Marvel Avengers (PS5) Review

5/10/2021

Guest Blog post by Adam Foster @AngelicWiganer / @snoopfozziefozz

Marvel Avengers (PS5) time! Should you be grabbing it?

Nobody can deny that Marvel and all of their IP’s have been flying high in a numerous media tie in’s over the last twenty years or so, and it certainly peaked with the Avengers. I’d go on record to say that even if you aren’t a comic book fan, all of the films in the MCU have been good to fan bloody-tastic. It would make sense that for AAA films we get AAA games wouldn’t it? Now before we proceed; I was lucky enough to get the PS4 version of the game of Marvel Avengers but you get the PS5 Upgrade for free as a digital download as soon as you pop the disc into the PS5 which was nice!

The basic premise of the story initially focuses on a young protagonist, Kamala Khan who attends a fan appreciation day to celebrate all the Avengers and all they have contributed to the world. During the celebration, an attack on San Francisco occurs putting thousands of peoples lives in jeopardy. We then flash forward to a number of years later and it’s shown that during this attack and the years following that Kamala has developed powers that manipulate her limbs, such as increased reach, stretching, punching and so on.

The Avengers are nowhere to be seen having all split up as the world blames them for the recent attack. The baddies in question are intent on taking over the world and there have been a spate of missing people (who also have new abilities). Kamala decides she needs to reunite the Avengers in order to stop AIM from taking over the world and prevent its immediate destruction I would describe the game as an Action game with elements of RPG’s. As you make your way through the storyline and each subsequent chapter, collecting Avengers along the way, you will gain XP which will obtain you Skill Points which can be used to increase levels of combat and new moves to use. There is also the options to increase and modify armour and accessories along the way. Each new Avenger also becomes playable as you progress through the game, but you will realise and also learn to pick which character suits you best which is a nice touch.

There are also a ton of side quests available from the start, and as of writing 3 DLC missions to keep you going after you finish the initial storyline. In these missions you get to play as Hawkeye and Black Panther which is cool. The DLC is free as well which is a refreshing change in this day and age, but there are lots of other micro transactions which are littered through the game’s store to customise characters etc. The usual fodder as you come to expect from most games these days.

Graphically it’s a nice looking game you can’t deny that. Is it next gen? Certainly not. I couldn’t see any differences at all in the quality of the picture between the PS4 and PS5 versions. All the character models look great, the areas look awesome, and everything is fluid, no signs of frame rate issues at all, despite how frantic the combat gets at times. The music is AWESOME, it really does provide that atmosphere of a Hollywood blockbuster. Also the effects are great, all the usual sounds you’ve come to know and love, like Iron Man’s lasers, the clanging of Cap’s shield and the Whoosh of Thor’s hammer. Truly an awesome experience for the ears.

Now I am a fan of the MCU. However, there are aspects of the game which I didn’t like and for me tarnished the whole experience. First of all it’s the characters themselves. In my head Robert Downey Jr IS Iron Man, Chris Evans IS Captain America, Scarlett Johanssen IS Black Widow. Why Square Enix couldn’t agree some sort of deal to have all the actors reprise their roles is beyond me. It really irritated me. Don’t get me wrong the actors who play the characters are fine, the voice acting is on point, BUT they aren’t the actors we know, love and become accustomed to over this period of time. That may not bother everyone but it did with me, and it's made me question how much I would enjoy the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy game.

The gameplay at its core is good, each mission has you completing a set number of tasks reaching checkpoints and then coming up to a boss of each main chapter. Each area is quite vast and there is reward for exploration in terms of extra items and collectibles to be found to increase your chances of crafting weapons later on in the game. This can get repetitive at times for the player, but more frustratingly is the save system. It does not save via checkpoints. If you are in the middle of the mission and choose to save the game to turn your console off, you will restart the mission right at the start. Thankfully with PS5 you can leave it rest mode and carry your game on.

In conclusion Marvel’s Avengers is an above average game. It’s more for the Marvel fans than the casual player, at its original £50-£60 price point you would not be pleased come the conclusion of the game. At its current price point now of around £25, with the free DLC I’d say it’s now probably value for money. I wanted that real blockbuster experience. It looks great, it sounds great. The lack of originality in the gameplay really hampers it. There are times when it felt like a slog to complete rather than a sense of anticipation that something great is going to happen.

Overall 6.5 out of 10
In the meantime, keep gaming guys. There are lots of games to look forward to this winter, especially if I can get over my Dragon Quest Addiction. Thank you for reading.

Guest Blog post by Adam Foster @AngelicWiganer / @snoopfozziefozz