space odyssey that is “Guardians of the Galaxy” several years ago. Now the team – Eidos-Montreal – behind the most recent “Deus Ex” and “Tomb Raider” games has the opportunity to give gamers a taste of true greatness as well. Though marketed differently than “Marvel’s Avengers”, I came into this one cautiously with a hope that it’ll deliver where its Marvel Universe companion did not in providing a truly memorable experience for all the right reasons.
Did I Complete “Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy”?
Unlike other games featuring teams where players can take control of every major member, “Guardians of the Galaxy” only allows gamers to embrace their inner star-lord by fully playing as only Peter “Star-Lord” Quill. After a mission through the “Quarantined Zone” goes wrong and the group is arrested & fined by the galactic law enforcement federation Nova Corp, the GOG are forced on a journey to get enough money/units to pay the fine and avoid being stuck in the middle of space without a functional ship.
For the player, completing the task of freeing Quill & crew of their financial debt eventually becomes least important due to certain decisions the player makes and the rising threat that is rooted in the game’s source material more than its cinematic counterparts. Like the presentation in general, completing “GOG” is relatively simple with a majority of its trophies & achievements coming courtesy of playing through the story on any of the four difficulty levels. There are many types of collectibles including forty-five different outfits for the Guardians that only add cosmetic flair, and don’t add in-game or combat-oriented buffs for wearing, say, Drax’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie-inspired outfit. After nearly twenty-five hours, I finished the story on the game’s equivalent of “normal” difficulty, gathered almost all of the collectibles including every outfit, started a new game plus run to attain battle-specific trophies that I missed focusing on killing a particular enemy with one of the Guardian’s random “Call-to-Action” attacks to attain my latest platinum trophy.
Did “Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy” Live Up to the Hype?
“Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy” sticks to the more linear presentation associated with licensed games from days gone by compared to “Marvel’s Avengers”. Every chapter sees the player controlling Peter Quill in a new environment (though some chapters do have the Guardians backtracking after some catastrophic moments), blasting bad guys, solving relatively easy puzzles, and potentially going the unbeaten path to discover collectibles and/or materials used to gain one of Star-Lord’s fifteen perks.
As noted, the player only fully controls Quill in battle. With his blasters, Star-Lord is able to shoot enemies until the guns run out of ammo – something that will happen frequently as the blasters are underwhelming in their damage output. During the reload animation is a “Gears of War”-like mechanic where, if the player hits the “Fire” button at the right time (inside the green bars and not the larger red ones), the blasters will automatically reload and shoot a more damaging shot.
The most interesting aspect in Star-Lord’s arsenal is his elemental attacks that are handed out as the story progresses. By hitting the directional pad on console’s controller, Quill can switch between ice, electric, wind, and plasma/fire rounds while using the alternate shoot button that, too, can run out of ammo before automatically refilling a lot slower than Quill’s regular blasters without the “Gears” mini-game. Elemental attacks play a big role in handling certain enemies like the spikey jello monsters succumbing to ice attacks and becoming brittle to the touch or blast.
Electric attacks that work on vulnerable enemies will actually spread the shock so nearby adversaries will be stuck in an electrified field. Wind acts as a tether to pull enemies closer and works incredibly well to stop those pesky snipers later in the game when one shot from them can take a quarter of Quill’s health. And Plasma, which is introduced incredibly late in the story, or course, sets enemies on fire. Foes have little indicators by their health bars to alert players of what element type they are weak to, making it a lot less of a trial & error issue especially when the numbers start growing greater against the Guardians.
Though Quill is the only playable character in battle, his allies aren’t just in the background. At any given time, Star-Lord will have every Guardian on the battlefield fighting alongside him. With each successful battle & mission comes experience points that provide skill points. Every Guardian has up to two special attacks that can be purchased with one already unlocked and another that unlocks for each character after a particular story moment. Pulling up an on-screen menu that slightly slows down time during a fight, players can select one of the Guardian’s available special attacks like Rocket raining down a slew of grenades or Gamora performing a trio of debilitating strikes with her sword. Groot will use its limbs to tie down enemies, while Drax can steamroll his way through a gaggle of enemies with his Batista-like clotheslines. Everyone’s special attacks run on a cool-down meter so they can’t be used constantly in short periods of time.
The special attacks from the semi-controllable Guardians also affect an enemy’s “Stagger Bar”. As per the norm, when an enemy’s Stagger meter is full, said foe is vulnerable to attacks without retaliation. Some of the game’s weaker enemies & grunts have no meters, though can be stunned by sequential attacks from Quill & the Guardians. Quill also has special attacks such as dispensing an absurd amount of bullets into an enemy for a short period of time while hovering about the ground, but his perks are more important due to the fact Star-Lord isn’t a tank; only taking a few significant shots from enemies before dying.
Thanks to Peter’s perks, players can give Quill better tools for damage avoidance to complement his always-ready-to-use jet boots including a dodge ability that slows down time if the player is able to dodge right before Star-Lord is struck. On the offensive side of things, Quill can gain a “Charged Shot” or “Rapid Reload” perk to really help obliterate enemies fast. The other Guardians don’t get perks, however.
Another big combat implementation is “The Huddle”. As the characters do damage, a meter in the screen’s right corner will fill. When full, “The Huddle” option becomes available. Activating a Huddle, all the Guardians join Peter in this interactive cutscene where the player must choose the right thing to say. If successful, Quill’s speech will restore everyone’s health, remove the cool-down meter on special attacks, and buff the power of said attacks. It’s a nice mechanism that is perfect for those hectic boss battles and late-game fights where healers with shields arrive; not to mention activating a fantastic song to play afterward.
One of the game’s weakest aspects in regards to combat has to be the melee. On more static enemies, Quill can perform a combo of physical strikes that usually do very little damage. But a majority of the time getting in close for those strikes will result in Star-Lord being hit or even knocked down. Quill also suffers from rag-doll physics and there will be times when Star-Lord is knocked down and prone to a bunch of shots & melee strikes before the game resets him & puts Quill on his feet; ending in a game over. The checkpoint system is forgiving, but still can cause some annoying moments when a battle suddenly goes awry. While not as frequent as fisticuffs and shoot-outs are the few galactic dogfights & flight sequences. Unfortunately, these airborne scenarios feel both clunky and underwhelming with enemy attacks being rather easy to avoid while flying through hazardous objects proves rarely hazardous with the ship’s lasers usually destroying anything in its path with one hit.
Moving throughout the chapters will show just how important the Guardians are to succeeding. Complications when trying to get through an area will see the player requesting Groot to form a temporary bridge, Rocket hack a terminal or burrow his way through a small hole, Gamora cut through cables or vines blocking a pathway, and Drax moving heavy objects to make a new platform. Quills’ elemental abilities also play a role in traversal including freezing cold steam to create ice platforms and using his wind tether as a wench; not to mention his patented mask’s visor marking objects for his allies to do their thing in helping them all progress. Thankfully, the puzzles don’t get too complicated or frequent; not wasting the player’s time after they figure out the method to the game’s madness.
The narrative isn’t that remarkable or memorable as it doesn’t do much differently than other games in the genre and beyond. What stands out is the character interactions both automatically and through the player’s own discretion. Players may find a particular collectible that Quill remarks will be perfect for, say, Gamora and her doll collection. When the characters return to their ship, the player can enter Gamora’s room to activate a sequence where the two have a nice chat that really shows how comfortable the characters are with each other.
The conversations feel absurdly natural to contrast some of the plot’s more wilder interactions like an early argument between Rocket and Groot over who would be a better monster to sell between the two to pay off their debt. The banter and bickering during missions is made greater as the story progresses and tense relationships become more formal & downright friendly. There are also flashback sequences to showcase Peter’s time before he became a galactic pirate, while also fleshing out some of the emotional issues going on with each Guardian (yes, even Groot).
A big aspect about the game in terms of players becoming comfortable with the characters are choices. Presented many times are dialogue and even action choices for the player to pick. In the third chapter, Drax will grab Rocket in an effort to extend a bridge by pitching the raccoon across a gorge. The player can choose to support Drax or save Rocket with the decision not only affecting the path taken afterward, but also Star-Lord and Rocket’s relationship going forward. Other choices can actually have long-term effects such as Quill supporting a little girl in over her head and being gifted a pass-card that saves the player time when needing a code later in the game. Though choice is a big aspect in this game, it doesn’t change the story in a major way after the fourth chapter when the aforementioned decision to sell Groot or Rocket plays out in hilarious fashion.
Technically, “GOG” is a mixed bag even after several patches. On the positive side of things is how good the game looks & sounds. A majority of the game’s environments are bright and varied even if certain chapters put the protagonists in the static insides of some random ship housing mass opposition and incredibly reflective floors. Lip syncing, facial, and body animations are mostly masterful. Every character has a particular air, cadence & balance that makes them unique as a real person would; adding believability to this insane experience.
A great “Guardians” game would have to rock in regards to its soundtrack. Thankfully, SquareEnix seemingly wrote a bunch of blank checks so Eidos-Montreal could choose any song they wanted to be apart of the soundtrack. Heavy musical hitters like Europe’s “The Final Countdown”, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister, and even some New Kids on the Block with “Hanging Tough” perfectly capture Quill’s musical heyday. Added to the soundtrack is the in-house band that inspired Peter Quill’s space persona who provide some fantastic tunes as well.
The game’s negative technical aspects boil down to things that, hopefully, will be fixed in the near future. Beyond the random graphical and sound glitches like objects vibrating randomly or there being an odd delay when trying to close a text collectible were moments like melee strikes not connecting when punching an enemy and defeated adversaries falling through the world & Peter being stuck in combat mode until the checkpoint was reloaded; forcing a battle that needs to be completed again. The camera can also be a problem, especially in close quarters or when the player reaches the edge of an elevated platform without realizing it until Quill falls into the abyss.
Hard crashes were few & far between, but did happen later in the game more than in the early hours. The oddest developer decision has to be the handling of chapter select. Unlike almost every game with chapter select that remembers choices & collectibles attained, chapter select solely acts as a way for players to simply replay moments they enjoyed or get those combat-oriented trophies/achievements.
For completionists, the only way to get everything they didn’t get on their first playthrough – say, all the outfits – is by using new game plus. This decision wouldn’t be too bad if not for players suffering from the game actually resetting their gains when starting new game plus including losing all the collectibles, skills & perks they attained. Some players have even suffered from a full save deletion after completing the game once; meaning backup saves are a must before finishing the story. It also must be stated that this game has one of the worst final boss battles in recent memory.
“Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy” doesn’t reach the heights of “Marvel’s Spider-Man”, but avoids the major pitfalls of “Marvel’s Avengers”. While it doesn’t leave a lasting impression in terms of gameplay & combat, “GOG” succeeds in presenting a memorable narrative thanks to some hilarious & emotional character interactions topped off by one of the best video game licensed soundtracks ever (yep, ever).
Should You Play “Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy”?
“Guardians of the Galaxy” succeeds at bringing the source material’s memorable characters into another acceptable space in regards to character & narrative presentation that can breathe and really let the player understand the depths of every Guardians’ emotional well. The gameplay, however, is pretty average, if not unremarkable even with the special attacks, elemental weapons, and plethora of enemies. Though the combat is just acceptable and the technical issues are unpredictable (and the chapter select is executed terribly), the story & character presentations are too remarkable to ignore.
For gamers not looking for a tense time fighting through hordes of enemies and just want to enjoy the absurdity of a teal-colored warrior arguing with a raccoon about the latter getting wet while bashing some inferior foes every fifteen minutes or so will be right at home with this game. Gamers particularly wanting strenuous, challenging gameplay who don’t care for storytelling and a lot of dialogue should look elsewhere. Everyone else, however, will be enjoying this like two old friends reuniting to nervously sing karaoke at gunpoint.
