GOTG had a rough start of it what with being overshadowed by the hollow GAAS mess that was the Avengers game and not the best showing of previews (I remember being kind of dismissive of it at first because of it), it’s unfortunate because it’s a genuinely great game. Right from the start of playing I knew this game would indeed be a winner like I had heard when in the opening flashback of Peter Quill as a kid you can just sit and listen to an entire album of an in-universe band with original music that inspired Peter’s later superhero moniker of Star Lord in this iteration complete with a whole history of the band in the album booklet. That loving attention to detail is throughout the whole game, in its writing, characters, environments, and atmosphere. The overall quality is to the point that I think this iteration of the Guardians may very well be the best ones, even surpassing the MCU. (And the Guardians are like the only thing about the MCU I care about anymore.)
This game’s iteration of the Guardians and the Cosmic Marvel setting are an interesting mix of both the comics and MCU, i.e. Peter is half-Spartoi royalty like in the comics while being kind of a goofball with a love of 80’s music like Chris Prattlord; Drax has the same MCU origin of being an alien instead of being a genetically modified human but he still has a deep-seated hatred for Thanos and is heralded as the one responsible for killing Thanos like in the comics; the game picks up not long after a decades long bloody war started by Thanos and his Chitauri forces which the galaxy is still recovering from. The game actually goes even harder into themes of finding solace from traumas and mistakes of the past in found family then even the MCU films did. All of the Guardians were scarred by Thanos’ war and they all start to come to terms with their wounds as the game goes on. That’s not to say the game is all drama though, it can actually be quite funny too. The cast has strong chemistry and most of the jokes are just them working off each other; there’s a bunch of good running gags, call-backs, and back and forths. The game usually tends to avoid the reviled style of modern quipping; Gamora does do her fair share of awkward Whedonisms but it’s actually a facet of her personality that’s explored. All of the Guardians are great but the standouts to me are Drax and Mantis, the former feels like an even more fleshed out version of the MCU character and the writers went whole hog on expanding his people and culture, and the latter could have easily gone wrong because the game makes her a quirky, scatterbrained weirdo but it actually works real well. The cast do talk constantly in gameplay though and it’s a kind of problem in that the game tends to cut them off a bunch if you’re not just standing in place and waiting until they finish.
I think the combat gets a bad rap; it’s not exceptional and it does start off pretty limited for like the first quarter of the game but once you start unlocking more elements for Star Lord’s guns (The wind one especially, because drawing goons in and decking them in the face is such an effective and fun combo) and more abilities for the rest of the team I felt combat encounters went by in a fast and satisfying enough clip on Normal. Just always be using team moves pretty much. The game is linear but it does actually reward you if you explore as you can find collectibles that unlocks dialogue with the crew back on the team’s ship, The Milano, as well as a whole bunch of unlockable costumes ranging from stuff like the gang’s original comic designs, their 2000’s Cosmic Marvel run designs, and their MCU designs. There are also Telltale-esque decisions that you can make, and while they don’t change the narrative much do enough neat little things that add a nice facet to the game.
The atmosphere of the game is also fantastic. The worlds you end up in do look wonderfully alien, ranging from colorful alien forests, icy wastes, and mysterious caverns. The game also puts such attention to detail into the occupied areas of the game to make them feel lived in. Knowhere is this bustling city that reminds me of Hyllis from Beyond Good and Evil in that they just made this alien city seem so big and alive even though you don’t actually see all that much of it due to the limited scope of the game. Peter’s childhood home and the Milano also feel homey and lived in; the Milano makes the game feel spiritually like the best part of the party interactions of Mass Effect where you’re just hanging around the ship with your crew.
GOTG is just overall not only a great superhero game, but a great sci-fi game too and it left me wanting to see more of this version of the characters and setting. Hopefully even though they got sold off Eidos Montreal can get the chance to make a follow-up.
This game’s iteration of the Guardians and the Cosmic Marvel setting are an interesting mix of both the comics and MCU, i.e. Peter is half-Spartoi royalty like in the comics while being kind of a goofball with a love of 80’s music like Chris Prattlord; Drax has the same MCU origin of being an alien instead of being a genetically modified human but he still has a deep-seated hatred for Thanos and is heralded as the one responsible for killing Thanos like in the comics; the game picks up not long after a decades long bloody war started by Thanos and his Chitauri forces which the galaxy is still recovering from. The game actually goes even harder into themes of finding solace from traumas and mistakes of the past in found family then even the MCU films did. All of the Guardians were scarred by Thanos’ war and they all start to come to terms with their wounds as the game goes on. That’s not to say the game is all drama though, it can actually be quite funny too. The cast has strong chemistry and most of the jokes are just them working off each other; there’s a bunch of good running gags, call-backs, and back and forths. The game usually tends to avoid the reviled style of modern quipping; Gamora does do her fair share of awkward Whedonisms but it’s actually a facet of her personality that’s explored. All of the Guardians are great but the standouts to me are Drax and Mantis, the former feels like an even more fleshed out version of the MCU character and the writers went whole hog on expanding his people and culture, and the latter could have easily gone wrong because the game makes her a quirky, scatterbrained weirdo but it actually works real well. The cast do talk constantly in gameplay though and it’s a kind of problem in that the game tends to cut them off a bunch if you’re not just standing in place and waiting until they finish.
I think the combat gets a bad rap; it’s not exceptional and it does start off pretty limited for like the first quarter of the game but once you start unlocking more elements for Star Lord’s guns (The wind one especially, because drawing goons in and decking them in the face is such an effective and fun combo) and more abilities for the rest of the team I felt combat encounters went by in a fast and satisfying enough clip on Normal. Just always be using team moves pretty much. The game is linear but it does actually reward you if you explore as you can find collectibles that unlocks dialogue with the crew back on the team’s ship, The Milano, as well as a whole bunch of unlockable costumes ranging from stuff like the gang’s original comic designs, their 2000’s Cosmic Marvel run designs, and their MCU designs. There are also Telltale-esque decisions that you can make, and while they don’t change the narrative much do enough neat little things that add a nice facet to the game.
The atmosphere of the game is also fantastic. The worlds you end up in do look wonderfully alien, ranging from colorful alien forests, icy wastes, and mysterious caverns. The game also puts such attention to detail into the occupied areas of the game to make them feel lived in. Knowhere is this bustling city that reminds me of Hyllis from Beyond Good and Evil in that they just made this alien city seem so big and alive even though you don’t actually see all that much of it due to the limited scope of the game. Peter’s childhood home and the Milano also feel homey and lived in; the Milano makes the game feel spiritually like the best part of the party interactions of Mass Effect where you’re just hanging around the ship with your crew.
GOTG is just overall not only a great superhero game, but a great sci-fi game too and it left me wanting to see more of this version of the characters and setting. Hopefully even though they got sold off Eidos Montreal can get the chance to make a follow-up.