Reviews from

in the past


This is a pretty good video game about the Guardians of the Galaxy and yeah I can't remember a single thing about it but I do know I quite liked it.

bom:
História, personagens, gráficos, escolhas importam
Médio:
Gameplay
Ruim:
Nada

I honestly wasn’t expecting much from this game. Not because of the whole Avengers fiasco (different dev team) but I still can’t say I really care for marvel video games too much.
Spider-Man and Miles were great but it’s hard to comic book video games when everyone compares it to the movies.
You get a really weird mix of “why doesn’t this look like Chris Pratt?” vs “why didn’t they include this character”
Guardians of the Galaxy is actually a legitimately fun ass video game. It mixes really fluid combat with fantastic music and a story that actually kept me interested until the end. Though it’s very typical super hero plot, it actually ignores the origin story really perfectly and just assumes you know what the f a “Guardian of the Galaxy” is.
First off, the most important part that the movies really pushed for the series was having those really big tunes banging throughout the galaxy as the crew make their way through all adventures and they nailed it here.
From “White Wedding” to “Kickstart My Heart” to “Never Gonna Give You Up” the track list is incredible and really gives you a huge cinematic feeling.
Either in cutscenes or as your ultimate ability in combat, the music in this game is so solid and just makes everything fun
The story itself is pretty par for the course of a marvel story. It’s got your family drama mixed in with the galaxies at stake and with dumb luck and some skill, the heroes try to save the day.
I did actually enjoy the family stuff they push for with the game and some of the more compelling moments are absolutely with Star Lord and the character Nikki.
It’s nothing to write home about but if you like your super heroes, you’ll enjoy the plot.
Gameplay wise it’s a really fun third person arena shooter. You get enemies thrown at you in a small or large space, fight them in really fluid combat scenes and then make your way through the level.
The game has a perfect level of mixing its combat with the dialogue choices that will randomly pop up as you walk through the levels.
Which leads to my favourite part of the game. The dialogue choices. I had very good choices in mine that lead to really helpful moments later on
But my favourite choices are the random dialogue that happens as you walk. Being able to choose what to say really gives you a feeling of immersion. You choose how Star-Lord reacts to a range of topics.
Overall, Guardians of the Galaxy is a fine addition to the comic book video game landscape.
It deserves to be here and I really love that this game exists. If you’re looking for a fun 20 hour video game that you can sit back and have a laugh with.
Here is your cup of tea

Que maravilha de jogo, os gráficos, a ambientação, os personagens e os diálogos entre eles é surreal de engraçado.

A gameplay com os poderes é maravilhosa, e cada um desbloquear a uma habilidade ultimate depois de vencer um trauma é uma forma incrível de dar profundidade.

E a trilha, bom a trilha é simplesmente 50% do jogo pra mim, assim como no filme!


When this first came out I was surprised to hear it was actually really good since everyone thought it would be another Square Enix Avengers flop. I've been meaning to play this for a while now and I can finally report that I don't think it's nearly as good as the glowing reviews would have you believe.

Let me start with the good. The story and character work is top tier especially for a triple A comic book game. The guardians are a well fleshed out and realistic team that I really enjoyed getting to know. I think I can confidently say I enjoy this rendition of the guardians more than the MCUs version. The combat, while janky (I'll get back to this) is really interesting in concept and I really enjoyed the huddle up mechanic. It's technically a cheat but using a ton of 80's music over the combat sections was a nice touch. The graphics are very nice and the mocap and character models are some of the best I've seen. Rocket and peter specifically look amazing. All of that stuff is great but It's severely tarnished by a glaring level of unpolish.

There's nothing game breaking about the bugs/glitches I encountered but there were enough little things that made the whole thing feel like it needed more time in the oven. Little things like the subtitles not showing up for certain lines, audio being delayed for a second or so, flickering textures or just really poorly implemented animations kept popping up and never really went away. The way peter moves and feels is SUPER janky and never feels satisfying. His jump has no real animation so he just appears in air and his boost forward and up look awful. I know this isn't a platforming game but any time you try to jump from ledge to ledge or vault up to a higher platform it's a gamble if you'll actually make it because the controls are so imprecise.

I really am a fan of what they did with the combat in this despite but most of the enemies have FAR too much health and are repetitive with little to no skill involved. It's fun to use your teams super abilities but I never felt like I had to strategize even a little bit to win fights. The 3 bosses in the game are just bullet sponges that have basically no meaningful mechanics and take way too long. Though I did appreciate the first boss fights mechanics a little more.

Overall I did appreciate what this game was going for and really do mean that there is a good game in here but I cannot express enough how much this needed another pass or some kind of delay because man this feels like its about to fall apart at any moment. I'd say if you're interested watch some gameplay and decide if you're cool with all the jank before buying because I wish I knew before going in.


Story and characters are fantastic combat is fun, but towards the end gets repetitive, and the very ending of the game is just okay

A very underrated game that I don't hear people talking about enough. I was surprised by just how much fun I was having with this game and how good the story and characters were. It just feels like watching a movie the way the characters interact with jokes, callouts and arguments. they generally feel like a group of friends who just manage to scrape by without killing each other.

The story also goes through a much more grander plotline than I thought it would. The way each chapter develops the story had me hooked and I just wanted to keep playing. It has moments that pull you in and start to make you feel.

The gameplay may just be the weakest part of the game compared to the other stuff, but it's also so much fun. Each fight is just full of action and cool combos you can pull off. the other abilities you unlock are also all useful and have their own situations where they are needed.

The music is also just amazing with great songs and a soundtrack that fits the atmosphere, but everyone already knows that from the movies. If you haven't, please give this game a chance.

historia meio meh mas e bue fixe de jogar, mas o gajo principal e bue chato

Quirky rail shooter with an emphasis on writing & characters, at the sacrifice of gameplay. Was kinda ready for it to be over by the end of the game lol

tudo que o marvel's avengers sonhou em ser

Oyunu oynadığım ilk saatler epey eğlenceli geçiyordu fakat chapter 13'den sonra öyle bir sıkmaya başladı ki bitsin artık diye dua ederek oynadım resmen. Hikayeye ve özellikle sunuma bayağı kasılmış, MCU filmi gibi ilerliyor açıkçası. Diyaloglar ve karakterler arası etkileşimler güzel yazılmış, neredeyse hiç susmuyorlar sürekli birbirlerine bir laf sokma çabaları var tüm ekibin. Mizahi yönü gayet başarılı. Savaş sistemine gelince, Star-Lord'un oynanışı epey zayıf olsa da diğer ekip üyelerine komutlar vererek çıkarttığınız kombolar oyunun oynanışını keyifli hale getiriyor. Aslında 4 vereceğim bir oyun olabilirdi lakin dediğim gibi oyunun sonu aşırı aşırı uzayınca (1.5 saatlik bir 14. chapter var lan oyunda) puanını 3.5 vermeye karar verdim.

Uma grande surpresa pensei que seria nível o jogo dos avengers mas fui surpreendido com um grande jogo com uma ótima dublagem e bem divertido, um bom jogo daqueles que quando termina fica com o gostinho de quero mais

Destaco el doblaje y los diálogos, dan mucha personalidad a los Guardianes y recogen perfectamente el espíritu de las películas de James Gunn, hasta el punto de reírme en alto unas cuantas veces. La jugabilidad ya no me parece tan buena.

Guardians of the Galaxy makes up for all of it's jank, lack of polish, and the wet fart that is combat in the early hours of the game by being really, really, really damn endearing. Did I audibly sigh the 20th time Gomorrah said: "Having fun "praaaying" on the weak?" when referencing the gang of religious cultists you're fighting in battle? Absolutely. But then the awesome soundtrack kicks in or the likeable characters start bantering back and forth in a cutscene and you forget all of the minor annoyances the game comes with. Not to mention this game is totally unafraid to be weird as hell in it's environments, writing, and character designs and I can definitely respect that! It balances out to be a unique, fun experience with likeable characters, an engrossing story, and a terrific soundtrack despite how groan-inducing and janky it can be at times.

Jogão, absolutamente tudo nesse jogo é bom, não a nada para reclamar

Action carino. Però Gamora mi ha rotto continuando a ripetere "Knife to meet you" prima di uccidere un nemico.

Okay, Guardians of the Galaxy is a blast! The story is hilarious and surprisingly heartfelt, the banter between the characters is pure gold, and the soundtrack is awesome. Combat can get a bit repetitive, and I wish there were more interesting upgrades and abilities, but exploring the crazy planets and getting into all sorts of space shenanigans? Super fun! If you want a feel-good action adventure with a ton of laughs, definitely give this one a go.

I love superhero games and Guardians of the galaxy is a great one. I love the gotg movies and I wasn't excited to play the game. I hadn't heard much about it and Marvels avengers sucked so I didn't have insanely high expectation but I ended up enjoying it way more than expected. The characters are amazing and I really like these versions of the guardians. The story is pretty good too. I liked the gameplay but it got very repetitive some times and it would've much much better if you could actually play as the other guardians (huge missed opportunity). Solid 8/10 fun game.

Reviewing every game i've fully completed #36

Juegazo Digno de los Guardianes de la Galaxia 🌌 Loco

I really wish it was a movie and not a game. That is the problem. There is no gameplay in general, but everything else outweighs it.

Очень хотелось бы, что это было кино, а не игра. В этом и проблема. Геймплея в целом нет, но все остальное перевешивает.

This game was done so dirty by Avengers. Thanks to that dumpster fire everyone just overlooked this and it's such a sad thing because this game is incredible.

The story is beautifully written even winning the best narrative award at the game awards. All the characterisation is on point with some beautiful character moments throughout. The gameplay is really polished, fast paced and chaotic and honestly never tiring even when going back through areas for the platinum trophy (the "Huddle Up" mechanic making fights all that more fun)

Every level is gorgeously designed with them always rewarding your curiosity heavily and honestly for this entire game you can tell that nothing but love and care was poured into it.

Also this is one of the few comic book games where I stuck with the base costumes for most of it because they just absolutely nailed the character designs and I couldn't get enough of it.

This entire game just takes everything about the Guardians from the movies and comics and shows and mixes it into probably my favourite version of these characters.


If you haven't already please give this a try, you'd be doing yourself a favour.

I got this hidden gem from GameStop for 15 bucks. I took it home, and I was blown away. Some people seem to dislike the gameplay, but I don’t really see that problem. The strategy of trying to command a team in the heat of battle is a fun loop, and I was never really bored with it. The story holds on, And never let you go. This is one of three games that got me to cry. But the game isn’t perfect. Some of the platforming could’ve been shortened. Luckily, that takes up such a small portion, that it doesn’t really affect the score.


fui injusto com voce, mas tu tem seus problemas

Excelente historia prejudicada por um combate morno. O jogo se inspira muito no que os filmes se apoiam, mas consegue trazer uma trama intrigante do inicio ao fim e o melhor disso que ela é fechadinha, sem deixar pontas soltas para alguma sequência (uma vez que não vendeu muito, logo nem vai ter).

This review contains spoilers

"Para que ser amigo de um monstro, convida-lo pro seu grupo. Grupo que eu adoro fazer parte, apesar de tudo"
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Quality superhero films may be the norm these days, but in hindsight it’s strange how little we’ve gotten in the way of narratively-equivalent video games. Sure, there’s the occasionally great movie tie-in(+), but outside of the Arkham and Spider-Man series, you could count on one hand the number of solid story-driven titles out there.

It’s a shame, then, that Guardians of the Galaxy reportedly underperformed as it’s the kind of game I felt the industry really needed with regards to the comic book genre, and what makes it particularly amazing is how it manages to craft its own path whilst still staying true to the characterizations of the eponymous film. See, compared to Batman and Spider-Man, where their numerous iterations have made audiences open to new versions, Guardians is different in that most people are liable to only knowing the characters from James Gunn’s flick, and so the writers at Eidos-Montréal had a tough task before them: how do we create our own version of the team that concurrently pays homage to the comics without alienating any cinephiles?

Well, I’m not sure what their thought process entailed, but the end result was taking the core personalities personified in the movie and combining it with an original backstory, namely one in which every Guardian was a veteran of a conflict known as the Galactic War. Each member played a different role during the war, and the way such information is divulged over the course of the game goes a long way towards distinguishing its cast from their cinematic interactions. Yes, Quill is still comedic, Drax a literalist, Rocket a loudmouth, etc…etc…, but their experiences have led to them developing varied demeanors towards society as a whole. Gamora, for example, seeks some form of redemption for her support of Thanos; Rocket & Groot are purely about surviving, and Drax hunts for honor over his inability to protect his clan.

Found familyhood was cited as a major inspiration behind the tale, and I can safely say the writers successfully accomplished this task via the sheer amount of dialogue they crafted for the game. Seriously, fans of the Mass Effect or Red Dead series may find themselves in awe at the innumerable conversations typed-up for every chapter; convos that go a long way towards establishing relationships, lore, scenarios, and general camaraderie. Hearing Drax repeatedly call Gamora an assassin, seeing everyone snicker at Quill’s attempts at self-aggrandizement, or catching Rocket’s reactions to Groot’s various statements truly render the Guardians as three-dimensional people who’ve had a lot of laughs & cries along the way. No matter their disagreements, there’s a basic-level of respect amongst each peer, and while you occasionally have the option to interject with a unique response, both choices ultimately contribute to that looming amity.

I’m not exaggerating when I say GOTG has a ton of impromptu chatter -- your main hub of a ship spouts the lion’s share of these, with characters either speaking to each other out of their own volition, or engaging in ones triggered by unique items found during missions. Both moulds give-off a big Mass Effect vibe, and I was constantly amazed whenever I discerned some new interaction, whether it be petty, dramatic, or (in most cases) downright amusing.

None of this is even taking into consideration the outside convos in which characters often shout unique battle cries or make special observations should you be standing in a specific place. One of the best things GOTG does is resolve TLOU Problem I’ve had with certain narrative-driven games wherein your hero is meant to progress forward in stark contrast to the gameplay encouraging dicking around; it breaks the game’s immersion to see your next objective or companion kindly wait on you as you do whatever it is you feel like doing. By having the other Guardians actually remark on Quill’s strays off the beaten path, it goes a long way towards maintaining GOTG’s atmosphere.

In some ways, all the dialogue can get a little overwhelming, particularly for people (like myself) who suffer from FOMO: there’s a solid chance you’ll unintentionally cut-off or outright miss at least 15 percent of the optional scripting here, and that’s just something you’ll have to contend with should you wish to play the game.

Of course, no one would’ve cared about these palavers had the voice acting not been good, and that’s thankfully not the case here. Guardians of the Galaxy is interesting in that it opted for an entirely unknown cast -- I consider myself pretty well-versed in the voice acting industry, and I honestly only recognized a single name here (Andreas Apergis, and even then that was mainly because of his recurrent roles in the Assassin’s Creed franchise). That said, their unknownness doesn’t impede the project in any way as they are all terrific, embodying their characters fully as they wander amidst a full spectrum of emotions. Like I noted with the script, there was a difficult balancing act required in terms of making sure these takes on the Guardians were both similar and dissimilar from their movie counterparts, and all the actors proficiently did-so whilst rendering their characters their own. All cards on the table, I actually preferred most of these takes over the celebrityhood of James Gunn’s enterprise: Jason Cavalier grants Drax far more tragic introspective depth than Bautista ever did; Alex Weiner removes that atrocious Gilbert Gottfried inflection Cooper gave his Rocket (RIP Gottfried, but I was not a fan); and even Robert Montcalm manages to provide Groot a more-variegated personality than the one Diesel was limited to.

Given the strong vocal bounce between the characters (Rocket & Groot standing out as the best), GOTG deserves further acclamation for its robust ADR direction. See, there’s a good chance the actors did not record their lines together, and so their ability to resound like they had good chemistry owes a lot of fealty to the narrative directors for providing the appropriate context for each delivery.

There were only two voices I had issues with, the first being Jon McLaren’s Star-Lord. This may come as a surprise given that Quill is the lead protagonist and only playable character, but I did not like the inherent stoner-esque gravel McLaren provided him. Don’t get me wrong, the performance is otherwise solid; however, more often than not, I found myself thinking of a Seth Green character over a Marvel superhero.

The second is Emmanuelle Lussier-Martinez’s Mantis, though I don’t hold this against her as it’s evident the writers were going for this crazed NPC wrought with constant knowledge: the problem is, rather than do a Dr. Manhattan-type performance, they opted to portray her like Omi in that episode of Xiaolin Showdown where he gets infused with factoids from the Fountain of Hui (and yes, for the uninitiated, that’s a bad thing when done in spades).

Regardless, everyone’s performance was successfully transposed into the game via top-quality facial capture, rendering their squints and frowns through phenomenal animations. When you visibly see pain and happiness on your characters’ faces, it does a lot for the execution of the overarching story.

On that note, the narrative has its pros and cons. As I harped on earlier, the scribes do a phenomenal job developing the relationships between the Guardians: while this version of the team is already well-acquainted, it still takes place in the early part of their formation, meaning this is where you see them go from world-weary associates to the makeshift family we all know-and-love. In terms of the grand adventure you’re set out on (i.e., the campaign those interactions fall under), your mileage is going to vary. The entire game is full of heart, and there are some emotional moments that genuinely touched me to my core, but getting to those moments means engaging in standard superhero schlock wherein you’re charged with saving the universe from despair. Yes, other comic book games like Arkham Asylum and Shattered Dimensions indulged in similar premises, but I’d argue the difference is those titles were carried by their villains and a sense of mystery towards uncovering said villain’s plot. GOTG’s problem is that it’s upfront about its secrets from the get-go and, more importantly, lacks memorable antagonists: the main one, in particular, being a generic evil shroud akin to such classics as the Rising Darkness from Constantine, Galactus from Tim Story’s Fantastic 4, and Smallville’s version of Darkseid (yes, this is sarcasm). A couple of the secondary adversaries like Lady Hellbender fare a bit better, but, as they’re not a constant presence, this is a game you’ll largely be playing for the protagonists.

For the record, I had a good time with the story -- it’s well-told, has minimal pacing issues (save the end++), and would’ve worked well as an officially-published graphic novel. It’s just, post-completion, you won’t recall the majority of the chapters (the interactions within, yes, but not the events).

Thanks to James Gunn, the GOTG franchise is also permanently associated with comedy, and on that front the game works quite well. Whereas Gunn’s films were more about gags and one-liners, Eidos goes for a more situational style-of-humor wherein you’re witnessing how a coterie of charismatic individuals with sharp comportments would behave when placed in an enclosed dwelling. I wouldn’t call it laugh-out-loud, but more-so chuckle humor: you’ll smile and giggle like a schoolgirl, yet rarely twist your stomach out from hooting, and I think the tactic works great. There are times when the game tries to mimic the Gunn route; however, those scenes fall very flat and are thankfully few-and-far between(+++).

Of course, Arkham and Spider-Man didn’t get popular solely from their narratives or witticism: they had phenomenal gameplay systems to back everything up, and on that note, Guardians of the Galaxy is pretty dang good. It’s interesting that I made the comparison to Mass Effect earlier as the similarities between the two even extend to combat: you control Quill while his comrades are AI-guided, each of whom can be called upon to use a special attack against a foe or foes. Quill himself is equipped with his fists, dual blasters (primed with elemental shots obtained during set story beats), and a batch of special moves ranging from electro mines to the iconic jet boots. Much like the original Mass Effect, ammo for every tool has been replaced with a cooldown period, and there is no cover: if you’re not on the run, you’re likely to get swamped quickly (similar to Control).

With the exception of the final slot (garnered through story progression), every Guardian’s super attack has to be unlocked by way of good old-fashioned experience points gathered from combat scenarios, lending the game a bit of a lite-RPG schematic. Supplementing this are a heap of 15 additional perks players can add to Quill’s stockpile via select work benches scattered throughout most chapters, the only catch being that you have to scavenge the requisite components in the world (akin to TLOU).

Overall, fighting is fun if a bit repetitive - not every Guardian attack is practical, and their icons (save the final one) weren’t distinguished enough to avoid confusion between the useful and the useless. It also suffers from being too easy for its own good due to a number of mechanisms present even on the hardest difficulty: the option to do a one-hit KO team combo(++++) once an enemy’s health has been whittled down enough; the Huddle -- a unique feature wherein Quill can pause the skirmish, call over his team, and give everyone (including himself) an attack boost/HP recovery; and a third one I’m going to avoid stating for fear of spoilers(+++++).

Besides brawling, you’ll be conducting basic exploration involving simple puzzles that solely come down to figuring out which Guardian to employ against which obstacle. It’s a shame more wasn’t (or wasn’t able to be) done as the novel abilities specific to each alien could’ve led to some really cool environmental enigmas. In fact, part of me wonders if that was the original plan as there’s an immersive sim aspect here in the form of Quill being able to leap around and ascend most structures, only for it to not lead anywhere.

That said, the minimal scavenging didn’t bother me too much in light of how gorgeous everything is. This is one of those titles where you can tell no expense was spared, and that probably had to do with Square and Eidos’s well-intentioned belief that the GOTG IP was fertile enough for mass profit.

Well, we’ll talk about the reasons why the game faltered later, but for now, let’s at least appreciate the sheer production value on display. Guardians is interesting in that it occupies that same Jim Lee aesthetic Arkham Asylum imbibed apropos to toeing the line between photorealism and comic book poppiness (i.e., the game is liable to aging better than some of its eighth gen brethren). When it comes to the graphics, their beauty originates from three major areas: clothing, character modeling, and texture streaming.

With the first, GOTG arguably has the greatest textile work I have ever seen in a video game -- courtesy of the camera mode, I was able to zoom-in on various suits, and not a single one was shortchanged as far as detail or composition. From the individual stitches on Star-Lord’s jacket to the wear-and-tear knee creases of security guard latex to the overlapping of plate metal & linen on Gamora’s byrnie, there were so many wonderful subtleties in the wardrobe department that to list them all would drag this review out by several pages.

That same effort was continued over into the modeling, where humans and aliens alike boast pores, wrinkles, and follicles upon closer inspection. Ironically, though, it’s Groot and Rocket who deserve the most acclaim if only for the virtuosity of their respective hides: being able to glean splintered bark and singular bristles of fur on each member’s skin respectively was absolutely mind-blowing when you consider just how much easier it would’ve been to draw a single layer (what TellTale did back in 2017).

Environments maintain this quality by matching the diversity with appropriate texturization. Eidos leaned heavily on the comics and their imagination when devising the areas to throw players into, and while some of them are admittedly a bit standard (the red deserts of Lamentis; the frostbitten scape of Maklua IV), the majority do take you to some pretty sweet locales ripe with filled-in gubbins and walling. The golden-lacquered Sacrosanct and magenta-strewn matter of the Quarantine Zone are predisposed to being fan favorites, but for my own tea I personally adored the cyberpunk vibes of Knowhere where sleaze, soft lighting, neon signs, and lite-smog blended together into an evocative site.

My last major bastion of praise goes towards the personalization facets, and not in the usual sense of the term. In the past, I’ve praised devs for crafting unique spaces you could tell were tenanted by a standalone persona -- what GOTG has done is take that template and extrapolate it for the mainline species here. Heading into a Kree ship, for instance, gifts you a shelf of books with Kree rune titles, clean pipes with the Nova Corp insignia, and a general sense of orderliness. Compare this to Lady Hellbender’s gladiatorial planet, chockful of broken glass, spilled beer, and cobbled food. As you explore alien terrain, you really get a sense of prior lives and civilizations that mysteriously vanished over the course of evolution, leaving behind such remnants as hulking monoliths, structures, and carvings. It’s all superbly done.

Other miscellaneous graphical feats include unique lunge animations for each Guardian when jumping gaps, cold air breaths in subzero climates, natural finger movements when rotating examinable objects, Quill putting his hands up when approaching fiery pits, reflective surfaces from puddles, gold tiling, and tiny mirrors; the pose algorithm during 1-on-1 counsels being very organic (compared to Valhalla’s constant arm-crossing), character subtitle names boasting different colors, how Quill turns his head towards the current speaker, and, most vivid of all, the entirety of Kosmo -- this is a psychic dog you’ll infrequently run into during the course of the game, and I have to imagine someone at Eidos either grew up with golden retrievers or put mo-cap dots around a real one as, as any dog owner will tell you, everything about his canine behavior was pitch perfect: the constantly darting stare, twirling of his tale, twitching of his eyebrows, the effervescent panting -- for all his ESP, he may ironically go down as the most accurate dog in video game history.

I did have some complaints, but they concerned relatively minor stuff like the lack of footprints on powdery exteriors, Groots root bridges clipping the ground, and Quill occasionally acting jittery during dialogues.

SFX, unfortunately, was the sole area undercompensated by the devs in that it’s inconsistent to a trained ear. For starters, not much went in the way of footstep differentiation, with ice & metallic platforms, and beds & tile floors bearing the same din as their paired twin. There were times where I’d hear the crunch of snow pellets on surfaces they were minimally scattered on, while the bulk of each Guardian’s abilities (save Quill’s) were sonorously indistinguishable. Effort did go into individuating every team member’s movements, and jumps did come programmed with that distinctiveness I sought; however, it was otherwise rather basic for a game of this caliber. Don’t get me wrong, nothing’s distracting, you just won’t be immersed in any planet’s auralscape.

Finally, the OST by Richard Jacques (which, by the way, was much harder to find than it should have been courtesy of Eidos opting to promote the licensed mixtape instead) is solid, if a little derivative. Let me explain so I don’t come off as pretentious or condescending: ever since Alan Silvestri pioneered that massive symphonic sound in The Avengers, a lot of Marvel-based composers have incorporated aspects of that into their scores. It’s certainly a wise decision with regards to maintaining a familiarity to audiences, but it does come at the cost of that uniqueness we used to get in superhero music pre-Avengers. As a result, you’ll hear a lot of recognizable motifs despite the soundtrack being its own set of arrangements -- I’m talking electric guitar riffs, Greek-inspired choral harmonies, pounding brass, and crescendos galore. Thankfully, Jacques does give us one of the best comic book themes to come out in a while; however, in respect to the rest of his compositions, they’re good at the expense of not rising to that same level of memorability.

Per my earlier remark, Eidos spent a lot of money licensing popular 80s hits that you can either manually play on the ship or randomly hear during those aforestated Huddles. I know there have been, and will be, a lot of people who enjoy the substance, but part of me wonders whether or not it was a good idea. As I keep harping on, GOTG was clearly an expensive game to make, and considering how little you’ll hear the music (being off-ship/infrequently using Huddles), it begs the question of how much money could’ve been saved instead by hiring a band to create 80s-inspired tunes.

Then again, maybe it wouldn’t have helped much considering most critics blame the poor reception of the Avengers game for GOTG’s financial disappointment. It’s a tragically valid connection, and combined with the game not releasing adjacent to any of the mainline movies, it sadly wasn’t able to stand on its own. Zack Snyder got a lot of sh!t for his flavor of the week comment years ago, but the fact of the matter is he was right to an extent: certain characters only achieved profitability because they were specific versions crafted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Outside of that ecosystem, it was always going to be a struggle for any hero not named Batman, Spider-Man, or Wolverine to succeed.

It’s been almost three years since GOTG released, and with no signs of a sequel, we have to accept the game for the unique specimen it was. It’s rare we get superhero games of this quality, and will be even rarer as the MCU goes through a post-Bubble period, but let it be known that, for all my complaints, this was an exquisite product well-worth your money.



NOTES
-Before addressing anything else, I should mention that there is a choice system in the game, but it’s more akin to the first Witcher or Deus Ex wherein it impacts the flow of events rather than causing multiple endings. When it involved hard gameplay, I was fine with it; however, there was an instance in one of the story climaxes where it ruined the moment (you’ll know it when you see it).

+Spider-Man 2, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Batman Begins, and, heck, I actually liked the Iron Man one.

++Without spoiling, basically it indulges in the cliche fake-out tactic that’s been overdone by this point. You don’t even get a proper end boss, though not that it would’ve mattered as the boss fights here are mediocre: not Arkham Asylum bad, but arguably lower than Insomniac’s first Spider-Man.

+++The worst involves a scene where Quill has to do improvised karaoke (trust me, you’ll know it when you see it).

++++The finishers themselves aren’t that exciting, being a series of hard cuts of each Guardian doing an attack on the target. A little strange considering standard melee combos often result in your Alien brethren actually conducting a coordinated strike alongside Quill.

+++++All I’ll say is it involves Groot’s final unlockable power, its essence simultaneously diminishing a certain “emotional” story beat.

-Similar to Metroid Prime, Quill’s visor enables him to examine enemies and environs for pieces of supplemental data, but the game unfortunately doesn’t pause background conversations for the latter, meaning you’re forced to read them quickly lest you get interrupted.

-The writers created their own profanity for the characters to gleefully indulge in.

-Why does Mantis have Hela’s garb?

-Tell me Gamora’s VA doesn’t sound like Leela from Futurama?

-There’s a glowing red digital billboard in Knowhere that displays ads for a McDonald’s rip-off. I bring this up because I actually saw a similar hoarding in Shinjuku albeit for a Wendy’s, making me wonder if it was inspired by that?