From the second the Guardians of the Galaxy are launched as a space-faring workforce that can do something for a fast buck, it’s abundantly clear how a lot of a dysfunctional mess they’re. Gamora and Rocket are at one another’s throats. Drax and Star-Lord don’t see eye to eye. And nobody is taking note of Groot. For the following 15-plus hours of gameplay, I listened to those misfits bicker, hurl insults, and chatter nonstop – a lot to my enjoyment.
After I say “nonstop,” I imply they by no means cease speaking. A second not often goes by with out the Guardians sharing their ideas. I’m not exaggerating this frequency. Any moments of quiet made me query if the sport was not working correctly. The quantity of dialogue that Eidos-Montreal crafted is off the charts, and most of it’s properly penned, providing the witty humor, heartfelt intimacy, and sheer chaos you’d anticipate from the Guardians.
Drax’s incapacity to understand widespread colloquialisms and phrases brings large laughs and is simply nearly as good as James Gunn’s tackle the character within the Guardians’ films. I’ve by no means mentioned this in a evaluate earlier than, however the dialogue is the very best a part of the sport. Eidos-Montreal knocked it out of the park. The remainder of the sport delivers loads of enjoyable however with various ranges of high quality and polish – the latter subtly hurting essential areas of the expertise.
It took me a couple of hours to heat as much as each Star-Lord and the fight system. Peter Quill is a bit grating from the outset however comes round when the workforce dynamic begins to gel, and the story softens from its general bombastic tone to permit him to indicate his emotional facet. I ended up adoring him over time, particularly when he’s speaking to himself.
His story is properly written, and Eidos-Montreal did a wonderful job injecting his management qualities into the motion and decision-making. Gamers are in complete management of Star-Lord and can decide the street your workforce takes. These decisions aren’t on the identical seismic scale as a Mass Impact sport and don’t change the story a lot, however do supply enjoyable alternate sequences and much more dialogue.
I can’t converse to the entire outcomes that stem from these decisions, however the dozen-plus I skilled in a second playthrough have been simply nearly as good and flowed as naturally as these in my first run by means of the sport. Whereas it was to enjoyable to absorb the totally different humor or distinctive gameplay sequences I missed earlier than, they weren’t sufficient for me to wish to maintain going to see how the second journey could be totally different. Once more, issues aren’t altering a lot.
This can be a sport the place the narrative consumes simply as a lot time as gameplay. Given how fulfilling the story is, I didn’t have an issue sitting again and waiting for an enormous chunk of my time, particularly once I had management over probably the most important selections. The attract of discovery anchors the story and touches every Guardian in ways in which flesh them out completely. I don’t wish to give away an excessive amount of of the plot, however the Guardians are chasing one thing evil that they unleash. That hook stays robust by means of many of the expertise, transferring at a pleasant clip and putting a fragile stability between critical and outright absurd.
Eidos-Montreal totally embraces “science-fiction” themes within the worlds, characters, and that evil entity of notice. The worlds steal the attention with their wildly coloured and oddly designed vistas. The characters are simply as bizarre (generally for comedic sake), and that evil beast strikes in probably the most peculiar and astonishing methods.
Every world pushes the Guardians to lean into their distinctive talents to navigate treacherous terrain. The paths ahead are all the time linear and crammed with platforming sequences and fight arenas, very like the Uncharted video games. Whereas the participant solely controls Star-Lord – a choice that works properly for all gameplay features – every Guardian might be summoned with a button press to carry out a particular process. These temporary inputs work properly, and Eidos-Montreal even warps the character to the specified location to ensure you are transferring ahead at a strong tempo. You’ll be able to summon Drax to knock over a pillar or Gamora to leap up onto a wall to offer you a lift as much as a platform. All of the Guardians’ strikes are used for environmental puzzle fixing, which begins enjoyable however loses its luster by means of repeated options.
The Guardians additionally play huge roles in fight and are as highly effective as you’d hope. Groot can upend enemies with a swarm of roots, Rocket blasts foes with a foolish variety of weapons, and Drax and Gamora use blades to slice and cube. For Star-Lord, nevertheless, this isn’t a sport I’d invoice as an influence fantasy. His blasters are weak, and he should work exhausting to drop even the lowliest of foes. All of the Guardians have to be utilized in strategic methods to seek out success. Star-Lord can sprint round shortly and tick away on the enemy’s well being, however his most vital contribution is as a play-maker. When he needs to name upon a Guardian, time slows, and he can inform them to carry out a desired capacity. It’s not an influence fantasy, however a teamwork fantasy that finally ends up being immensely satisfying when the whole lot is clicking because it ought to.
At its peak, fight is dealt with admirably by means of the controls, permitting the participant to whip throughout the world, shortly spotlight targets, and simply as swiftly inform every Guardian what to do. Given what number of characters are onscreen at any given time, the fray seems to be chaotic, however there’s a violent magnificence to it, and also you oversee all of it, barking out instructions to rain demise in numerous methods. The Guardians can even chain collectively most strikes to really present the workforce’s energy. By the tip of the sport, the battles are wildly entertaining and ship an excellent problem. Oddly, the sport’s strongest capacity is a pep speak by Star-Lord, which all the time carries slightly humor, however pauses fight for a lot too lengthy and finally ends up being fairly annoying.
Now the dangerous information: The opening hours of fight are a tough and uneventful journey. Earlier than authentic threats come out of the woodwork, the Guardians tackle gelatinous cubes and spheres, conflicts which might be as boring as they sound. With an excellent majority of talents locked away for over half of the sport, the true potential of the Guardians is stored at bay for a lot too lengthy, and the expertise suffers. This sport is at its finest when it’s excessive, and it will definitely will get there, however not shortly sufficient. The coaching wheels are on for half of the sport. A scarcity of polish throughout your complete expertise additionally hurts. Some animations are a bit jumpy, particular gameplay mechanics like sliding don’t supply a lot precision, and fight’s framerate might be tough at occasions.
One other misfire is controlling the Milano in space-combat sequences. It’s cool in idea, however awkward controls and lack of a menace make these moments little greater than a visible showcase. The sport’s different distractions fare a lot better. Monitoring down totally different fits for every Guardian is a pleasant reward, and a few collectibles that seem on the Milano open new conversations and backstory.
As a fan of the Guardians’ comedian books and films, I completely loved Eidos-Montreal’s distinctive tackle this supergroup. The nonstop character banter and properly designed decisions make this a journey value taking, even when the gameplay takes slightly too lengthy to focus on the workforce’s true potential.
