Marvel’s Forgotten Mass Effect Clone Couldn’t Escape the Failure of the Avengers

Marvel’s Avengers have been an enormous draw in cinemas, with their four team-up films pulling in close to $8 billion worldwide. That success never made the jump to games. Crystal Dynamics’ 2020 release, Marvel’s Avengers, left critics and players cold. The characters were well written, but the combat was a repetitive slog tied to unnecessary live-service trappings.

Avengers was the first title born from the partnership between Marvel and Final Fantasy publisher Square Enix. Its poor reception cast a long shadow over the studio’s next Marvel project, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which arrived five years ago, on Oct. 26, 2021. The game turned out far better than anyone anticipated, yet Square Enix still saw it as a letdown.

Guardians of the Galaxy puts a fresh spin on the scrappy misfits popularized by the Marvel Cinematic Universe. All the familiar faces are present: Peter Quill (Star-Lord), Gamora, Rocket, Groot and Drax. They’re joined by comic-book figures who had never been adapted, such as Lady Hellbender. The story balances galaxy-wide stakes with intimate moments for its heroes, especially Quill.

Chris Pratt’s movie version of Star-Lord may never be grown-up enough for fatherhood. The game’s Quill, though, spends the whole adventure wondering whether he fathered Nikki, the teenage daughter of an old flame from the Nova Corps. That nagging question, whether this barely solvent mercenary is really a dad, hangs over the story. It also leads to some touching scenes between Quill and his ex, the Centurion Ko-Rel.

Gamora, Rocket and the rest of the crew are written just as well. Part of that depth comes from the gameplay and dialogue choices you make as Quill. I’m especially fond of the scenes where Rocket is labeled a “monster” and offered up for Lady Hellbender’s collection. The game’s greatest strength is how vividly it brings its characters to life, and that extends beyond the Guardians themselves. Adam Warlock’s alliterative speech gives him a distinct voice, and nobody can resist the charm of Cosmo and his puppies.

The combat is just as strong. Quill commands his teammates in a style reminiscent of Mass Effect. Each Guardian has special abilities, and chaining them together is the key to victory. The high point comes when Quill calls for a huddle and delivers a rousing pep talk. A classic ’80s hit then kicks in as the team tears through its hapless enemies. The game also features an original, 1980s-style soundtrack from the fictional band “Star-Lord”, and it’s far better than it has any right to be.

Despite its quality, Guardians of the Galaxy barely made a ripple. Even I was skeptical before launch, and I only came around after reading previews that likened it to Mass Effect. Today it ranks among my favorite games of this console generation, largely because the writing is so sharp.

Square Enix didn’t share that enthusiasm. A few months after release, company president Yosuke Matsuda acknowledged that launch sales fell short of expectations, even though reviews were strong. By November 2022, the game had reached more than 8 million players. It’s unclear how many of those were buyers and how many simply tried it, for a short time or a long one, through Xbox Game Pass or PlayStation Plus.

Developer Eidos-Montréal was sold to Embracer Group in the summer of 2022. Since then it has endured several rounds of layoffs and hasn’t led development on a game of its own since Guardians of the Galaxy. It is assisting Playground Games with next year’s Fable and co-developing Grounded 2 alongside Obsidian Entertainment.

It’s a pity that Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy never connected with players the way other superhero games, such as Insomniac’s Spider-Man series, have. With its superb characters and exhilarating action, it deserves a place alongside the best of them.

Source: Polygon