Marvel’s Avengers Review: Should Have Been An Open World Game

Marvel’s Avengers is an interesting game, as it is a combination of a third-person beat ’em up game combined with third-person shooting.

What Happens in Marvel’s Avengers?

Kamala Khan is a young girl who, after winning a fan fiction contest, has the opportunity to meet her heroes, the Avengers. While she is there, the Golden Gate Bridge explodes. This proves to be a distraction, as some bad people try to hijack the Chimera, the Avenger’s new helicarrier, and the Avengers rush into battle. During the fight, the Chimera explodes with Captain America inside as well as releasing the core of the Chimera, called a terrigen crystal, which releases on the world like a mist.

5 years later the Avengers are no more and now a science and tech-based company called A.I.M. has taken the place of the Avengers. It seems that when the terrigen crystal was released, it gave people powers of all sorts. A.I.M. calls these people Inhumans. A.I.M. is trying to round up the Inhumans claiming that they are sick and dangerous.  We then see Kamala Kahn, who still believes in the Avengers and thinks they were set up, and we find out that she is Inhuman.

Kamala discovers evidence that the head of A.I.M. may have had something to do with the death of Captain America and tries to meet up with a member of the resistance who fights against A.I.M. While she is looking for the Resistance member, she is found by A.I.M. and she narrowly escapes. Realizing she can’t go home, she sets off in hopes of finding the resistance’s base or the Avengers. Will she be able to right some wrongs?

Marvel’s Avengers Review

I’m not going to lie but I have been waiting for a game like this for a long time and I love it. Being a big Marvel movie and comic fan, I was eagerly waiting for this game as I have always wanted an Avengers game.  Playing this game was everything I wanted it to be as I got to experience playing as my favourite heroes.

There are many pros to this game, but I would say that the first one is the story. As much as I love the movies, I was glad to see it was not a direct adaptation of the movies, but instead, it is its own story that draws inspiration from both the movies and comics.

In terms of the gameplay, I am glad that each character plays differently. The Hulk, who is meant for big destruction and power moves, does not play the same as Iron Man, who can fly and use repulsers. The combat is simple enough that casual gamers should not find it hard while there are more advanced combos and attacks for people who like that sort of thing.

As much as I have loved this game, I recognize that it has flaws and while they don’t bug me too much they are worth mentioning. The first one is that after the prologue. You spend a good half an hour playing as Kamala, which is fun but most people bought the game to play as the Avengers themselves, so it is surprising to some.

The back half of the game was significantly better than the front half.  The action seems to improve in the back half and maybe that is because the player gains skill points for their characters so that their characters are more dynamic with a bigger variety of fighting moves. 

The other thing that improved in the second half was the pacing as the first half, while it was trying to build to something, was quite slow whereas the second half seems to move with a sense of urgency which adds to the story as well as the gameplay.  The actual assembling of the Avengers makes the game more enjoyable with more characters to choose from.

Getting to see the Hulk or Thor fighting beside you is quite cool.  I feel that the skill tree and the points system are actually noticeable in this game with a variety of combos and moves you can unlock to make your character play the way you want them to.

You could specifically focus on one aspect of the character that you enjoy and upgrade that. I once again think the gameplay is simple but in a good way as a more casual gamer, like me, will enjoy the easiness of the fighting as it is not that complex though it is not entirely a button masher which is nice.  I also thought that the final mission was a lot of fun and led to a great final battle and conclusion to the story.

Now on the bad side, this game did not really pick up any more negatives than the first half but the problems from before still are problems. This is still Kamala’s story so you play as her the most and so for those thinking you just got to play as whichever Avenger you wanted, that is not always the case. Not unlike Star Wars Squadrons, this game feels like it accomplished one facet really well, but it missed being a staple in the respective franchise.

The characters feel a bit nerfed with some of the villains feeling overpowered with the worst case being the Hulk, who in the game feels weaker than Kamala. The worst thing is the loading times in this game as they can be up to thirty seconds after deaths or between missions, and that is the worst. It feels as if you could get a snack and go to the bathroom and still make it on time for when the game loads back up.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this game and as an Avengers fan, it only added to the enjoyment.  I would recommend this to anyone as the story and gameplay should be enough to hook anyone and whether you are an Avengers fan or not this is still a fun game to check out.