At the very start of Marvel’s Avengers, the titular team are hosting A-Day, a public event celebrating the heroes in all their glory. Taking place on board their brand spanking new helicarrier – codenamed Chimera – it’s a self-indulgent back slapping spectacle of gaudy displays, merch shops, food trucks and even an arcade packed with fictional video games based on each Avenger.
This set-up is meant to create the impression of hubris on the team’s part. However, there’s an unshakeable irony in showing the Avengers using their status to flog plastic Iron Man helmets to fans when the game itself is practically guilty of exactly the same thing.
You see, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix’s eagerly awaited take on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes is, at its core, a very decent third person action adventure with some RPG trappings. But the back end reveals oft-maligned Games as a Service stuff lurking underneath. The game gets bogged down with Destiny-inspired grinds for loot and cosmetics, replete with a dizzying array of currency and resource types, as well as a bombardment of granular stats that occasionally border on inscrutable.
Collected gear can be upgraded with or dismantled for resources, but typically any improvements are so incremental as to be almost imperceptible in the heat of battle. For a button mashing superhero romp, this feels needless at best and at worst it distracts from the simple joy of smashing things or throwing mystical hammers at people. Equipping new gear isn’t even given a visual impact, with no change to the way your character looks regardless of what items you choose.
It’s important to make the distinction that if you want shortcuts to the cosmetic items like costumes, nameplates and emotes, you can hand over cash to skip the prolonged grind, but mercifully the gameplay-affecting loot cannot be purchased with real money.
Still if you can divorce it from the cacophony of numbers and unlockable digital tat, Avengers’ solo campaign is actually a lot of fun to play, and features a plot that wouldn’t be out of place in the MCU.
Story
During the course of A-Day, the Chimera is destroyed, Captain America is seemingly killed, and the explosion of the ship’s Terrigen-fueled power source leaves San Francisco decimated. A number of its inhabitants are struck down with a ‘disease’ that grants them random superpowers, but sees them shunned by society and labelled as Inhumans. The surviving Avengers are blamed for the event, and they disband with their legacy tainted.
An organisation called AIM swoops in to fix the mess and promises a cure for the afflicted, but behind the public facade, the company isn’t the benevolent force it pretends to be. Those familiar with Marvel lore will already have an idea of where the story is going, but it’s refreshing to see Inhumans, AIM and villains like MODOK get the spotlight in a video game.
What’s also refreshing is how the narrative is delivered. While you’ll spend a bit of time playing as Iron Man and co, you’ll primarily experience the plot through the eyes of Kamala Khan, a teenage Avengers superfan who, following A-Day, is given the power to stretch and enlarge her body. Her desire to find the truth behind what happened sets her on a quest to reunite the Avengers and take down those responsible for the disaster.
Sure, we get to see Tony Stark shoot quips and Thor shoot lightning, but the story is Kamala’s story, and we follow her on a journey of self discovery, learning that her heroic idols are far from perfect while embracing her own powers and exploring her capacity to make a positive difference in the world. Putting Kamala AKA Ms Marvel – one of the handful of Muslim comic book superheroes – at the forefront of the game is an important and commendable choice by Crystal Dynamics, elevating proceedings beyond a lot of comic book tie-in fare we’ve had in the past.
Gameplay
The minute-to-minute action feels a tad sluggish when compared to something like Marvel Ultimate Alliance, but there’s a sense of heft and impact. Each hero handles differently: Hulk is obviously the slow but powerful bruiser, Iron Man favours ranged attacks, Black Widow and Captain America lean towards an acrobatic blend of melee counters and dodges, while Kamala and Thor split the difference between up close pummeling and distant blows.
The usual light / heavy attack combos are supplemented with special offensive moves and unique abilities, like health regen for Kamala or temporarily enhanced damage in the Hulk’s case. Each hero also has an Ultimate ability that can dominate the battlefield in spectacular fashion. For instance, Iron Man calls in his towering Hulkbuster armour for a limited time, while Thor summons a devastating area-of-effect attack from the heavens. It’s nothing especially innovative, but quite frankly it just looks cool and there’s a good time to be had from mindlessly laying waste to hordes of bad guys.
“We’re in the Endgame now.”
Alongside the solo story mode are some options for online co-op play. There you’ll find a regularly updated choice of missions that can be tackled with friends or strangers (via matchmaking), with AI filling in for any empty spots on your team.
These sorties typically revolve around assaulting strongholds or defending an area, with gear and resource rewards to be earned from completion of main objectives, side objectives and exploration. If post-game loot hunting is really (and I mean really) your cup of tea, you’ll be more than catered for here, and teaming up with other people has its charms in the short term. But as it stands, this portion struggles to be interesting in any meaningful way.
Verdict
If you were to take it as a straightforward superhero adventure, Marvel’s Avengers ticks a lot of the right boxes. There’s some fan service to the comic books, the story is engaging, and it’s full of epic set pieces. At times, the game feels as cinematic as the Uncharted franchise, which is apt given the presence of Uncharted voice acting alumni Nolan North and Troy Baker, whose respective turns as Tony Stark and Bruce Banner are full of humour and pathos.
But, it’s hard to shake the feeling that the ‘Games as a Service’ portion was simply tacked on during development, and the sad fact of the matter is that as much as you can try and ignore it, it is intrusive enough to taint the package. Players are constantly reminded of all the character skins they can unlock or buy, and the post-game feels geared towards this rather than making your heroes more powerful.
Titles like Destiny were built from the ground up as grindathons, and players go into them with their eyes open. However, with a pre-existing property like the Avengers, whose rich comic book history is full of alternate costumes and beloved character designs, the decision to gate so much of this behind an intentionally laborious grind is undeniably cynical.
At one point in the campaign, Kamala starts playing the Sia track Cheap Thrills on a laptop, with the lyrics “Baby I don’t need dollar bills to have fun tonight” blasting out of the speakers, a sentiment that feels at odds with the game’s overbearing attempts to hawk superhero clothing.
If you have even a passing fondness for these legendary Marvel characters, you’ll likely have a blast with Avengers’ campaign, but the relentless enticements for virtual wares might put you off hanging around afterwards.
Marvel’s Avengers is out now on Xbox One, PS4 (version tested) and PC
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