Wisdom Forum

If you, like me experienced the Square Enix-published Marvel's Avengers and thought that to yourself "I wish this had just focused on the single-player campaign instead of all this game-as-a-service stuff," then do I have some good news for you Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy which is also published through Square Enix, has flown in to be the hero of the day. With no microtransactionsand no multiplayer, and an incredibly well-written story, it's evidence that single-player linear campaigns haven't been slowed down. The easy but fun combat and fairly straightforward level style won't shake up the genre or anything, but those solid foundations, along with the number of personalities slathered over them are sufficient to make Guardians of the Galaxy some enjoyable old-fashioned pleasure.  
  
Despite being named in honor of the team, you can spend the entire nearly 18 hours playing the role of Peter Quill, AKA Star-Lord. It's a bit of a shock to me, but an option that's working exceptionally well for the narrative that's being told. The main plotline is precisely what you'd anticipate as a comic-book adventure about the Guardians trying to break free of debt, learning to come together, and possibly saving the galaxy in the process - however, it's tied to events that are much more personal to Peter. The result is an engaging tale that balances its regular explosion of banter and spectacle with some truly heartfelt moments to both Peter as well as their fellow members: Gamora, Drax, Rocket and Groot.  
  
While the plot is almost entirely linear, Eidos Montreal's Deus Ex roots are evident through with the selection of dialogue available to you during the game. You're continually presented with options on the way Peter will react to various dialogues, regardless of whether it's in important scenes or as you walk around talking together with your companions and friends. There's not a moment that Peter and his Guardians remain silent. talking or talking, which is pleasing when the writing and performances are as entertaining as they are. These dialogue choices are mostly simply a bit of fun game-playing in a largely in-rails tale, but some of the choices couldhave unexpected effects.  
  
  
So, for example, making correct choices for dialogue in order to save characters at one point may result in them returning to help you later on. Another time, I made a choice that made the next level being a simple section of stealth which I then discovered after I completed the story taking the other route would have instead turned the entire area into a massive firefight. The majority of the campaign is likely to look the same for all players, however the small differences made a an extra personal note to my gameplay and got me more intrigued by trying New Game Plus to see what else can happen.  
  
It's not just the story that's told through the eyes of Peter however, since in combat the only control you have is direct of Peter's dual pistols. Instead of swapping into the shoes of the other Guardians each Guardian has four capabilities every one of which can be instructed by them to use on command. That could be Groot sending out roots to bind up enemies or Gamora inflicting a massive number of damages to one target. This system offers an array of choices at any given time, and the pace at which they are rolled out and the intuitive way they're connected to your controller makes it a rewardingly manageable task to juggle during a fight.  
  
Peter has a few tricks along with a few tricks of his own, of course. Peter has four powers of his own, one of which is the ability to activate His jet boots in order to fly for brief period of time. There are also four types of elemental weapons that could be used to burn or freeze baddies along with the regular laser blasts. Combat is lots of fun because of the multitude of options, even if it's not the most intense or most complex dance I've ever taken part in. Between giving orders to your allies Guardians that you'll mainly be holding the left trigger in order to secure on to an enemy , and you can use the other triggers to unleash a fire stream of lasers. An active-reload system can allow you to take on more damage and will keep you paying focus, but for majority of your time you'll be pushing that trigger right a lot.  
  
Even still, combat never ended up being fun for long periods of time. It's partly due to the enemy's design, which is multifaceted enough to make you want to use various elements in order to take advantage of weaknesses and remove shields, and bigger enemies that can be dispersed by certain abilities. Each of your teammates has different functions they fulfill - Gamora's skills generally offer great damage. Drax is more focused on staggering, Rocket has the best AOE and Groot can bind enemies. It's nice to know that their abilities can be felt to be powerful, due to the fact that you'll do most of the damage by yourself. Your teammates' auto-attacks will do more damage than an aggressive massage.  
  
Another aspect that keeps the combat fresh throughout is the banter. Actually, there's so much spoken dialogue in the game. The dialogue between team members is entertaining as well as informative in that you observe their relationships change over the course of the tale. There are definitely moments when I'd hear the exact same thing yelled a few too many times but in general there's an amazing variety in each and latest games every one of these barks. In the end, even fights with similar themes might be given new appeal based on their context or on the conversations that are held during these fights.  
  
Dialogue selection can be put directly into battle using a powerful move known as The Huddle. When it's activated (which could be done a little too easily through pressing L1 or R1 at the same time), Peter gathers everyone together to discuss combat, then it's your turn to select an action plan by analyzing what they've been saying to earn a buff. It will also play one of Guardians Of The Galaxy's licensed 1980s music for the length of time the buff is in effect. It could be thrilling or hilarious based on the outcome. Fighting a massive alien squid monster while "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" by Wang Chung played has got to be one of the most hilariously joyous moments I've had in an entire game and watching the song of Bobby McFerrin "Don't Worry, Be Happy" suddenly pop up in the final moments of the game is a completely different type of funny.  
  
Between the cutscenes and battles that you'll be able to explore Guardians of The Galaxy's many locations, which vary from Nova Corp space ships to gorgeous alien worlds. Much like the plot itself, these sections are extremely linear, with the sometimes a small environmental challenge to solve or optional collectible to find, broken up by fights in more open arenas. Similar to the fight scenes that they engage throughout thanks to the banter and visual variety instead of being particularly interesting or engaging on their own.  
  
There are times when you'll have to command your colleagues here and possibly asking Rocket to hack into a terminal or Drax to transport something large and heavy from one place to another. This could result in easy but enjoyable puzzle solving when you try to figure out the ideal way to combine different abilities. Working with your group helps to add some excitement to these walks, with their wandering off to look through things by themselves, or watching them sat around bored as you are searching for a possible route . Their presence helps to solve that problem that is determining if a pathway is the right one in the first place or an "wrong" way full of treasures, since they'll often be able to move to the next main path by themselves and make comments as you travel to find loot.  
  
The collectibles you'll nab are or crafting currency used to upgrade Peter's capabilities outfits for the team's different participants to put on (all being more fun than a recolor, full in new outfits as well as throwbacks that are similar) and logs that are written to provide some story-related flavor as well as special items with new conversations that you can have when you're hanging with your shipmates between chapters. It was always an enjoyable experience to gather these items even if the side routes weren't as easy to discover and navigate as the main ones. The only real complaint here is that crafting currency is now so abundant that it will become quite difficult in the beginning, but this is probably due an insufficiency of an option to sprint.  
  
In keeping with the general trend The upgrade system can be fun and rewarding until the end of time even if it does appear a bit unbalanced at times. The completion of fights will earn you points which can unlock new powers, while crafting currency can be used to purchase any of fifteen different perks accessible in the beginning. The fact that everything is available instantly is helpful because it means you get to prioritize the upgrades you'd like to get in the order you'd like them, but it also means that there won't be any surprises when the campaign grows. If you don't, I loved that the rewards felt significant . But only a handful of those are just stat improvements that unlock new abilities like a dash kick or the speed of your time slowing for a moment when you get caught in the middle of.  
  
As a final note you should know that I had to deal with numerous bugs in my time with PlayStation 5. In addition to two severe crashes it wasn't too extreme and Square Enix has said that certain issues that I encountered will be corrected with the release. However, I was hindered at instances due to events not being properly activated or a button prompt not working in some way, along with weird visual glitches here and there like Peter, the grown-up Peter model being brutally squeezed into the childhood Peter's frame in one scene. It took an easy checkpoint reload in order to get things back in order The auto-save as well as checkpoint are so gentle that even the biggest issues haven't left me feeling disappointed However, it's not certain the extent to which that issue will be there on launch day.  
  
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy nicely has a fun, action packed adventure with some genuinely heartfelt story moments. The decisions you make can give new personal twists and surprises to your game. Combat and level design is fairly simple but consistently entertaining, but it's the friendships and banter between the characters that keep the game fresh as they evolve. It's unlikely to set the world on the blazes but Guardians of the Galaxy is an excellent example of how enjoyable simple, unpretentious, single-player adventure can be.