The right path for Disney and its games: Marvel's Guardians Of the Galaxy
I have to wait a few more weeks before I can buy the new Battlefield so I decided to go for another release of which I had seen trailers and I had been quite interested, after having a disappointment to try the Avengers game I think this new title focused on Marvel's galactic team did not come with many expectations on my part, there was a part of me that wanted it to be the perfect game or a version that comes close to titles like Spider-Man PS4 or the most recent Ultimate Alliance, and upon reaching my hands and after playing it for a week I can say that it is regular, there's potential hiding out there and I think it's an improved version of what the Avengers game brought with a few touches of affection from the developers that are much appreciated, it's missed seeing a bit more of the Guardians of the Galaxy lore (especially that of the new comics) but after finishing it I've been left with a feeling of "that wasn't too bad, but it wasn't excellent" so I've decided to write this mini article on what it does well and what I hate about the new Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.
Let's go first with the good moments of this work produced by the veterans and giants of Square Enix and its division of Eidos Montreal at the request of Disney, something that can be noticed from the beginning is that despite being a game of the full team of Guardians, we only control a single Guardian (Star Lord) throughout the adventure as our main character leaving the others as some supports to which we can entrust tasks and combine to perform attacks, I think that on the one hand I was a little disappointed not being able to directly control the other characters but I feel that this limitation has allowed the developers to further explore the movement and the way in which we play with Peter Quill and combinations with other members of the galactic team, the question is to combine the attacks of Star Lord with a defined strategy for the other Guardians and this is extremely important because there are enemies that we can not defeat alone and cooperation will be crucial, especially if we know how to take advantage of the various powers of the other Guardians.
If we compare it with Avengers and all its set of characters with unique abilities but with a clumsy gameplay and without personality, the fact that we can only control Quill does not seem to me "subtract" to the gameplay but "focus", from the beginning playing as the warlord is more fun with his classic guns and a few elemental powers but the real madness is unleashed when you combine it with the other Guardians, being able to make fun combinations of each other's abilities, they almost immediately stick in the memory and besides that all the characters have chemistry with each other and allow the final attacks (where Quill makes a speech that motivates the team and the music plays) to be doubly enjoyable.
The action is not the only great thing about the game as we will also have a facet that could be considered as "Role" where we can decide the dialogues of some conversations with our team in the purest style of Telltale games, and is that here also depending on what we answer will have effects on our game in the playable, allowing us to have more chemistry with some members of the team when attacking or defending and make more powerful any of the two as well as the skills of our teammates that become mandatory in their use for example to build bridges (Groot), cut some obstacles in the way (Gamora), put or destroy platforms (Drax) or simply go into a hole and unlock a door (Rocket), each Guardian has its unique function and dialogues also affect them in this sense making us get into truly funny situations.
The story is the highlight by far and what I liked the most, it combines the feel of the movies with some Eidos Montreal style Guardians, which is based on the already known ones from the MCU but gives them an interesting twist, as always I would have liked a little more love from the developers and that they would have left us some clues or easter eggs towards the comics as Spider-Man PS4 did, anyway if we have some references to cosmic characters like Thanos or the Collector, that leave us some small bites of where the story can go if we ever see a sequel.
The Eidos team had it clear, an adventure that was led exclusively by its narrative, the continuous and spectacular action similar to the movies and the construction of the relationship between the leader of the galactic team with the rest of his companions, a combination that despite having some details in the polishing and the technological section is still a delivery that raises the level of Marvel games and leaves it at a point that promises for the future, it is not perfect, and it still has that flavor of being a game-service instead of an experience that shows care and affection towards the sources from which these characters are taken, but it is a step forward that will surely leave clues for future developers on how to deal with Disney's practices and the experiences that can come out of those contracts.
