Summary
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, like any other game, isn’t perfect. There are a lot of opinions fans have shared within superhero fandoms since the MCU began making its stamp on the industry, and that popularity certainly seeped into many Marvel and DC games since.Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueis seemingly a direct response to the theatrical iconography or notoriety of the titular group, for example, andMarvel’s Guardians of the Galaxysurely stemmed from a similar inspirational merit. But while its story and characters were greatly praised,Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxystill apparently underperformed.
The consequences of this have since rippled into an uncertainty around whether it’s possible thatMarvel’s Guardians of the Galaxycould receive a sequel or at least some sort of follow-up. It might be odd for another developer to tackle the ensemble team now in an unrelated title so soon afterMarvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, but that seems like the only way anotherGuardians of the Galaxygame is moved forward with at this point. This is unfortunate because while it may have underwhelmed, it actually put forth a stellar blueprint for how single-player ensemble superhero games can be designed.
RELATED:Guardians of the Galaxy Writer Working on New Mass Effect Game
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is Still How an Ensemble Superhero Game Should Be
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Wrangles Its Ragtag Team Well
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxyisn’t terribly dynamic in terms of its gameplay, its combat grew repetitive as the game progressed, and choice-based events never dramatically altered events in a way that disrupted the narrative and branched out to a vastly new path for Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot. That said, the general atmosphere of the group and how they interacted—while still heavily influenced bythe MCU’s comedic take onGuardians of the Galaxy—made gameplay feel at least cohesive from that standpoint.
The most impressive avenue Eidos-Montreal took withMarvel’s Guardians of the Galaxywas making it fully single-player, which must have been difficult for developers and designers to wrap their heads around. The studio knew players wouldn’t want to play as Star-Lord exclusively in an ensemble group, and therefore players can control the other Guardians uniquely through specific abilities in combat or environmental navigation.
This positioned Star-Lord as a team leader or commander on the field of battle, where other characters had abilities set to cooldowns that players could spam when available. This left the impression ofan interestingMass Effectsimilaritywhere Shepard is able to command companions’ abilities, and while it is relatively elementary it was a decent template for such a game.
Ensemble Superhero Games Need to Know They Can Still Be Single-Player
It’s not necessarily a nail in the coffin for single-player ensemble superhero games thatMarvel’s Guardians of the Galaxydidn’t perform well. Unfortunately, though, it may suggest that fans aren’t willing to dabble in ensemble games regardless of whether they are centered around single-player or multiplayer gameplay.
IfMarvel’s Guardians of the Galaxypraisewas always out in full force, then it doesn’t make sense that it underperformed unless there was a vocal minority with the majority of players having disliked it. Either way,Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueis the latest ensemble game based on superhero media and the way fans have painted it already does not bode well for the always-online, live-service multiplayer game.
Of course, Marvel still does have at least one other ensemble game in the works withSkydance’s still-untitled Marvel game, and how that title is designed could usher in an emergent way for ensemble superhero games to follow instead. If anything should be learned fromMarvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, though, it’s that it had its direction in the right place and such games shouldn’t be given up on.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
WHERE TO PLAY
Fire up a wild ride across the cosmos with a fresh take on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. In this third-person action-adventure game, you are Star-Lord, and thanks to your bold yet questionable leadership, you have persuaded an oddball crew of unlikely heroes to join you. Some jerk (surely not you) has set off a chain of catastrophic events, and only you can hold the unpredictable Guardians together long enough to fight off total interplanetary meltdown.Use Element Blasters, tag-team beat downs, jet boot-powered dropkicks, nothing’s off-limits. If you think it’s all going to plan, you’re in for a world of surprises, with the consequences of your actions guaranteed to keep the Guardians on their toes.In this original Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy story, you’ll cross paths with powerful new beings and unique takes on iconic characters, all caught in a struggle for the galaxy’s fate. It’s time to show the universe what you’re made of. You got this. Probably.
