Just recently it seemed like magic. After all, there are so many heroes, each of them with their own problems and tricks. Is it possible to show this in one project if a film about the Avengers required a whole series of backstories??
It turned out to be possible. I was thrilled when Crystal Dynamics announced Marvel's Avengers. The first gameplay trailer made you smile stupidly, and the concentration on the five main characters of the team inspired confidence that everyone would be revealed. It had to be something new and different.
The game came out in September, now it's December. Square Enix, the publisher of Marvel's Avengers, published a financial report, from which it became clear that the company lost a significant amount on this release and practically went into the red. With over a hundred million spent, the game sold only 60 percent of the planned volumes. People make memes about how they prop up the game box against the window, supposedly that’s the only thing it’s good for. The final product managed to disappoint everyone.
I will try to evaluate Marvel's Avengers both from the position of a fan and from the position of a player, because these are the two groups that Crystal Dynamics tried to unite and make their audience.
Fan
I'm a fan of the Marvel universe, I've watched all the films, I know who the Iron Patriot is and I understand the difference between Hank Pym and Scott Lang. When I started playing Marvel's Avengers, I immediately noticed a sea of references and details. The style of the characters is unmistakable. The local Avengers are a cross between film incarnations and comic book characters. While maintaining their distinctive features, they look nothing like the actors.
Marvel's Avengers is not a game based on the movie. It has its own story, its own problems and its own characters. This is both a plus and one of the most important minuses of the game. On the one hand, the authors have freedom of creativity, they are not constrained by the events of the Infinity War, and on the other hand, we have watched as many as 23 films of the cinematic universe. During this time, each hero went through a gigantic path of development, changed his views and many beliefs. This is especially noticeable in Thor, who from one of the most boring characters became truly alive and interesting.
Crystal Dynamics ignores the experience of the cinematic universe, but at the same time their Avengers have been working together for quite some time. Comics and fan fiction are written for them, even personal holidays are celebrated. But the team doesn't look united at all. Even in the face of a common enemy, they constantly quarrel and it is unclear why they decided to work together in the first place. External circumstances do not affect the heroes in any way; they do not have common memories or at least friendly relations. Game avengers are office colleagues who endure the entire working day, and then go their separate ways and don’t remember each other.
In such a situation, the new character https://giocodigitalecasino.co.uk/ Kamala Khan or Ms. Marvel really looks like a good find. She's the same fan that I am. Kamala spends almost the entire game just admiring what's happening. Either from the fact that Tony appreciated her costume, or from personal acquaintance with Thor. This is how any of us would behave. Kamala is also a Muslim, and this is shown, surprisingly, organically. This is especially valuable considering how intolerant the games are towards Muslims, who are often enemies. At this rate we will probably see a normal portrayal of the Russians.
Unexpectedly, it is Bruce Banner who becomes Kamala's mentor. Their communication — one of the best parts of the plot.
But the villain made a mistake. It wouldn't be a spoiler to say that the antagonist is one of Captain America's iconic foes, Modoc. This is a brilliant supercomputer, born from an ordinary person, capable of mathematically calculating the most complex probabilities of events. A confrontation with such a character could almost make a psychological thriller. In the game, Modok is a dull villain of the same type, who sends crowds of robots to the heroes until the last moment, but in the end he fights himself and, of course, loses. No surprises or intrigues. Any noname would be suitable for such a role.
All this leads us to understand why, with all its external detail and sophistication, Marvel’s Avengers was not liked by the fans. Due to lack of depth. The films were also not very complex, but the characters had to be developed, otherwise people would stop watching them. There is not a single controversial situation or real conflict in the game. Bruce Banner's only difficult choice, when he admits the guilt of the Avengers in the tragedy, has practically no effect on the heroes; if this moment had not happened, nothing would have changed.
The entire story campaign is just preparation for multiplayer. They let you try out each character, and the levels are exactly the same as in multiplayer mode. There is almost no story content on them, you just clear question marks in random order, kill all the enemies and collect loot. There are almost no bosses. As a fan, I definitely expected something more from an Avengers game. At least some kind of production appears only towards the end, when you are already so tired of the monotony that you are ready to give up everything. And now is the time to talk about the Avengers as a player.
Player
I've been playing games most of my life. I understand the difference between action and RPG genres. I've played hundreds of hours in various multiplayer games, and I hate it when I'm forced to pay for something else when I buy a game. When I started playing Marvel's Avengers, I was immediately thrown into battle. The fight is fast-paced and well-choreographed, where all the heroes took part, using very different techniques and constantly interacting with each other. I expected it to continue like this – as linear as possible, but colorful and cool.
But then they forced me to jump and run for several hours as an incompetent girl in completely empty locations. I also fought occasionally, where I was slowly taught the basics of combat, although only recently I seemed to be in the very center of a large-scale battle.
The game tutorial was so long that I involuntarily glanced at my watch. And it's terrible. From a cheerful beginning you were thrown into one of the most dull corridor adventures. But it's not over yet. At some point, you can again play as different characters, choosing them at the beginning of the mission. Already at this stage the magic of the story game collapses. Here's a hub that you can navigate between short tasks, here's a bunch of shops, here's an introduction to the characters so you can choose one and slowly start to upgrade it and dress it up for the multiplayer mode.
Loot is one of the obvious failures. There's a lot of it, a lot. It drops out in different colors and characteristics, but… is not displayed on the character at all. In a game with an emphasis on constant leveling and grinding, you are deprived of the opportunity to see the result of your labors. The developers explained this as a desire to “create gear that matches the look and feel of the Marvel Universe.”. However, nothing stopped them from selling cosmetic skins for real money. It turns out a strange situation in which your Iron Man or Thor is fully pumped up, but wears a T-shirt. There are already four armor equipment slots, and there is a division according to epicness. However, apart from changing the characteristics numbers, you will not get anything else. Paid cosmetics are not new for many projects, but removing the ability to change equipment, while maintaining it in its essence, looks like pressure towards purchasing these same cosmetics. Only after playing more than 10-15 hours in multiplayer will you get rewards in the form of free skins. The choice appears and dissatisfaction recedes, but first impressions are just the first. I think errors in the loot concept are one of the reasons why players started leaving the project.
Levels go from very narrow in multiplayer to incredibly large, but there is absolutely nothing to do in them. You move through a huge location from one ordinary activity (kill, save, collect) to another. But not all characters can fly. This results in a good 10-15 minutes of a mission that could last 25-30 being spent walking. The developers promised to gradually add new characters with personal mini-campaigns. However, if the level of variety in such missions is the same as in the main game, there is no point in waiting for DLC.
As for the most important thing – the action, there are a number of advantages. With the exception of Thor, who at the initial stages of the game is very similar to an imba (flies, deals some indecently large damage), it is interesting to play for everyone. Even the Hulk, who, at first glance, is devoid of distinctive features, turns out to be a very useful, effective, and most importantly interesting hero from a gameplay point of view. At the same time, you don’t need to relearn how to play if you suddenly get tired of a certain character. Controls and combos are approximately the same for everyone, only the effects of the same attacks change.
Black https://casino-yeti.co.uk/withdrawal/ Widow, for example, makes herself and her team members invisible, and Iron Man weakens enemies. All this is done with the same button. You don’t get tired of fighting even after a long time. I want to master the character and deal with enemies as spectacularly and quickly as possible. Intuitive controls only encourage this.
The list of active abilities is small, but they are selected for each hero and in accordance with his lore. Skills really need to be learned and activated at the most opportune moment. The meager leveling is significantly expanded in the future, allowing you to add additional options to the basic skills and, therefore, the individuality of the character. So Tony’s combat ability – a beam from his chest over time can shoot in three different modes, which means it will be used in completely different situations. Multiplayer looks especially good when you go through missions with friends, coordinating your actions. At such moments, the Avengers give real pleasure and reveal their best side.
Verdict
Marvel's Avengers is a service game that is diligently trying not to be like that. It has everything to make her hate: endless grind, the same type of tasks, buying cosmetics for real money. But in no other game will you be able to feel so well the role of an avenger in the thick of battle. When the Hulk bursts into a crowd of enemies, smashing everyone around like bowling pins, lightning from Mjolnir rains down from the sky, Iron Man throws up enemies with rockets and cuts with lasers, and Ms. Marvel finishes them off with a huge hand, the game wants to forgive all the flaws.
This is not a project that you will want to return to day after day, but spending another evening in it with friends once a month, or even a week, will definitely be very pleasant and fun. Let's hope that Crystal Dynamics has enough opportunity to release all the planned DLC to give the Avengers new life.
