This review was initially posted on January 27th, 2022.
Oh boy, here we go! Yet another middling review that ultimately defaults to recommending a game that I otherwise could complain plenty about. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (in case you mistook them for Hershey's Guardians or Colonel Sanders's Guardians) is a game that released somewhat out of nowhere for me. I saw all the marketing for that Avengers game that ended up being complete and utter garbage, and the consequences of it being so bland, then out of nowhere I hear about a Guardians of the Galaxy game. Immediately I figured it would suffer the same fate as that Avengers game.
But the reviews were going nuts about it. I mean, even great games have a handful of naysayers sprinkled about like whatever the heck spring salad mix is! And it was nominated for something or other at the VGA's, probably music and story. I figured it might just be worth checking out.
One thing I will praise is the optimization. My PC wasn't too great before I upgraded it two weeks ago, so I partly expected the game to simply not run at all without being in a 640x480 window with every aspect of the graphics cranked low. Yet the game surprised me. Not only did it look great, but it ran great. This is such a marvel at this contemporary spot in video game history that I was amazed. Not since MGSV: The Phantom Pain had I been so surprised at optimization (although nothing will top that game, I could run it on my watch).
During the first few hours of the game, I wondered what kind of tales lie ahead. Would I be witnessing the first moments of the Guardians working together? Would I have to do a series of smaller jobs and maybe stumble upon a bigger one? Would I be working on flavorful contracts to keep up with the neverending feeling of crushing debt caused by me clipping floating space rocks with the Milano?
No, kind of, and definitely not. The game is as linear as it could possibly be, which I ended up being grateful for. So many games these days fall into that ever-present trap of "Oh! Open-world games are big right now, that's what people are buying!" Open-world games require a different kind of attention than linear games do. When you sidestep that decision, you instead double down on crafting a story.
And what about the story? Is it any good? It's good. Like a 6.5 or 7 out of 10, which isn't as demonizing as you may think it is. A few moments really got me. I found myself smiling plenty. The gameplay finally began to click and I was having a good ol' time. I wonder if Peter Quill's origin story will be retold several times over like the Batman origin story has been. Maybe in like, 15 years.
The story is good. Not great, mind you. But I kept going back to the sensation, "Woah, this movie is really long," because at times Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy truly does feel like a movie that you're watching. Granted, you have to participate to some degree as the group could not stand to be competent without your being there.
I don't have much of a point of reference for the characters. Like, I saw the movies, but I never read the comics. Shoutouts to literally every review that likely professed the same thing. In terms of direction though, I might suggest that Peter's voice actor stop whining so much. "C'mon, guuuuuys! We haaaave to work together!"
Get ready to hear that shtick over and over again. In fact, get ready to hear audible repeats of just about everything. In encounters, characters repeat dialogue lines ad infinitum (or at least until you slay the last enemy). In cutscenes, characters say most of their lines from the last scene. Yes, Rocket likes blowing things up and calls the Milano his ship and constantly says "NEXT TIME I'M FLYING HER." Except he never does. I stopped believing what these characters were saying, because primarily it's just noise.
Constant noise. Characters don't shut up. It's as if they have bombs strapped to their chest that detonate if 30 seconds pass without some kind of quip or character trait. Have you found yourself surrounded by friends that are unmarred by the threat of long stretches of silence? I have. And these Guardian fools must be the most socially insecure people to have ever existed.
I'll talk about the music now. The first moment of music is diegetic, or rather happening within the story. And I love it. The tracks themselves, specifically created for this game, fit so well in the archetype of the time that I could believe that Star Lord was a real band in the 80s. Then eventually we switch over to the swelling Marvel movie orchestra that seems to permeate everything from the last decade.
Then, likely everyone's favorite example of music pops up: huddles. Every now and then, you can stop the flow of battle entirely to have a brief sidebar with your cohorts. They express their feelings about the current battle, then turn to you to decide between what seems like two arbitrary speech decisions. Either you choose correctly, they're pumped, and you all go out fully buffed. Or you choose poorly and only your health is restored. But no matter what: a random track plays. And I adore it.
Final moments of desperation caught my breath as I faced down the final boss. After a short while of getting my ass handed to me, I huddle up the team. I speak words of encouragement. They all get pumped. We're ready to kill.
And Wake Me Up Before You Go Go starts playing.
It is wonderful.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is almost a really, really good game. A few things hold it back, and I probably didn't even get around to all the complaints I had! But I'm glad I played it. And you probably will be too.
Oh boy, here we go! Yet another middling review that ultimately defaults to recommending a game that I otherwise could complain plenty about. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (in case you mistook them for Hershey's Guardians or Colonel Sanders's Guardians) is a game that released somewhat out of nowhere for me. I saw all the marketing for that Avengers game that ended up being complete and utter garbage, and the consequences of it being so bland, then out of nowhere I hear about a Guardians of the Galaxy game. Immediately I figured it would suffer the same fate as that Avengers game.
But the reviews were going nuts about it. I mean, even great games have a handful of naysayers sprinkled about like whatever the heck spring salad mix is! And it was nominated for something or other at the VGA's, probably music and story. I figured it might just be worth checking out.
One thing I will praise is the optimization. My PC wasn't too great before I upgraded it two weeks ago, so I partly expected the game to simply not run at all without being in a 640x480 window with every aspect of the graphics cranked low. Yet the game surprised me. Not only did it look great, but it ran great. This is such a marvel at this contemporary spot in video game history that I was amazed. Not since MGSV: The Phantom Pain had I been so surprised at optimization (although nothing will top that game, I could run it on my watch).
During the first few hours of the game, I wondered what kind of tales lie ahead. Would I be witnessing the first moments of the Guardians working together? Would I have to do a series of smaller jobs and maybe stumble upon a bigger one? Would I be working on flavorful contracts to keep up with the neverending feeling of crushing debt caused by me clipping floating space rocks with the Milano?
No, kind of, and definitely not. The game is as linear as it could possibly be, which I ended up being grateful for. So many games these days fall into that ever-present trap of "Oh! Open-world games are big right now, that's what people are buying!" Open-world games require a different kind of attention than linear games do. When you sidestep that decision, you instead double down on crafting a story.
And what about the story? Is it any good? It's good. Like a 6.5 or 7 out of 10, which isn't as demonizing as you may think it is. A few moments really got me. I found myself smiling plenty. The gameplay finally began to click and I was having a good ol' time. I wonder if Peter Quill's origin story will be retold several times over like the Batman origin story has been. Maybe in like, 15 years.
The story is good. Not great, mind you. But I kept going back to the sensation, "Woah, this movie is really long," because at times Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy truly does feel like a movie that you're watching. Granted, you have to participate to some degree as the group could not stand to be competent without your being there.
I don't have much of a point of reference for the characters. Like, I saw the movies, but I never read the comics. Shoutouts to literally every review that likely professed the same thing. In terms of direction though, I might suggest that Peter's voice actor stop whining so much. "C'mon, guuuuuys! We haaaave to work together!"
Get ready to hear that shtick over and over again. In fact, get ready to hear audible repeats of just about everything. In encounters, characters repeat dialogue lines ad infinitum (or at least until you slay the last enemy). In cutscenes, characters say most of their lines from the last scene. Yes, Rocket likes blowing things up and calls the Milano his ship and constantly says "NEXT TIME I'M FLYING HER." Except he never does. I stopped believing what these characters were saying, because primarily it's just noise.
Constant noise. Characters don't shut up. It's as if they have bombs strapped to their chest that detonate if 30 seconds pass without some kind of quip or character trait. Have you found yourself surrounded by friends that are unmarred by the threat of long stretches of silence? I have. And these Guardian fools must be the most socially insecure people to have ever existed.
I'll talk about the music now. The first moment of music is diegetic, or rather happening within the story. And I love it. The tracks themselves, specifically created for this game, fit so well in the archetype of the time that I could believe that Star Lord was a real band in the 80s. Then eventually we switch over to the swelling Marvel movie orchestra that seems to permeate everything from the last decade.
Then, likely everyone's favorite example of music pops up: huddles. Every now and then, you can stop the flow of battle entirely to have a brief sidebar with your cohorts. They express their feelings about the current battle, then turn to you to decide between what seems like two arbitrary speech decisions. Either you choose correctly, they're pumped, and you all go out fully buffed. Or you choose poorly and only your health is restored. But no matter what: a random track plays. And I adore it.
Final moments of desperation caught my breath as I faced down the final boss. After a short while of getting my ass handed to me, I huddle up the team. I speak words of encouragement. They all get pumped. We're ready to kill.
And Wake Me Up Before You Go Go starts playing.
It is wonderful.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is almost a really, really good game. A few things hold it back, and I probably didn't even get around to all the complaints I had! But I'm glad I played it. And you probably will be too.