As someone who had been looking forward to learning more about Square Enix’s “Avengers Project” for years, I found myself a bit whelmed when the game was finally unveiled. Not due to overly high expectations, but a bit of shock at the sort of janky looking combat and discount MCU cast sort of inherent to the game’s more realistic art style.
Since then, the game has looked better and better with each showing and yet for whatever reason my hype level hasn’t risen too much. Maybe it’s the fact I’ve been burned by these sorts of Destiny-style games one too many times now, but my lack of excitement is notable to me as someone who will play and consume just about anything Marvel related. I’ve also been jonesing for a replacement to Marvel Heroes and Avengers has the potential to fill that gap for me as well.
With the release of the July War Table, I think I’ve finally crossed into highly anticipated territory with Marvel’s Avengers. The game looks well-polished at this point and the team’s willingness to show a good deal of gameplay (and allow players to play through a solid chunk of content in the beta) inspire confidence in me that Crystal Dynamics may have something solid on their hands. I’m still not sold on the art style and wish they had gone with something more comic-like, but either I’ve gotten used to it now or they’ve made some subtle improvements over time.
The latest War Table gave us a good look at what’s coming in the beta and It definitely sounds substantial. Beta players will get to sample the 25 minute bridge demo sequence, a number of hero missions, and a myriad of multiplayer warzones, drop zones, and HARM rooms. HARM rooms are a wave based gameplay mode with a variety of challenge rooms to tackle. War zones are co-op missions you can play with friends and/or AI and these missions are on the longer side of things. Drop zones are sort of bite sized versions of war zones and typically focus on a single objective. There’s a good deal to do here.
We also got a peek at progression, including one of the game’s heroic abilities, Iron Man’s Hulkbuster. It looked as impressive and impactful as you would hope it to be, which kind of sets my expectations for other characters’ heroics, but that’s going to be a heavy lift for sure. There appears to be a decent amount of depth to the game’s progression systems from what I can tell so far, but to be honest with you I have my expectations tempered for this one. I’m not expecting a super deep and crunchy itemization and progression experience, but it doesn’t look shallow either. Hopefully there’s enough to keep me engaged for a while, if not on an individual basis, then with a steady stream of new heroes to play, gear up, and customize (similar to Marvel Heroes).
I also really dig what they’re doing with the companion AI. Instead of just having a sort of default AI for each character fill in a player slot, you’ll be able to use your versions of each hero, with the gear and abilities you’ve set for them. While I’d love to play in a group with friends, I feel this approach goes a long way towards enhancing the solo experience as you can sort of set up your AI party to synergize as a group.
My current plan is to check out streams of the PS4 beta, which starts on August 7, and then decide from there if I want to pre-order to play the PC beta during the following week.
What’s your take on Marvel’s Avengers so far? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
