Hands on with Marvel's Avengers
When Square Enix finally unveiled their Avengers game, I was of two minds on it, the game looked promising, but the visuals, specifically the models of the Avengers were so bizarre, it through me off. Since then, they have released a lot more information, especially via their War Table events, but now I got time with it, are things coming assembling just right?
The build of the game that I was lucky enough to play was an advanced version of the beta that will soon be available to the public and overall there is about 4 hours of content to enjoy, making it more like a shareware build, to use an old school term. There were a few story based missions, but most of it were regular missions, known as Warzones, Dropzones and HARM missions and each offered something different. The story missions, there are three, counting the prologue which is what they showed off when the game was first revealed and marks the only time you can play as Thor and Captain America.
When you play the other two-story missions, you will take control of Hulk as he and Ms Marvel head to the North-West of the USA in the hopes of discovering JARVIS. The second has you fighting Abomination in an abandoned S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, but both missions give you a really good sample of fighting as Hulk, which is something I wanted to experience. Over the years, there have been countless ensemble games, but there have been very few that star any specific character and the last good one was The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction and that released back in 2005. To many games make the mistake of making Hulk strong and fast, forgetting that Hulk is actually a big guy, but this did not, and it was amazing. Hulk can dish out some punishing attacks, the move I came to call the ‘Loki Slam’ was always fun and if there are too many enemies together, you can unleash a massive wave, which will send them flying.
The second mission had me lead off as Ms Marvel, with Hulk following along, much like a rage filled puppy, but it helped show off the variety the game is attempting to provide. Ms Marvel had more reach than Hulk, thanks to her powers of being able to stretch and expand, ala Mr Fantastic and with them came more freedom of movement. The fun was in discovering new locations and given that the first mission did not drop me at the start of the base, it had to be located first, it helped sell the point. Each map contains multiple things and you will visit them, time and time again, which is where the other missions come into play and going to a location for a mission is not the only reason to go. Located throughout the worlds are hidden caches of supplies, which you can use to upgrade gear, or you might get lucky and find some new gear hidden within as well, which ties into the next point, upgrades.
Upgrading things, from gear to characters is pretty straight forward, there is little to worry about, though even from the few hours I played, I can see the system getting away from people. Each character can have five different pieces attached to themselves and you find more pieces, the more your inventory will fill up, so to speak. The pieces, if are not relevant, can be broken down to provide more supplies to upgrade the ones you want to keep, so as I said, staying on top of things is going to be key. Outfits are also a big thing, but there wasn’t a lot to worry about in the build I had, so something for later, but one thing I did enjoy was looking at the skill tree, which brings me to my biggest concern.
Combat is mostly done with light and heavy attacks, though when special meters are filled, you can unleash some devastating attacks, the problem is without diving deeper into the skill tree, it seems to bland. Being able to run into a fight and just mash away at attack is fine, but ends up feeling more like you are spamming buttons and even bashing enemies as the Hulk could feel to samey after a while. I had moments of fun, I kept thinking that it felt just like Disney Infinity and while that game was fun, it was designed to be played by all ages, I was hoping for more with the combat on offer here. Even dropping into the HARM missions, the simulations that let you play as other characters, feel boring and that is not something I thought I would say when playing as Iron Man. I am honestly hoping that when the full game is released, and I can expand into the skill tree more and find a more depth to the overall combat.
The other concern is with the locations, the number in the beta is surely not going to be all of them, but given how many missions take place with in each one and the overall size of them, repetition might settle in. Revisiting the same locations is not a problem, if the missions are fun and provided a proper reason, but smashing a dozen bad guys, then going back and destroying some equipment, before having to smash two dozen bad guys, might draw thin. Again, there was only a finite amount of content on offer from the beta, so I am hoping that there is more in the game, but it is something I am cautious on.
My time with the Avengers, or at least 2/3rds of them was fun, way more fun than I thought, and I do hold out hope that the final game, before any planned content is just as fun. Questions remain over how deep the combat system will be and the variety of locations to visit, but things are looking up for this latest Marvel title and given it’s rocky start is a good thing.
