It’s really hard to bring up Marvel’s Avengers in a conversation regarding upcoming games. Many have already written the game off, while others argue that it could be something different. On one end, it’s a games-as-a-service, sporting a myriad of repetitive missions, loot grinding, microtransactions, and comes off as a game made with board members in fancy suits calling all the shots. Everyone has been burned enough by this as is. On the other hand, tucked beneath all that shoddy multiplayer marketing and live service features, lives a story that really is the game’s greatest showpiece.



While Marvel's Avengers isn’t without its flaws, I have to hand it to Crystal Dynamics for sticking to their guns. This is a traditional narrative, where players can enjoy a solo experience and you don’t have to grind for better gear to finish the story. It completely made me forget that this game also has an online experience, and for the most part, that’s a fantastic compliment.

One of the other fears revolved around Kamala Khan, an Inhuman who the story seemingly takes place around. This may be an Avengers story, but Ms. Marvel is undoubtedly the protagonist. The story starts out with the devastating attack on San Francisco, with the Avengers being framed for releasing experimental technology onto innocent people. Kamala takes the call to action upon herself and attempts to reassemble the Avengers and take on the wolf in sheep’s clothing - A.I.M. As a rather proficient fan of the Avengers, Kamala uses her expertise to find a piece of evidence that could set everything straight and stops at nothing to make sure A.I.M is exposed for who they really are, even if she may be way in over her head at times.



What comes next is an odyssey of epic proportions, spanning across the globe in a campaign crammed full of action set-pieces, heartfelt dialogue, and the usual Marvel one-liners you would expect from a Marvel movie. Characters such as Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow, Thor, and the ol’ Cap himself are all given their own time in the spotlight, but the narrative makes a great point of using Kamala as the glue that holds the broken team together. She is an instantly lovable character that can initiate some truly emotional dialogue and high-octane action sequences. Her excitement is infectious and she truly is a very relatable character in various ways, despite a few convenient things taking place throughout the campaign. Kamala is unapologetically a fan thrown into the deep end of a true superhero experience, all while the narrative maintains focus on the Avengers and their dilemma.

[Kamala's] excitement is infectious and she truly is a very relatable character in various ways...

One of the ways Crystal Dynamics has managed to do this is with its wide cast of veteran voice actors. Troy Baker makes for an excellent Bruce Banner, while Nolan North nails Tony Stark’s narcissistic persona. Despite this, the entire casting does a fantastic job at bringing a level of depth to the story. Each conversation between the characters feel genuine, and can sometimes even surprise you with just how well it has been executed.



The gameplay is a bit of a conundrum. It is mechanically deep and there is a lot of avenues to explore, but the inputs are a bit too simple. This translates into a game where many of its players will most likely stick to specific combos, making the game feel like it’s just a button-mashing extravaganza. That being said, there is a lot to dive into when it comes to combat. Each character is distinctly unique, with each boasting three different skill trees, and customisation that allows you to change the roles of each character. It’s fair to say that Marvel’s Avengers feels like an evolution of Marvel’s Ultimate Alliance, with a live service model attached for good measure.

Given the large comic universe Crystal Dynamics has to play with, it was a bit underwhelming to see the lack of villains present.

Everyone has a light, heavy, and ranged attack. Combos can be performed for those willing to take the time to learn their characters, as well as takedowns (a cinematic way of doing large amounts of damage to enemies), a support ability, an ability that does damage, an intrinsic meter that allows heroes to hone in on certain traits, and a unique ultimate attack.



While the heroes definitely have a nice feeling of variety between them, enemies aren’t given the same level of attention. Some come at you with large shields, others fly, and you may get the occasional enemy that feels a lot tougher than the rest. However, they remain largely the same - just a bunch of minions who seem eager to die at the hands of your superhuman prowess. This can dull combat significantly. Missions start to feel like you’re just clearing waves and waves of mindless enemies who don’t take any creative position or challenge you in any way outside of brute force. In the base game, boss fights felt way too sparse. The boss fights on offer weren’t bad in the slightest, which is what created my longing for just a few more boss fights to be thrown in to really be the cherry on top. Given the large comic universe Crystal Dynamics has to play with, it was a bit underwhelming to see the lack of villains present.



Once you have finished the campaign (which can span between 9-15 hours, depending on how you play it), this where a lot of people will switch the game off and lose interest. Even if you’re looking for a replacement to Destiny 2, or something that can scratch that grinding itch like Monster Hunter: World, this is probably not the game for you. Content is simply just nonexistent once you have finished the campaign. Everything is just repeating the same thing you have done throughout the story without the exciting cutscenes or meaningful dialogue. While the argument can be made that this is just the nature of the game, it serves as a painful reminder that Marvel’s Avengers is being dragged down from reaching its true potential. Boss fights are just clones of the ones that have come before, War Zone missions just use the same environments from the campaign and the objectives start to lose their impact rather quickly.



Sure, Destiny, Monster Hunter, and even The Division are all guilty of doing this. But these games have never made it so obvious. Take away the amazing performances of the voice actors, the engaging narrative, and the true-to-Marvel dialogue, and you can start to see the cracks. That wouldn’t feel as disappointing if the loot were at least good. While I understand that there would be licensing issues, it wouldn’t kill Marvel to bend the rules and give some visual reward to how loot works. Nothing really feels like it has any impact, everything just changes in the background and it removes the thrill of finding an exotic piece that you can flaunt in front of other players. It’s a rather odd decision from Crystal Dynamics to omit this, and it’s something that would have felt right at home in Marvel’s Avengers. The idea of visually upgrading Iron Man’s armour with each piece of loot would feel infinitely more rewarding than just finding out he does 15% more finisher damage at the end of a combo.

Some may long for the MCU character models, but I feel like this is a perfect way for Marvel’s Avengers to differentiate itself from the rest of Marvel’s offerings...

Visually, the game is splendid. There are some framerate dips, but for the most part, the game looks great. I like the realistic approach Crystal Dynamics opted for. Some may long for the MCU character models, but I feel like this is a perfect way for Marvel’s Avengers to differentiate itself from the rest of Marvel’s offerings; while still being able to adapt skins from the comic universe.



That being said, Marvel’s Avengers has a lot of problems that need to be addressed by the developer. The lack of an impactful endgame, the mundane loot system, the overly repetitive missions, and the bugs present within the base game. There is still a lot of good in Marvel’s Avengers, and I have no doubt that this will be a completely different game in a year’s time. It’s just really hard to recommend right now, even if you’re just buying it for the campaign.

Marvel’s Avengers suffers from an identity crisis. It tries to do too many things at once and that leaves you with an experience that's torn between two points. It has a single-player campaign that does a fantastic job of harnessing the Marvel universe into an exciting and action-packed set of events. You can tell the game was made by fans, for fans. It’s just the rest of it breaks the immersion and reminds you that it still has a long way to go before it can reach the heights of its superhero counterparts in the gaming world.

*Review code provided by Square Enix