With the game officially releasing today, it seems many are interested in whether Square Enix’s Marvel’s Avengers can live up to the legacy of its esteemed comic book protagonists. With the characters becoming blockbuster icons and their fellow hero, Spider-Man, making a huge splash on the PlayStation 4, hopes are high that the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will manage to conquer the video game world with ease.
Luckily, the game’s release means critics have been given free rein to discuss their thoughts on the newest game in the Marvel universe. Of course, many have waited with bated breath for Marvel’s Avengers reviews seeing as the title has been polarizing, with huge fans and vocal critics both emerging from the press and general community following the game’s recent beta releases. The main source of contention was easily the title’s “games as a service” focus, with a lot of the game seemingly focusing around microtransactions and lengthy grinding.
With that in mind, it’s worth getting stuck into the reviews to see what critics thought of Square’s take on the seminal superhero property. Will it manage to follow in the footsteps of Endgame and other huge cinematic Marvel releases, setting the bar for superhero-related media? Or is it destined to be yet another live-service game flop?
Game Informer (Andrew Reiner)
“Crystal Dynamics wants you to play this game for years to come, and Avengers has plenty of content to keep you engaged at launch, but replaying missions on higher difficulties to get better gear won’t be enough down the road. It doesn’t have the competitive hooks of similarly designed games like Destiny. A steady drip of new stories and missions will be needed along with the announced heroes. Avengers is in great shape right now, dazzling with its story and action. I’m hooked on the end-game content that is available now, and I want to see just how powerful these heroes can become after leveling them completely. Avengers, assemble! You have a great game to play!”
Score: 8.75 / 10
VideoGamer (Josh Wise)
“Supposedly, the game is targeted for the Xbox One X and the PS4 Pro upwards, into the next generation—future-proofing at the expense of the present. These gripes, I expect, won’t bother those gripped by the prospect of continuous Avenging, who will frantically anticipate the raft of new heroes being piped in via DLC. Power to them. There may well be the feeling of a missed opportunity here, but no matter. Almost worthy is still pretty good.”
Score: 7 / 10
The Sixth Axis (Jim Hargreaves)
“Marvel’s Avengers offers a new approach for a superhero video game, yet one that still feels all too familiar for anyone who’s played Destiny, The Division, or Anthem. It’s eye-popping in its technical prowess as well as how much it leans on live service hooks, anticipating players will come back day after day. And a lot of players definitely will, especially if they can squad up with friends. Past its flaws and behind the grind, Marvel’s Avengers is still a fun superhero brawler that has plenty of room to grow in the coming months.”
Score 7 / 10
Cultured Vultures (Jimmy Donnellan)
“Marvel’s Avengers is held up by a surprisingly excellent single-player campaign and let down by its stagnant gameplay loop and widespread technical issues. We definitely can’t do this all day.”
Score: 6.5 / 10
Destructoid (Chris Carter)
“When Avengers isn’t getting in the way of itself with its tacked-on campaign, it’s a bit of silly arcade fun. If a lot of these concerns are answered via post-launch patches and the DLC characters are fun to play, there’s plenty of room for improvement with Avengers. At launch, it’s not going to wow everyone. Maybe Marvel wanted this out as soon as possible, but it could have used another delay.”
Score: 6 / 10
IGN (Tom Marks)
[Review In Progress] “Despite my rapidly dwindling enthusiasm for Marvel’s Avengers’ multiplayer, I am trudging forward at least until I finish the main mission chain of the Avengers Initiative operation, not that doing so is very entertaining. Keep in mind that I still really enjoyed the 10-hour campaign on its own, and you can read my last review in progress update below for my full thoughts on that. Honestly, though, unless the later missions really do something to surprise me I can’t see my opinion changing much beyond what I’ve already seen. Either way, we’ll have a final review for you sometime next week.”
Current Score: 6 / 10
VGC (Jon Bailes)
“Marvel’s Avengers is soulless, even when it’s competent. Its single vaguely imaginative concept is that it tells the story from Kamala’s perspective. Her enthusiasm, as equal parts Avengers fan and budding superhero, is infectious. But that makes us wonder. Is Kamala’s character itself another cynical piece of design, aiming to persuade players that this adventure is more exciting than it is? If it is, it doesn’t work for long.”
Score: 2 / 5
Polygon (Laura Dale)
“On a good day, Marvel’s Avengers is a multiplayer Marvel-themed Dynasty Warriors game, and if you’re in the right mood, that’s a decent way to spend some hours, and we don’t know where the team will take it from here. On a great day, it’s a strong single-player outing for one of my favorite under-appreciated superheroes. Whichever of the two you’re hoping for, there’s fun to be found here, if you set your expectations right. While the multiplayer may not have come out the gate swinging, there’s room for it to level grind a little over the coming weeks, and hopefully become more impressive at some point down the line.”
Score: N/A
The reviews seem to paint a pretty clear picture of what works in Marvel’s Avengers and what doesn’t. It seems most critics unanimously agree that the game’s campaign is a wonderfully fun, short but sweet romp, cleverly putting Kamala Khan front and center and letting the character’s instant likability drive the story. Yet, it seems the multiplayer is where the game falters, with critics admitting that it often feels remarkably soulless and corporate. Many also remarked that the title seemed focused towards a pay to win mentality, with certain cosmetic items and upgrades needing exhaustive amounts of grinding to unlock unless players want to pay a fee.
The game is currently pulling a 71 on Metacritic, however, it’s worth keeping in mind that a number of publications still have yet to deliver their thoughts on the widely anticipated release. As it stands, only 16 outlets have published their thoughts on the game, so the overall aggregate score is likely to shift drastically in the next week. Until then, it seems Marvel’s Avengers is a bit of a mixed bag, with a fun campaign but some really unenticing multiplayer aspects to contend with. Regardless, the game has already managed to smash a record, with its beta becoming the most-downloaded beta in PlayStation history.
Marvel’s Avengers is out now on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, with next-generation versions in development.
![\"IT電腦補習](\"http://itteacheritfreelance.hk/test/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/logo2-2.png\"){kind=logo}
www.itsec.hk
www.itsec.vip
www.itseceu.uk
Leave a Reply