Guardians of the Galaxy was put together really well. Upon watching tidbits of gameplay I could see potential in it, but didn't think I would like it as much as I did, despite its shortcomings.
The name of the game here is: fun.
Square Enix did an incredible job with story, dialogue and character development. Every major piece in this game feels very well fleshed out and the writing constantly evolves throughout the 16 chapter journey, making you care not only about Peter Quill and his teammates, but also about secondary characters to the plot.
It's not easy to do that, but they manage to do it with charm. I laughed out loud on most of the chapters, during the myriad conversations the Guardians have on their missions. Well-written characters and dialogues and the game's amazing pace were honestly the main reason to keep me there 'til the end. It just works and it is funny and interesting as hell to see things unfold.
On top of that, GotG has a very stylish and smooth combat. It might get repetitive after a while, but it does its job well. Characters have their own unique traits, powers and outfits, their fighting style is varied enough to give room to creativity and just moving Quill and shooting around aliens feels good enough. I also love how the game doesn't overstay its welcome, making it easy to get all power-ups, collectables and secrets. It's a blast, honestly.
Not to mention how beautiful the game looks. From facial animations to how beautiful each planet is, this game excels on modern consoles, which helps to improve immersion even further.
But I have to say, it actually took me the first 2 chapters to start enjoying the game and understand its pacing. It's not a huge slow start, but it's definitely a slow burner, to the point that it put me to sleep right on the 1st chapter. Yes, it gets better really fast around the 3rd mission (which is insane, btw), but it took me a little while.
I also found very annoying that dialogues tend to overlap each other and you can even miss entire chunks of well-written jokes/story moments just by walking in the wrong place at the wrong time. Highly annoying. Just as annoying as the many unskippable cutscenes you have to go through whether you've seen them or not. Or maybe as annoying as Rocket Racoon, which, close to most other characters in the game, just seems a bit off.
And then we get to my biggest issues with the game. Two things that can drag the experience down.
1 - The puzzles - Guardians of the Galaxy insists on making you complete the same puzzles OVER and OVER again. And yes, it's great when you get a new gadget or discover some new team work skill. But only the first time. Then it just slows you down.
2 - Glitches/Crashes - I really don't understand how a game can ship like this. I CONSTANTLY got stuck into places, had my game freeze out of nowhere, experienced minor crashes or just had characters/story not progressing as they should. It was more than annoying, it really pissed me off! And it's a shame, because this game is actually really good!
I didn't think I'd enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy as much as I did, but I'm glad I got to experience such an entertaining and well-told game. If you like super heroes or just a good story, this game's for you.
I just wish that more super hero games were as good as this one.
The name of the game here is: fun.
Square Enix did an incredible job with story, dialogue and character development. Every major piece in this game feels very well fleshed out and the writing constantly evolves throughout the 16 chapter journey, making you care not only about Peter Quill and his teammates, but also about secondary characters to the plot.
It's not easy to do that, but they manage to do it with charm. I laughed out loud on most of the chapters, during the myriad conversations the Guardians have on their missions. Well-written characters and dialogues and the game's amazing pace were honestly the main reason to keep me there 'til the end. It just works and it is funny and interesting as hell to see things unfold.
On top of that, GotG has a very stylish and smooth combat. It might get repetitive after a while, but it does its job well. Characters have their own unique traits, powers and outfits, their fighting style is varied enough to give room to creativity and just moving Quill and shooting around aliens feels good enough. I also love how the game doesn't overstay its welcome, making it easy to get all power-ups, collectables and secrets. It's a blast, honestly.
Not to mention how beautiful the game looks. From facial animations to how beautiful each planet is, this game excels on modern consoles, which helps to improve immersion even further.
But I have to say, it actually took me the first 2 chapters to start enjoying the game and understand its pacing. It's not a huge slow start, but it's definitely a slow burner, to the point that it put me to sleep right on the 1st chapter. Yes, it gets better really fast around the 3rd mission (which is insane, btw), but it took me a little while.
I also found very annoying that dialogues tend to overlap each other and you can even miss entire chunks of well-written jokes/story moments just by walking in the wrong place at the wrong time. Highly annoying. Just as annoying as the many unskippable cutscenes you have to go through whether you've seen them or not. Or maybe as annoying as Rocket Racoon, which, close to most other characters in the game, just seems a bit off.
And then we get to my biggest issues with the game. Two things that can drag the experience down.
1 - The puzzles - Guardians of the Galaxy insists on making you complete the same puzzles OVER and OVER again. And yes, it's great when you get a new gadget or discover some new team work skill. But only the first time. Then it just slows you down.
2 - Glitches/Crashes - I really don't understand how a game can ship like this. I CONSTANTLY got stuck into places, had my game freeze out of nowhere, experienced minor crashes or just had characters/story not progressing as they should. It was more than annoying, it really pissed me off! And it's a shame, because this game is actually really good!
I didn't think I'd enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy as much as I did, but I'm glad I got to experience such an entertaining and well-told game. If you like super heroes or just a good story, this game's for you.
I just wish that more super hero games were as good as this one.