Marvel’s Avengers PS4 Review: A Superhero Game That Lacks Punch
Marvel’s Avengers is a brawler-style single player game based on Kamala Khan’s journey.
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After the Avengers: Endgame brought an end to the epic Marvel Cinematic Universe, Crystal Dynamics thought of throwing in a comic-based role-playing game into the mix to make sure that the gaming community had more of some Avengers action to feast on.
Earth’s mightiest heroes come together once again to take on an evil army of robots (just like in the movie Avengers: Age of Ultron), although the premise and story of this single-player game are different from the movie.
We got a chance to have a go at the Marvel’s Avengers on the PS4 and this is our review.
Pros
- Engaging storyline
- Action-packed combat
Cons
- Repetitive combat missions
- Riddled with bugs
- Limited character upgrades
What’s Good
I like how Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix, the developers of the game, have weaved the story of Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel into the scheme of things.
The game is about Kamala’s journey from a simple school kid to becoming one of the Avengers and it’s been smartly interspersed with the storyline of other Marvel Avengers in the game like Bruce Banner (The Hulk), Captain Steve Rogers, Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Natasha Romanov (Black Widow).
The overall character design and tone shout Marvel but sometimes there is just too much to take in. Each Avenger gets their distinct combat style and ability which is what keeps the campaign engaging.
The roughly 10-hour long campaign has you jumping between 6 different Avengers with an objective to save the human race from the clutches of the evil science corporation A.I.M.
You’ll be throwing a lot of punches while playing with The Hulk and Captain America while the Iron man and Natasha give you a more shooting-based approach. The gameplay is more about action and less of stealth which might not be everyone’s cup of tea. Similar to what we have seen in Batman: Arkham Knight and Spider-Man.
As mighty as the heroes maybe, you still have to do your part to dodge attacks and plasma cannon trajectories which makes the combat tougher.
The single-player campaign is good and mostly revolves around Kamala Khan and Bruce’s journey of reuniting the Avengers after a tragic accident at the beginning of the game disbanded the group.
Skill tree development for each Avenger is different which is why I don’t think you'll be able to unlock all the skill by just playing the campaign. You do get a multiplayer and co-op mode so that you can always invite your friends to play along to unlock more rewards.
It may not be an open world single player but you do get a variety of environments to explore, be it the open canyons of Utha, California streets or even the Pacific North West.
Visually, the game is a treat and sound effects make the gameplay even more engaging.
What’s Bad
Once you’re done with the campaign, Marvel's Avengers enters the multiplayer universe which is where the game loses the sheen.
What was intended to be a post-campaign game experience turns into an endless loop of missions with repetitive combat styles and little or anything to do with storyline or character development. Called the “Avengers Initiative”, the multiplayer game mode ties the campaign to the end of the game but it’s something you can give a skip.
There may be a lot of depth in terms of combat and ability but I never found myself going beyond just hammering on the controller and making my way through. On regular difficulty, the campaign might not be a challenge so I suggest you take it up a notch.
With a little story and added visuals, the major part of the campaign’s combat missions remains the same with very little variety. Load time before restarting is long and kills the whole mood when you are deeply engaged trying to complete missions.
All of the multiplayer missions can be accessed on the Chimera (the helicarrier) and completing missions increases your overall reputation which subsequently gives you access to upgrades, gear and rewards.
I felt that the game could have been more rewarding in terms of upgrades and gear during the campaign. Even if you get upgrades it hardly changes the overall look of the character until you pay actual money and buy upgrades. That was disappointing.
I was surprised to see that the game was riddled with bugs but thankfully it did not affect my overall gaming experience. But still, there is that kink in the armour that the developers need to fix.
Verdict
It’s a must-play for Avengers fans. There are a lot of grey areas but the good outweighs the bad of the game considerably. There are a lot of superhero games in the market but none that combine the Earth’s mightiest heroes under one roof. The game is set to introduce new characters which I feel will add more value.
The campaign is a well-stitched story of Kamala Khan which keeps a neat balance between action and cinematics. As a loot-based multiplayer option, the game will offer you rewards in the long run but for that, you’ll have to go beyond the campaign.
Combat gets repetitive so much that it can put the players on a loop of pounding that controller which can become exhaustive. The repetitive environments and locations in the multiplayer mode don’t solve that problem at all.
Despite such a strong lineup of characters, the game fails to live up to the grandeur that Marvel’s movies have created so far.
If you can ignore some of these little issues I am sure you will enjoy Marvel’s Avengers as an outright brawler-style single-player game.
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