Marvel's Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Review
Sept 18, 2020 1:00:22 GMT -5
Mongo the Destroyer, IMMORTALS, and 3 more like this
Post by Dylan on Sept 18, 2020 1:00:22 GMT -5
Marvel's Avengers is a very interesting take on the classic Avengers tales of suspense and what not. I'm gonna break this into a few parts. Campaign / Post-Campaign / Gameplay / General Thoughts. And I'll keep this spoiler free for now.
CAMPAIGN
So the campaign. We'll look at just the story alone, as game play and such is covered later. The story is beautifully done. This is where the game is at its best, as the game usually tailors its missions to the character it makes you play as (ie running around Tony Starks old mansion piecing together a makeshift suit). The writing is well done and everything immerses you with ease. Honestly, this portion feels more like Tomb Raider than a looter-shooter. The game flawlessly mixes up amazing cinematics, great storytelling with touching, funny, even intimate (not in a sexual way ew thank god they didn't pick up the hulk/widow love angle) moments. It builds up the big baddies, AIM and M.O.D.O.K (not a spoiler he was revealed months ahead). You get to watch George Tarleton's transformation from measly scientist looking to make a buck with the backing of the Avengers to Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing. You watch Kamala embrace her newfound powers. You get to build SHIELD up to its glory, and [CENSORED FOR SPOILERS].
RATING: 10/10
POST-CAMPAIGN
The post-campaign mode, called "The Avengers Initiative," does not have the same sleek polish as the campaign. It is 100% more buggy (I actually didn't have any bugs in the campaign which was a cool flex to say when everyone else complained about the bugginess) and the amount of effort put into the campaign, the love and attention, was definitely not shared here. There is a small story line (that I've yet to finish - more about that in just a second) that you can tell they tried to make as cool as the story. It just doesn't hit the same notes though. And while the campaign keeps the recommended power level close to your heroes levels, the Initiative skyrockets it so you have to grind out pointless side missions to level up and get better gear so you can actually play the levels. It doesn't come off as fun, and really cannot be done alone. It's almost built for multiplayer. AND THE PEOPLE WHO PLAY ONLINE ARE FUCKING STUPID!
*clears throat*
That's not a fault of Square Enix though.
RATING: 5/10
GAMEPLAY
*sigh* this is the subject that will take both a long time and a short time to write up. In its base form, it's a looter-brawler. Occasionally a shooter if you play as Iron Man. It takes the single player elements of Marvel's Spider-Man, and the multi player elements of Ultimate Alliance, and mashes them into a game that honestly, doesn't have its own identity. The combat is just a series of button mashing and repetitive scenarios. "Save X from these enemies," "Defeat this target," "Hack this while J.A.R.V.I.S reprimands you for not defending a checkpoint." In the beginning it's fun, but quickly (especially post-campaign) bogs itself down.
Now what does have its own identity is each character within the game. Each character, while using the same buttons for combos, movements and abilities, each feels and plays like their own person. And THAT is exactly what I wanted from the game! Black Widow is a total controller that is efficient in range and melee, SECRET SPOILER CHARACTER is great at buffing everyone, Kamala Khan is a very good healer who with perfectly timed abilities will make sure no one dies. Thor is good at dealing out damage, and can buff the damage of everyone. Hulk, if you play him right, is a perfect tank. And Iron Man, is Iron Man. If I had to rank them from best to worst, it'd be like this :
Black Widow ; GOD TIER GOD TIER GOD TIER! Is literally the perfect all-around character that can do basically everything and adapt to all scenarios.
Kamala Khan ; Her playstyle is way better than expected, and has some fun movement too. Her abilities are lackluster, but BOY can she heal. You can even upgrade her healing ability so if she gets knocked out, she can just heal herself without needing to be revived.
Thor ; Dude fucking shreds if you can play him right. His combos will tear people apart and he'll also casually summon the BiFrost on people.
SECRET SPOILER CHARACTER ; Can't talk too much, cuz spoilerz. They have some fun abilities and is a good buffer.
Hulk ; Dread's gonna hate this, that Banner stan, but if Hulk is going to be a tank, he needs health. His abilities buff up his defense stats so he has the capability to tank heavy shots, but needs higher health to be compatible as a tank.
Iron Man ; Absolute trash. He has some decent ranged abilities, but has no health. He has the ability to turn into the Hulk-Buster and becomes very OP. But if you activate this ability you're basically vulnerable to all damage until the suit is on. So if you're in a pinch and wanna Hulk Up? Pew pew random droid shoots you and you're dead.
The game also relies heavily on L O O T. Which isn't necessarily bad until you're in the endgame and can't do anything because you're not at "the recommended power level." The gameplay has its moments to shine, but does often drop the ball.
RATING: 6/10
GENERAL THOUGHTS
So as much as I want to, I cannot give this game a perfect score. However, it manages me make me fall in love with a looter-shooter brawler which normally would be an impossible task. The story it tells is amazing, the character designs are both flawed and beautiful at the same time. Yet once you pass the safety net of the campaign it devolves to playing the same X missions over and over with an occasional boss fight mission thrown in to uh, "spice it up." There are plenty of flaws, but there are also plenty of upsides. Neither really outweighs the other. I have to rate this game overall a 7/10. For $60, it's not awful. Especially on console where you get two games for that price (you can upgrade from PS4/XBox Series X to PS5/XBox Series S for free). Honestly, I'd wait til it's $40 to get it.
Well that's an awful review, but I wrote down everything I wanted. If anyone has any questions about the game or anything, feel free to ask!
CAMPAIGN
So the campaign. We'll look at just the story alone, as game play and such is covered later. The story is beautifully done. This is where the game is at its best, as the game usually tailors its missions to the character it makes you play as (ie running around Tony Starks old mansion piecing together a makeshift suit). The writing is well done and everything immerses you with ease. Honestly, this portion feels more like Tomb Raider than a looter-shooter. The game flawlessly mixes up amazing cinematics, great storytelling with touching, funny, even intimate (not in a sexual way ew thank god they didn't pick up the hulk/widow love angle) moments. It builds up the big baddies, AIM and M.O.D.O.K (not a spoiler he was revealed months ahead). You get to watch George Tarleton's transformation from measly scientist looking to make a buck with the backing of the Avengers to Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing. You watch Kamala embrace her newfound powers. You get to build SHIELD up to its glory, and [CENSORED FOR SPOILERS].
RATING: 10/10
POST-CAMPAIGN
The post-campaign mode, called "The Avengers Initiative," does not have the same sleek polish as the campaign. It is 100% more buggy (I actually didn't have any bugs in the campaign which was a cool flex to say when everyone else complained about the bugginess) and the amount of effort put into the campaign, the love and attention, was definitely not shared here. There is a small story line (that I've yet to finish - more about that in just a second) that you can tell they tried to make as cool as the story. It just doesn't hit the same notes though. And while the campaign keeps the recommended power level close to your heroes levels, the Initiative skyrockets it so you have to grind out pointless side missions to level up and get better gear so you can actually play the levels. It doesn't come off as fun, and really cannot be done alone. It's almost built for multiplayer. AND THE PEOPLE WHO PLAY ONLINE ARE FUCKING STUPID!
*clears throat*
That's not a fault of Square Enix though.
RATING: 5/10
GAMEPLAY
*sigh* this is the subject that will take both a long time and a short time to write up. In its base form, it's a looter-brawler. Occasionally a shooter if you play as Iron Man. It takes the single player elements of Marvel's Spider-Man, and the multi player elements of Ultimate Alliance, and mashes them into a game that honestly, doesn't have its own identity. The combat is just a series of button mashing and repetitive scenarios. "Save X from these enemies," "Defeat this target," "Hack this while J.A.R.V.I.S reprimands you for not defending a checkpoint." In the beginning it's fun, but quickly (especially post-campaign) bogs itself down.
Now what does have its own identity is each character within the game. Each character, while using the same buttons for combos, movements and abilities, each feels and plays like their own person. And THAT is exactly what I wanted from the game! Black Widow is a total controller that is efficient in range and melee, SECRET SPOILER CHARACTER is great at buffing everyone, Kamala Khan is a very good healer who with perfectly timed abilities will make sure no one dies. Thor is good at dealing out damage, and can buff the damage of everyone. Hulk, if you play him right, is a perfect tank. And Iron Man, is Iron Man. If I had to rank them from best to worst, it'd be like this :
Black Widow ; GOD TIER GOD TIER GOD TIER! Is literally the perfect all-around character that can do basically everything and adapt to all scenarios.
Kamala Khan ; Her playstyle is way better than expected, and has some fun movement too. Her abilities are lackluster, but BOY can she heal. You can even upgrade her healing ability so if she gets knocked out, she can just heal herself without needing to be revived.
Thor ; Dude fucking shreds if you can play him right. His combos will tear people apart and he'll also casually summon the BiFrost on people.
SECRET SPOILER CHARACTER ; Can't talk too much, cuz spoilerz. They have some fun abilities and is a good buffer.
Hulk ; Dread's gonna hate this, that Banner stan, but if Hulk is going to be a tank, he needs health. His abilities buff up his defense stats so he has the capability to tank heavy shots, but needs higher health to be compatible as a tank.
Iron Man ; Absolute trash. He has some decent ranged abilities, but has no health. He has the ability to turn into the Hulk-Buster and becomes very OP. But if you activate this ability you're basically vulnerable to all damage until the suit is on. So if you're in a pinch and wanna Hulk Up? Pew pew random droid shoots you and you're dead.
The game also relies heavily on L O O T. Which isn't necessarily bad until you're in the endgame and can't do anything because you're not at "the recommended power level." The gameplay has its moments to shine, but does often drop the ball.
RATING: 6/10
GENERAL THOUGHTS
So as much as I want to, I cannot give this game a perfect score. However, it manages me make me fall in love with a looter-
Well that's an awful review, but I wrote down everything I wanted. If anyone has any questions about the game or anything, feel free to ask!