Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy – to be honest, two weeks ago I didn’t even know this game is a thing. But Square Enix was so amazing to let me play the game one month before release... and oh boy am I glad they did.
I freakin’ love the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, I mean... who doesn’t, right? So going into the game, the expectations we’re pretty high. And yes, I know the game is based more on the original comics than the movies but... just shush for a minute. Both Guardians of the Galaxy movies set a very high standard in terms of humor, action, storytelling and music, so this is what I expect from a Guardians game, and... let’s see if the game can hold up, shall we?
Little disclaimer before we dive in though: In the preview I just got to play one chapter of the game, and watch a few Q&A Sessions, so this is what this entire preview will be based on.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Preview
Alright, let’s start with the most important part in my opinion: the action. During the entire game, you’re playing as Peter Quill, or as you might know him: Star Lord. And of course, you’re not alone in this fight! Your squad consists of you and the other 4 well known Guardians Rocket, Gamora, Drax, and of course Groot. You won’t be actually playing as each of them individually, but you can ask them to do tasks like... open doors. But that’s boring, right? Well, it gets a lot more fun in fights where you can let each of the 4 Guardians do special attacks on targets you pick.
Each of the Guardians having 4 different unlockable special attacks makes fighting a lot more complex, but oh so much more fun. At times, you’ll forget to do some fighting yourself and instead command your companions and watch those beautiful special attacks. Of course, every special attack has individual effects, so fighting can get pretty tactical if you want to... or just mash buttons and watch things go boom. Pick your poison.
Obviously, you’re not helpless yourself. You can shoot, fly and use other abilities. Shooting does get old quick though due to the target lock on feature. So, basically, you’ll just have a massive aim-assist, and the game doesn’t require you to have any aiming skills whatsoever. To be fair though, with all the flying and commands...not having to worry about hitting your shots is convenient.
But Square Enix...we have to talk: Who had the idea with the huddling up during fights? I mean, who seriously thought it’s a good addition to the game to completely pause a fight, take all the momentum out of the game and choose a dialogue option to motivate your crew? Why... just why?
So, to come to any kind of conclusion in terms of combat and action. I give Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy fighting-action a solid 7/10. The special attacks of your crew are super fun and combos are satisfying, but it can get a bit repetitive after a while.
Moving on to humor! And here, the movies set the bar very, very high. Still, the game comes close! The main dialogue is fine, no mind-blowing stuff here, but especially the voice lines during combat are super funny and just capture the Guardians vibe perfectly. What ruins a lot of the dialogue though are the character animations, which...suck. I mean, come on, we’re in 2021! Some motion capture would have been nice.
You like sci-fi, but you can't stand Marvel? We got you:
All in all, if the movies got you chuckling, the game will as well. I won’t give a score here, because humor is still subjective.
Last but definitely not least: Music. The Soundtrack is what made the Guardians of the Galaxy movies so amazing, and it’s what makes this game so good. During almost every fight, you’ll have rocket blasting songs you know and love. No generic action game score, but just good old quality music to get your groove on! The movies understood very well that spending some money for an amazing soundtrack which people already know and love would get them hooked, and so Square Enix did the same with this game. The Awesome Mix Vol.3 is upon us ladies and gentlemen. So obviously my score for this game’s music is a whopping 10/10.
Now, I’m sure you’re wondering about the game’s performance and here you’ll also have to take my review with a grain of salt because I played the game one month before release, so...work in progress, guys. But for me the game performed really well, I didn’t run into any bugs or glitches and the graphics looked really good to be honest. And yes, of course the game does have ray tracing and DLSS.
So, to come to a conclusion: Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy has got me hyped and excited. If you’re a fan of the movies or the comics, you’ll like this game. If not...what are you even doing here reading this?
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