The reveal trailer did little to get me excited for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. It seemed like the game was trying too hard to ape James Gunn's comedic stylings, and frankly I couldn't be less interested in anything Marvel related with Square's branding slapped on it. But after hearing positive things (and finding the game for dirt cheap, as it usually is) I caved and picked it up, only to be pleasantly surprised by what I played.
Or, rather, I was surprised by how much the story pulled me in. It deals heavily with themes of death, loss, and moving on, and it's all handled with a level of sincerity that I wasn't really expecting. Unfortunately, the gameplay feels pretty half-baked. The main loop is this: Go to a new world and walk around with the rest of the Guardians, using their abilities to solve dull, repetitive puzzles and clear obstacles blocking your path. This is done by selecting a Guardian on the character wheel and pointing them at a corresponding object that move, cut, crawl through, or otherwise "solve" in order to proceed. Towards the end of the game you no longer have to direct the Guardians to do this, signifying the strength of the bond they've formed with Peter by the end of the game. That's cute, I guess, but doesn't really make up for hours of tedious exploration.
Combat doesn't fare much better. You control Peter and have indirect control of the rest of the Guardians. They will sometimes join you for finishers or melee combos, and otherwise can be instructed to use one of their special moves by pulling up the character wheel during an encounter. New moves can be purchased using ability points, but you'll very likely have everything unlocked halfway through. It's not very hard. Peter also gets an assortment of elemental guns. These can be used both in and out of combat, but don't expect a lot of depth here either. They're mostly there to clear yet more obstacles or knock down enemy shields.
The one highlight of combat for me was the team huddle mechanic. When you've built enough meter you can pull in the other Guardians for a huddle, and by selecting the right dialog option you'll gain a bonus in combat. Pass or fail, you'll also trigger one of the games many, many, MANY needle drops. Thankfully the selection of music is pretty good, and honestly I find it hard to hate any mechanic that will reward failure by playing Everybody Wang Chung Tonight.
However, much like every other part of Guardians' gameplay, the huddle gets played out by the halfway point. There's maybe a couple dozen pieces of huddle dialog, and the right answer is so painfully obvious that I'm not sure why there's even a fail state. I only picked incorrectly twice and it was because I was totally zoned out.
Again, the story is really good. I don't want to spoil it, but if you like The Guardians of the Galaxy, you'll probably get a real kick out of it. I don't particularly have any affinity for the property and even I had a lot of fun. I just wish more thought was put into the gameplay, but it really doesn't seem like it was a priority.
Or, rather, I was surprised by how much the story pulled me in. It deals heavily with themes of death, loss, and moving on, and it's all handled with a level of sincerity that I wasn't really expecting. Unfortunately, the gameplay feels pretty half-baked. The main loop is this: Go to a new world and walk around with the rest of the Guardians, using their abilities to solve dull, repetitive puzzles and clear obstacles blocking your path. This is done by selecting a Guardian on the character wheel and pointing them at a corresponding object that move, cut, crawl through, or otherwise "solve" in order to proceed. Towards the end of the game you no longer have to direct the Guardians to do this, signifying the strength of the bond they've formed with Peter by the end of the game. That's cute, I guess, but doesn't really make up for hours of tedious exploration.
Combat doesn't fare much better. You control Peter and have indirect control of the rest of the Guardians. They will sometimes join you for finishers or melee combos, and otherwise can be instructed to use one of their special moves by pulling up the character wheel during an encounter. New moves can be purchased using ability points, but you'll very likely have everything unlocked halfway through. It's not very hard. Peter also gets an assortment of elemental guns. These can be used both in and out of combat, but don't expect a lot of depth here either. They're mostly there to clear yet more obstacles or knock down enemy shields.
The one highlight of combat for me was the team huddle mechanic. When you've built enough meter you can pull in the other Guardians for a huddle, and by selecting the right dialog option you'll gain a bonus in combat. Pass or fail, you'll also trigger one of the games many, many, MANY needle drops. Thankfully the selection of music is pretty good, and honestly I find it hard to hate any mechanic that will reward failure by playing Everybody Wang Chung Tonight.
However, much like every other part of Guardians' gameplay, the huddle gets played out by the halfway point. There's maybe a couple dozen pieces of huddle dialog, and the right answer is so painfully obvious that I'm not sure why there's even a fail state. I only picked incorrectly twice and it was because I was totally zoned out.
Again, the story is really good. I don't want to spoil it, but if you like The Guardians of the Galaxy, you'll probably get a real kick out of it. I don't particularly have any affinity for the property and even I had a lot of fun. I just wish more thought was put into the gameplay, but it really doesn't seem like it was a priority.