![]() ![]() There are also a number of lengthy sequences that are purely dialogue based and it becomes clear that the main theme of the game is coping with loss and learning to let go, which despite all the sci-fi silliness (the plot revolves around a religious cult harnessing faith as an energy source) is handled with surprising tact and insight. In some instances, success has an immediate benefit but in others you get a little ‘character X will remember that’ style onscreen note that may not pay off until right near the end of the game. The game is filled with binary decisions you have to make, some of which come quickly, one after the other, as you try to talk your way out of a situation or convince a potential ally to help you. We should emphasise that despite the issue with the script the storytelling is actually very good. This is true of both the visuals and unexpected gameplay segues, such as a couple of space combat sequences and what at first seems to be a series of bog-standard arena battles but which are resolved in a surprising way by listening to what the characters are saying and not thinking of the game purely as a mindless action title. ![]() Some of these may be based on existing Marvel comic book designs but it’s a real pleasure to see developer Eidos-Montréal constantly trying to present you with something you haven’t seen before. There is a snow world but it’s constantly being bombarded with perfectly oblong meteorites, while the aliens range from cyclopean beach balls to peculiar tentacle monsters that attack in packs, and poisonous bipeds that look like something out of The Thing. This is the only big budget game in a long time that has proper alien landscapes and creatures, with weird colours and strange plant life that for once looks like something other than just a rock quarry or a desert/forest/snow planet. Apart from Star-Lord’s weird, inhuman eyebrows the graphics are generally very good but what really impresses is the art design, which again excels when it’s showing things not in the films. The game is entirely linear and there are no side quests on the first playthrough, just small diversions to find resources, alternative costumes, and unique items that reveal a bit of background lore about one of the characters. It’s not the deepest tactical system ever devised, and the lock-on is fiddlier than it should be, but the overall experience is a lot of fun, with a decent amount of enemy variety. This allows you to manage crowd control and activate special moves, many of which can be combo-ed into each other, such as Groot holding an enemy down, Drax staggering it, and Gamora performing an area of attack move. You can’t play as any of the other characters, but you can order them around – not in terms of where they go but who they attack and when. Star-Lord has his own buffs, that are unlocked with collected resources, while all five main characters have three unique special moves that are gained by spending skill points – and a fourth at predetermined story moments. Guardians’ combat system has two main components, as you take direct control of Star-Lord while he engages in some surprisingly meaty melee combat and uses his ‘element gun’ (which is a thing from the more recent comics) that gradually unlocks the ability to shoot ice, electricity, and other powers – that are often also used for environmental puzzles. They’re never really that funny either, with the game’s script being just that touch more straightlaced than the movies (despite being filled with faux swear words like ‘scut’ and ‘flark’) and unable to generate the same style of irrelevant, unpredictable humour. That sounds like a real problem but oddly it’s not, even though one of the other irritations is that none of the characters ever shuts up, as they constantly talk over each other like they’re in a Robert Altman film. The films always walk a tightrope in terms of not having him seem too obnoxious or argumentative, but the game makes him absolutely insufferable from the first moment, as he manages to complain and whine his way through almost the entire game – while demonstrating himself to be a thoroughly amoral person/raccoon. And apart from one fun personality quirk, that’s not in the movies, Gamora is a little bland, as she never interacts with Thanos or Nebula and there’s no hint of any romance with Star-Lord.įar worse though is Rocket, who is one of the most irritating video game characters we’ve ever had to endure. ![]() The game goes overboard in having Drax constantly taking metaphors literally, to the point where he seems to do it in almost every second line of dialogue. The game probably would’ve been better off basing everything on the comics though as while the storytelling is surprisingly complex, and tackles some serious issues, the characterisation inevitably suffers by comparisons with the films. ![]()
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