Proud to say I believed in this game from the very flarkin start.

What a huge improvement from Avengers. I cant wait to see what Eidos-Montréal does next, whether it be another Guardians game or perhaps another Marvel property.

Overall, really flarkin great game.

I went into this with some low ass expectations after the god-awful dreck that was Marvel's Avengers, but I will admit when I was wrong because this game is a good as time.

The writing, for the most part, is honestly not that bad, it's not James Gunn and it fully knows that so it tries to go for a more video-gamey feel and it more or less succeeded in what it was trying.

The combat is something that I was dreading since from all the previews it looked boring and unengaging, once again I was super wrong. Once combat is in motion and you're in the moment everything becomes a lot more fast passed. The way the combat feels reminds me of janky 7th gen games; where they're janky and off-putting they have this charm that you just can't resist, that is this game's combat. Oh, also it's pretty much just want Mass Effect Andromeda tried doing but better making that game look even more like a steering pile of shit in comparison.

The story was pretty ok. It's not gonna blow you away and compared to the last good Marvel game Spider-Man PS4 it doesn't reach the same fantastic heights that game had but it does reach it a handful of times.

I think visually it looks fantastic, everything from the planets; to the aliens, everything gives me this feeling of an 80s Heavy Metal cover and I go crazy for that shit.

Overall I was gonna give this game an 8 and that would be it but then we had this outstanding fight with 𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗗, and I shit you not that was an amazing boss fight. Every boss fight with a 𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗗 needs to have Kickstart my Heart in it from now on.

Wow. After hearing the announcement of this game I sighed, after the Avengers game I really thought this would follow suite of having a very bland an uninspired story but holy hell was I wrong. I was never going to get this game but after a friend heavily suggested it claiming it to be his 'favourite game of all time' I reluctantly bought it and to say I'm glad I did would be an understatement. This game was everything that it needed to be.

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is proof that the genre of single player superhero games is far from dead. This may be a bold claim/unpopular but the characterization of the Guardians in this game is better than the MCU, there I said it. This story being told here is also better than both of the films combined. It's a goofy, fun, and crazy game with some genuine heartfelt moments in it. There are a few twists here and there that actually caught me off guard and work really well. One complaint I have is that I wish there were more Peter and Nikki stuff, it seems like he isn't as hellbent as he should be when discussing the probability of saving her with the team, he did think that she was his daughter at that point after all. But the stuff that we did get with them was great and brilliantly executed.

The combat system is another real highlight but for me the best integration that this game bring to the table is the huddle system. Motivating yourself and your team then blasting some absolute tunes whilst taking on an army? Oh it's so awesome. The dynamic between each Guardian is fantastic and you may think that the constant interaction will annoy you after a while but it actually allows them to develop their relationships really well. My only issue in that regard is the constant repeating of dialogue at times but I can overlook it. Overall GOTG is a masterful game and the best superhero game I have played since Batman: Arkham City. Well done Square Enix, now give us a sequel pretty please?

This game slaps so hard!

It's got fun combat that stays enjoyable and thrilling the whole way through, solid mechanics, beautiful presentation, and a story that hit so many emotional notes and was a lot heavier than I expected which I loved.

I really wish I could play this on next gen hardware because I feel last gen doesn't do it justice but it was still so much fun regardless.

I loved everything about this game. I was honestly surprised as to how much I loved it, but to call it a masterpiece is not an exaggeration. Best cinematic movie game I've ever played even surpassing my old favorite in this style which was Uncharted 4.

It's one massive intergalactic adventure that has Star-Lord and the gang traverse multiple planets and exotic locations. All the scenery and set-pieces were amazing and part of that is due to the incredible graphics as well. I have to mention I adore how at certain moments throughout the story you have to make choices and for once in a game they legitimately do matter and can change a lot of different things from playthrough to playthrough! The plot, themes about finding family and coming to terms with grief, general dialogue and character development (Each individual character has a fleshed out arc) was honestly so much better than I ever expected from a comic book game (It's a lot more faithful to the comics than the movies as well), I only wish the MCU had the kind of quality writing this game has.

I also loved all the banter between each character and their interactions as well and unlike in Marvel movies where the comedy is often cringe-worthy, the comedy in this game is actually super funny and endearing, I was laughing so much while playing. The OST kicked ass too, everything from the licensed classic rock and pop tunes of the 80s to the original in game heavy metal band Star-Lord and even the whimsical, bombastic, heroic Marvel style orchestral score, it all fit the style and theme of the game and every moment was scored perfectly.

Speaking of style, the actual gameplay of the game has you only taking control of Star-Lord himself, but it's very fast paced and fluid and as you unlock new powers and abilities you can chain together DMC style (The game even has a DMC-like style meter, there's no way it wasn't influenced by DMC) combos alongside giving orders to the other Guardians via an abilities menu you pop open during battle. When outside of battle there's some platforming and puzzle solving ala Uncharted, but the puzzles are pretty cool and creative as each Guardian has a unique overworld ability that you can command them to do in order to solve the puzzles.

All in all Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is a perfect mix of the over-the-top gameplay style of DMC and the cinematic movie-like experience of Uncharted topped off with impeccable writing, fun and memorable dialogue and character interactions, a killer OST and beautiful graphics. If you're someone who plays games and is even remotely interested in Marvel you'd be crazy to skip this adventure and even if you don't like comics I'd still say give the game a shot because it might end up surprising you with how impressive it is and how much better than the movies it is.

Derivative of Uncharted, Mass Effect and Control. But derivative doesn't have to be a dirty word. Familiarity is comforting. This could have been a total disaster. In a weird way it feels like one of the rare AAA PS4-era games that was left alone by the publisher to be its own thing. In this day and age that means a game that doesn't take a lot of chances. Okay, fine. But I think like Jedi Fallen Order, and completely unlike Marvel's Avengers, this is a big, licensed Disney game that exudes some form of personality and spirit.

I enjoy that this game unlike the two Guardians of the Galaxy really plays into what desperate losers these guys are. It makes for the cliched moments when they come together as a team and bond feel more earned. I love the dialogue in this game. Not the actual dialogue itself, mind you. Just how much of it there is and how well it's scattered across the game. When you wander around as Peter to search for a collectible, Gamora or Rocket will ask what the fuck you're doing and if you're lost. Peter will say he's scouting. Small moments but they add up to a sense of place and character, and not in a blatantly self-referential meta way. The characters, at least for the first half, are almost always chatting, bantering, bickering, mostly over each other. It can feel like a Robert Altman film at times with just how much overlapping dialogue there is, or like an episode of Always Sunny.

I dig it. Unspectacular but in a world of corporate art it's nice to get a single player game that's primarily story centric and linear and just left to be its own thing. I'll take it as a small miracle.

Humor can be hit or miss but, at its core, Guardians of the Galaxy remains true to the spirit of the ragtag team of misfits by injecting them with a flarkload of heart and passion, replete with many quiet moments of empathy and growth amidst a sea of laughably easy combat encounters.

Eidos Montreal may have been toiling away in the Square Enix IP mines for a while but it's clear that they still have a team of talented creators at the helm. Would love for Square to let them finish Deus Ex now. Or any time. Please, I need more... I'm asking for it. It's been too long. Please, Square.

I had no intention of buying this game when it was revealed back at E3. The showing was genuinely terrible and I immediately wrote it off. And then I saw a gameplay demo a few weeks before it came out, and I was surprised to see that it didn't look half bad. After I finished it, I'm happy to say that this is easily one of the best games I've played all year. And I've played a LOT of games.

I can't look at many games these days and confidently say that they're made with a lot of passion and heart. The 20 hours I spent with the Guardians easily put the game in that category. The game itself has a lot of problems. From a pure design standpoint it's nothing special. Lots of walking and talking sections, especially at the beginning, followed by battles from big room to big room. Commanding teammates in and out of combat for really easy puzzle solving. On the surface, it actually sounds pretty boring. But once you throw in the staples of this series, like it's excellent characters, dialogue, locales, classic rock soundtrack, and everything else that Guardians is known and loved for, you get a formula that doesn't get old throughout the entire run of the game.

Guardians of The Galaxy is one of the prettiest games I've ever looked at. You travel to so many places in such a short time and every single one of them is jaw dropping. Character models have so much detail on every inch of them, and the effect work is really well done too. Animations can be a bit wonky sometimes, especially outside of custcenes, but the hand animated cutscenes that play during important story beats are really impressive.

Like I said before, from a pure game design perspective, the game can be kinda boring, but the banter between the Guardians that is constantly happening makes everything worth it. The only character I didn't think was up to par was Star-Lord himself, but he wasn't bad at all, and he really shines in the last couple chapters. Anyways, when the game hits it's stride, everything flows so well. Combat sequences are especially fun when the guardians are working together and yelling shit at the enemies and each other while they fight. It's really endearing.

The plot itself is really good, and it takes it's time setting up stakes that you can really find yourself personally invested in. I won't say much about it because spoilers, but I really loved seeing the villain give the story a way to delve into each guardian's trauma and problems. I've never read the comics, but the game did a much better job of communicating how fucked up this ragtag group of criminals is than the MCU ever could, given the opportunities of this medium. Addressing each character's trauma and past mistakes with a unique villain that opened the door to a TON of good storytelling opportunities that the dev team took advantage of. They could've gone further with it, but I think this was a great first attempt.

It's a little clunky, and it's no masterpiece, but it's easy to tell that Guardians was had a lot of talent behind it, and that the people who worked on it love this series and wanted to do it justice. Highly recommend.

This was a nice surprise. Very funny with a surprisingly enjoyable story. I really liked how the team felt like they were growing as the story went on and how that was even reflected in gameplay by them automatically doing things you'd have to directly ask them too earlier in the story. The gameplay is nothing incredible but its fun enough that I was never bothered by it, and the huddle mechanic was really neat (although feel like it' should of occured more often) But the game isnt perfect. For one - the amount of dialogue in this game is insane when roaming the levels especially considering how well its done and how funny it can be, the problem is that theres just so much of it in each level that characters are getting constantly cut off. Second of all- some of the levels just go on way too long and makes the game feel a bit more bloaty than needed. Other than that, this was one of the most surprising and charming games i've played in recent memory and I simply wouldn't feel right giving it any less than five stars.

96/100

Long before Mercurystream made Metroid games they used to make Castlevania games. In 2010 rebooted and reinvented the Castlevania brand to be more in line with popular action games at the time like God of War. This is similar to 1997 where the Castlevania series was turned into an non-linear platformer with rpg elements following both the exploration and rpg trends of the ps1 era as tight and short 2D platformers fell out of favor during the previous generation. Castlevania had certainly experimented with non-linear exploration based gameplay before in Simon's Quest and vampire killer but it had also experimented with 3D action gameplay in Lament of Innocence.

As a God of War clone Lords of Shadow is competent but unambitious. You have your light and heavy attacks, QTE finishers, climbing, and light platforming. As the game goes on you unlock more varied combat options, but the low difficulty and ease of parries makes them mostly superfluous. The real strength here comes in the beauty and diversity put into the environments. Nearly every area has some unique twist as you travel through twisted forests, stark mountains, ancient ruins, gothic castles, and dead deserts. It really splits the difference between the more spooky and gothic look of classicvania with the gaudy interiors of SOTN. Really in the end Lords of Shadow doesn't end that much differently then SOTN. Both being radical gameplay shifts with functional but ultimately uninteresting gameplay carried mostly by excellent visual design. The difference being that SOTN with its sprite based graphics stands out infinitely more on the PS1 while Lords of Shadow blends in with the dearth of God of War clones. Despite this Lords of Shadow still stands out in its generation with its striking and high quality environmental design.