Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix first teased their Avengers video game project all the way back in 2017, with a cryptic trailer that suggested terrible things had happened to the beloved superhero team. With Crystal Dynamics having developed the critically-acclaimed Tomb Raider reboot series, expectations were high for the project, even with relatively little information to go on. Then Square Enix properly unveiled Marvel's Avengers at E3 2019, and public opinion seemed to dip, with many fans unimpressed by the character designs and the games' live-service elements. And now that Marvel's Avengers is available to the public, it's clear that at least some of those concerns were warranted.
Marvel's Avengers is really a tale of two games. On one hand, it has a pretty great, albeit short, single-player campaign with an engaging story that does a great job of highlighting its strengths. On the other hand, it's a live-service style game, clearly taking inspiration from titles like Bungie's Destiny, and it's th experience that tends to drag things down a bit.
Like many other live-service games, Marvel's Avengers has a big focus on collecting loot. Loot can be found pretty much everywhere, with the goal being to raise each character's power level as high as possible so that they have a better shot at completing the game's tougher missions. Unfortunately, Marvel's Avengers fails to make the loot all that compelling to collect. All it does is give characters small stat bonuses, and players only ever have the gear for a short amount of time before they inevitably find something better to swap it with. Marvel's Avengers' endgame content hinges on whether or not one finds this leveling process fun, and it's safe to say many are going to find it to be an unfulfilling grind due to the lack of worthwhile loot.
On the bright side, players don't really have to engage much with Marvel's Avengers' lackluster loot system at all. While players can micromanage whatever gear they've equipped their heroes with, they are also free to just let the game auto-select the most powerful gear, scrap the leftovers for crafting resources, and call it a day. This ensures that while the poor loot is still an issue when it comes to the endgame, it at least doesn't get in the way of the single-player campaign.
Marvel's Avengers' single-player campaign is easily the highlight of the experience, as that's really what Crystal Dynamics does best. While each story mission is more or less just an excuse to teach players how to engage with the endgame content and play as each hero, the way the story is framed ensures that it doesn't feel like an extended tutorial. The story missions are filled with exciting, Tomb Raider-like set-pieces, action-packed boss battles, and well-acted cut-scenes to keep fans engaged from start to finish.
Marvel's Avengers takes heavy inspiration from the Marvel Cinematic Universe when it comes to how it presents its characters and story, with the key differences being villain MODOK and Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel. MODOK has yet to appear in the MCU, which is greatly to his benefit in this game, and the developers succeed in making his origin story one of the highlights of the campaign. Meanwhile, with Khan having yet to debut in the MCU as well and still being relatively new to the comic book scene when compared to the other heroes on the Avengers roster, fans can experience her story with few preconceived notions about how she should be presented, act, or look. While Marvel's Avengers makes sure to feature all of the heroes in their own story missions, Khan is clearly the main protagonist of the story.
Khan is an endearing, yet naive character who idolizes the Avengers. She develops superpowers early in the game that allow her stretch, bend, and grow various parts of her body. Oftentimes she uses these powers to make her fist larger or stretch out her arm to swing on a pole during one of the campaign's platforming sequences. Khan's shape-shifting abilities make for some fun combat, especially as players grow her skill tree and unlock more abilities for her to utilize.
With a group with as diverse powers as the Avengers, it seems as though it would be tricky for everyone to retain their unique abilities while maintaining generally the same controls and gameplay. However, Crystal Dynamics has absolutely nailed each character in the game, perfectly replicating their combat style and abilities so that everyone feels markedly different, yet there's no learning curve when bouncing from one hero to the next. The combat itself is also a ton of fun, leaning into the power fantasy that comes from being a powerful superhero, with players able to take on quite a few enemies at once and not feel overwhelmed.
Yes, there are some "bullet sponge" enemies in the game, but there is a certain rhythm to the combat that makes it incredibly rewarding once players have it mastered. Simply button mashing through the campaign is an option, but it's a lot more fun to get the counters and dodges right, especially when players unlock new skills that allow them to pull off devastating moves after a perfectly-timed block or dodge. The combat becomes gradually more fun and rewarding the more time players put into their characters. So while the loot system is unlikely to draw many players into engaging with Marvel's Avengers' endgame content, some may be compelled to keep grinding away just so they can continue bashing enemies as Marvel's top heroes.
Unfortunately, combat can also drastically impact performance, with frame rate dips that are extremely noticeable. This issue is especially apparent later in the campaign, when there are often four heroes in a mission at once, on top of as many enemies as the developers could cram on the screen, highly-detailed environments, character models, animations, and visual effects. There is a Black Widow mission that only includes her and a few enemies that also had almost unbearable frame rate drops when played on a standard PS4, too, so the issue isn't necessarily exclusive to the busier missions. These issues are unfortunate, especially since these larger combat sections are when the game is the most fun.
When looking at all that Marvel's Avengers tries to do, it seems as though the game's slowdown issues are likely more due to the hardware and not necessarily because of the game itself. Perhaps the next-gen versions of Marvel's Avengers will solve this issue, which should improve the experience substantially. For now, though, Marvel's Avengers players can expect to run into some big-time lag in certain missions.
Marvel's Avengers has a free next-gen upgrade, so that's definitely appreciated, and the idea that the game will be much better later on is apparent with other aspects as well. Like any other live service game, it's quite likely that Crystal Dynamics will tweak the Marvel's Avengers experience based on fan feedback, adjusting the loot system and adding more worthwhile endgame content to engage with. The developers may also fix Marvel's Avengers' technical issues, which would go a long way in making it a more enjoyable experience all-around.
Balance changes and bug fixes are no doubt on the way for Marvel's Avengers, but the real exciting post-launch content comes in the form of DLC heroes. Marvel's Avengers' DLC heroes will be added to the game for free, with players able to purchase optional battle passes for them if they so desire. Spider-Man being PS4 exclusive is pretty anti-consumer, but all fans can look forward to other heroes like Kate Bishop, Hawkeye, Black Panther, and more.
If these Marvel's Avengers DLC heroes come with their own story content that's similar in style to the single-player campaign, then they could be what keeps people coming back to the game. However, if they are like the mission chains that each playable hero has now, where it's just the same repetitive objectives that players encounter in the endgame missions with a little story content sprinkled in, then they're far less compelling.
At launch, Marvel's Avengers is a passable experience, with some big upsides to be found in its combat, stellar voice cast, and fun single-player campaign. However, its loot system, repetitive endgame missions, and technical hiccups seriously hold it back from reaching its full potential. But it's worth keeping in mind that Marvel's Avengers is a live-service game, and so a year from now, it may be a far better package. Those on the fence should wait for Crystal Dynamics to address some of these issues, especially since the superior next-gen versions are right around the corner anyway.
Marvel's Avengers is out now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions also in development. Game ZXC was provided with a PS4 code for this review.
