Guardians of the Galaxy

Last September, the Square Enix gaming division of Marvel delivered one of their most massively disappointing endeavors yet, The Avengers. It was a game where the concept was a winner - play as several types of Avengers - but the execution was flawed. It focused too much on rinse-and-repeat multiplayer levels that grew stale quickly. As a result, there's not much interest in it anymore despite the recent addition of Black Panther and the upcoming addition of Spider-Man, and you can find the game in its entirety on Black Friday sales for $15. Yikes!

Then you have the other side of the Marvel gaming division from Sony that continues to hit it out of the park with the exclusives Spider-Man, Miles Morales, and the recently announced Spider-Man 2 and Wolverine games. All of this, of course, is disconnected from the MCU which makes the whole endeavor even more intriguing and exciting in my eyes; suggesting that we'll have the equivalent of a "gaming universe" with Marvel in just a few short years (assuming they begin to thread some of these games together). 

Either way, I was hesitant on Guardians of the Galaxy simply because it came from Square Enix. I knew next to nothing about the game, even if I know plenty about the characters, and was fearful that it would be a retread of the issues that plagued Avengers, even if that was a game where I enjoyed the first 10-20 hours. In a busy fall/winter gaming season, I was fully intending to skip Guardians. 

It's a stunningly creative game

But then the positive, often glowing, reviews began to trickle in. Many explained that it was a straightforward campaign a la something like Uncharted. A no frills and no-forced-multiplayer experience that was refreshing in this gaming landscape where it feels like everything needs to be "open world" and connected online. After biting the bullet and diving into the game I found myself deeply invested in it for a multitude of reasons. 

Much like the original film in the MCU (they're disconnected, but for comparison's sake), Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the most pleasant [gaming] surprises of the year.

The game owes a lot of it's quality to the fact that it is a focused, linear campaign. Years ago, that used to be a curse, but these days it can be a blessing if your campaign is well paced, exciting, and tells a quality story. I love my open world games, but I'd still say that my favorite gaming experiences reside with story-driven games. They suck me in and rarely let up, especially on first play through, and they reduce the overwhelming nature of "too much to do" or "just one more thing" that comes in the open world genre. Directly contrasting Guardians to Avengers in that sense, it's better in a LOT of ways, but the fact that it's not a weird series of empty, open-world locales is a benefit and, in hindsight, I think Avengers could have been an incredible game had it been a focused campaign with unique level design and a chance to play the various heroes. 

Much like the films, Guardian's campaign absorbs you almost immediately because of a compelling narrative, strong characters and development, and a ridiculously contagious group chemistry that - I kid you not - rivals the Gunn film's comradery. I really entered this game with a bias, convinced that the humor would be hit or miss and definitely no where near the caliber of Gunn's stuff. While Gunn's is still arguably the "funnier" of the two, Guardians the game does a tremendous job of absolutely nailing the banter between our rebellious group of heroes. There are times it actually did make me laugh out loud and the majority of the rest of the time I had a dopey smile on my face. That core pillar supports a narrative that not only has wildly big stakes - basically the fate of the entire galaxy being taken over by a religious cult - but also emotional ones. Our heroes aren't perfect and the game has plenty of hours to reveal and delve into some of the more nuanced pain that resides in these characters' past. The story itself is definitely padded for some added playtime to get a surprisingly lengthy campaign (I would venture to say it's between 20-30 hours on "hard" mode for me) but its beginning, middle "reveal", and end are all so strong - and the game is so fun - that you won't care when you run into a level that is very clearly a diversion. 

Because this is a concentrated campaign, the game aims high in the graphics department and wows in many ways while being somewhat embarrassing in others. The embarrassing segments come when PS3-era graphics sneak in (e.g. during slow-motion "end of battle" moments and character legs/arms clip one another) but in a weird way they're almost endearing in this game about misfits that there would be some graphical misfires and they're never more than a brief eyesore. When looking at character designs and huge vistas, of which there are many, the game is a stunner, especially on PS5 (with still nearly zero load times). And it's one thing to have gorgeous environmental graphics, but it's another thing entirely to have creative worlds and fauna and animals and Guardians is truly impressive here. Not only does it avoid the easy copying it could do from its MCU brethren, but it doesn't phone in a planet's design...the creative team thought deeply about how each planet and location could be distinctly different. For a campaign-based game, that goes a VERY long way (just ask my last game review that did not do this) to keeping it fresh and exciting, not to mention forcing gamers to head to Photo Mode in awe (as you can see from the pictures in this review).

That's a very [read: comically] long bridge

It should come as no surprise that Rocket
has a cartoonishly large weapon special

Much has been said about Guardian's gameplay and how it's "not that deep", which I pretty strongly disagree with. It's not as deep as something like Ghost of Tsushima, for example, but it's got more to do than just aim+shoot. You play as Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord and command the Guardians with other moves. As someone who really can't get into RPGs that have you choose an action then wait to watch it, Guardians is a good, unique alternative. As Peter, there's plenty you can still do like dodging, shooting, using elemental powers, jumping/semi-flying, melee, and power moves. All the while, you need to get your team involved by commanding them to use their special power moves, many of which 1) look fantastic and 2) do massive damage or stun enemies. You cannot do well in this game (at least not in hard mode) with either or...you must fight as Peter Quill and constantly command your Guardians. In that sense, combat is exhilarating, particularly in some of the bigger enemy counts or boss levels as you're trying to focus on fighting yourself, staying alive, and monitoring the cooldowns for some of the other Guardian's best power moves. So sure, it's not "that" deep if you're comparing to something not at all like it, but I found Guardian's combat to be one of its strengths versus a weakness. 

Unfortunately, there's not all that much customization or leveling to do outside of the combat. As an RPG, Guardians falls kind of flat on its face, only offering a small array of upgrades, none of which are all that "wow" and all of which I was able to purchase by the time I was 50%ish through the game. There's way too much "in-game" currency/collectibles you can find and I had an excess of it by the end of the game. Collecting other costumes is fun - and the original film's looks are included - but I can't help but feel there was a missed opportunity for customization of tons of facets of the Guardian's looks here (or at least their weaponry). All this is a "miss", but a fairly minor one as Guardians never really sells itself as an RPG, and a potential easy correction for a *fingers crossed* sequel.    

Colorful is an understatement

I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention the absolutely iconic soundtrack, which shouldn't be surprising if you've seen the films and understand Peter Quill's love of 80s music. Guardians was able to incorporate tons of these into the game and they have downright awesome moments, most often used after huddling your team together. Calling a huddle in the middle of the battle allows you, as the captain of the team, to encourage or course-correct your team with a speech, granting them buffs afterwards. Each huddle ends with Quill pressing play on his Walkman, initiating a classic tune over the chaos of battle. It creates really fun moments and amount to some of my favorite gaming memories of 2021. Killing a bunch of alien scum as the Guardians of the Galaxy while "Wake Me Up" by WHAM or "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" by Culture Club plays loudly is just...a f**king blast.

Guardians is such a pleasant surprise, that it makes me hope Avengers was just a fluke for Square Enix and their partnership with Marvel. This campaign-only approach allows them to curate a meaningful story and character interaction, nail down some deeper gameplay (than Avengers had), while also making the whole thing look and sound great. It's the right approach for these games as I'm not sure any gamers are really clamoring for multi-player Marvel games (case in point, Avengers) and not every game lends itself to an open world as easy/obvious as Spider-Man. Guardians is just a lot of great, right ideas and I sure as hell hope we get more of these characters and games from this universe.

CONS

• Some campaign/story padding is obvious to increase the length
• Some graphical hiccups, while endearing, are not up to par with next-gen stuff
• RPG elements feel like an afterthought and there's way too much in-game "currency". I was fully powered up by 50%ish of the way through
• Lack of more customization feels like a miss

PROS

• The fact this is a campaign is a plus, and past that it's a long, enjoyable, and everchanging one. It rarely feels stale
• Group chemistry is a humor and heart based highlight, rivaling that of the Gunn films. One of the game's biggest strengths
• Story is fun, has a huge scope, and has surprising heart and development for our characters. One of the best this year
• Stunning graphics 85% of the time, with some jaw dropping vistas and insanely creative planets/locations. With the PS5 version, load times are never > 10 seconds
• Fun character designs that are distinct enough from MCU versions and come with alternative costumes that are fun to find
• Solid enemy variety that ups the challenge as you progress
• I think its combat is a strength...there's a lot of "basic" stuff to do as Star-Lord, but commanding the Guardians takes some strategy and the game will throw a lot at you so multitasking is a must
• A good original score with an iconic soundtrack. Calling a team "huddle" in the middle of battle only to continue the shoot-out with a catchy 80s tune is a 2021 gaming highlight
• Fun, entertaining, and rock-solid campaign make this an awesome surprise hit. Not to be missed!

Rath's Review Score | 9/10

Enjoy some additional screenshots!