With a release date planned for September 4, 2020, a Marvel's Avengers beta will go live on August 7. Here's our opinion on the beta, which turned out to be much more interesting than expected.
Important note: As this is a beta, we have therefore not tested the final version of the game. A few bugs were present, and not all features were available.
- Genre: Action Adventure
- Release Date: September 4, 2020
- Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC
- Developer: Crystal Dynamics
- Publisher: Square Enix
- Price: $69.99
A breath of fresh air for the Avengers
This is not a game that only follows the story of Iron Man and his fellow Avengers. Rather, the lore takes us into the world of Kamala Khan (aka Ms Marvel) and her strange powers.
Marvel's Avengers kicks off on A-Day, which celebrates the opening of Avengers Headquarters in San Francisco and the launch of a new Helicarrier powered by experimental technology. The day turns into a nightmare when a terrible accident destroys a large part of the city.
The Avengers are then considered responsible for the tragedy and go their separate ways. Five years later, superheroes are now outlawed, our world is in danger, and the only hope to save it is to bring together Earth's greatest heroes.
So this is your primary objective: by first playing Hulk and Khan, you go in search of the other Avengers to reform the team — with the ability to play them all.
The mission looks pretty easy, but that's without counting the presence of AIM, an organization that believes that science is the only solution to save the planet, and that superheroes must be eradicated.
What's worse is that the creator of this organization wants to save “inhumans” by removing their powers.
In short, it's a complete story that promises hours of missions, cutscenes and other revelations surrounding the lore of the Avengers.
Diversity above all
Avengers is a synonym for several different superheroes to play. These are unlocked for free as you progress in the game, while others — such as Spider-Man —will be added as DLC.
A first tutorial at the start of the game will help you learn how to play Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and Black Widow. From the very first minutes, we see how well the characters handle and the fluidity of their actions.
It's a little less obvious than in Insomniac's Spider-Man, but still very pleasant. Swing Mjolnir away and make it come back, pilot Iron-Man's armor and rush at full speed, have fun with Hulk by destroying everything in its path, or take advantage of Black Widow's pistol — the superheroes are so diverse that the fights are all the more spectacular.
Several types of missions are also available to further diversify the gameplay. In addition to the main story with its cinematics and mandatory single-player campaign missions, you will be able to advance in the game by doing free missions (single-player or multiplayer) in War Zones:
- Iconic missions: playable with specific characters, these allow you to discover the hero's story and unlock iconic items for each superhero.
- Faction missions: here, you have to help S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Resistance during faction missions against AIM. They will then help you repair and improve the Helicarrier.
The diversity is also felt in the landscapes of the game: between nature and modernity, mountains and military bases, there is plenty to do.
A very complete game
Even though we were capped at a certain level during the beta, and all the missions and cutscenes were not available, we still found that the game was very complete. Without repeating what was said above, Marvel's Avengers does offer a significant number of different missions and ways of playing. The story mode is by far the one that has marked us the most. The mix between cinematics and gameplay is perfect, and we can play as different superheroes while using their skills wisely.
Combat is fluid and logical, and the boss fights spectacular and thoughtful. It's something that we didn't find in the side missions, where the gameplay got too messy. Spamming the X button repeatedly, with any hero, became a reflex. Regardless of the enemies or mission areas, it's as if the variety of skills of the heroes no longer mattered and the game suffered significantly in terms of depth.
It wouldn't have made a difference if we chose Hulk or Khan, simply to spam hits to destroy everything and move forward. Conversely, by choosing a hero incorrectly, it wasn't possible to succeed at all in some missions, which was adapted exclusively to this or that other character. This second point is preferable to the first, since it requires playing a bit strategically in order to select the right hero for the right type of mission.
Ultimately, the best place to fully utilize each hero's skills is the HARM Training Center. There, at least, we can quietly enjoy all that the Avengers have to offer.
Either way, story mode remains superior in terms of gameplay. Will matchmaking make the rough aspect of gameplay worse during missions? Some heroes are bound to stand out and create strong imbalances at high level. We'll see when the final game releases.
A small negative on the side of the Helicarrier, which serves as HQ and is where you choose missions: everything is in slow motion. It's impossible to move other than by walking slowly, and impossible to use our skills, which is a little frustrating for such a large area. Perhaps this is something that will be addressed for the game's full release.
Another point of improvement is that secret chests and other loot is often placed here and there during free missions, but sometimes it's impossible to find them in the middle of a fight. They are often poorly indicated or make us take big detours.
Now let's get back to something more positive: the Skill, Reinforcement, and Talent Tree systems. Along with the story mode and the HARM training system, this is probably one of the best points of Marvel's Avengers.
Each of the heroes has their own unique skills and experience level. You will need to advance each of these characters if you want to use them in the different missions.
During the latter, you can open chests containing more or less rare pieces of gear (and therefore more or less powerful). It's imperative to equip your heroes with the most effective parts and upgrade them. By going up levels, you can get various rewards such as skins to customize your Avenger, in-game currency, and even rare resources.
In short, the progression system is rather addictive and makes you want to play all the characters without neglecting some in particular.
Marvel's Avengers is a very rich and complete game that will allow you to play as your favorite heroes through an exciting story.
The single-player campaign is a real pleasure and juggles perfectly between cutscenes and gameplay sessions. It is possible to discover more about the lore while mastering one-by-one the superheroes and their specific skills.
Maneuverability and fluidity are there, but are somewhat spoiled by the free missions which do not enhance the choice of characters. Whether you play as the Hulk or Black Widow, the missions are similar and the gameplay quickly gets messy and imprecise.
The game certainly offers a lot of variety, but at what cost?
Whatever happens, the beta for Marvel's Avengers has pleasantly surprised us both with its better-than-expected graphics and its excellent story mode.
In a post on the PlayStaion Blog, the community manager of Crystal Dynamics announced that players on PlayStation will enjoy a nice load of exclusive content, unlike other platforms.
