Marvel’s Avengers: A-Day

[Gabe]

@ThorI was the same - the demo didn't do a good job of selling the rent-a-hero lookalikes, but in the context of the game from the start they are nowhere near as distracting as I thought they would be. The campaign is good, too.

[teddymeow]

This is on PSNow from tomorrow.

 

Only the PS4 version mind.

[Gabe]

Well that's surely a bit of a death-knell, to be on a subscriber service after just 6 months? Wonder if it'll hit Game Pass too?

[moosegrinder]

I reckon so. I think it'll be announced before too long.

[MansizeRooster]

1 hour ago, teddymeow said:

This is on PSNow from tomorrow.

 

Only the PS4 version mind.

Fucking awesome!

 

If you download it to your PS5, does it upgrade to the PS5 version? Or do you need to buy that?

[Thor]

2 minutes ago, MansizeRooster said:

Fucking awesome!

 

If you download it to your PS5, does it upgrade to the PS5 version? Or do you need to buy that?

It's PSNow, not PS+, so I doubt it. However, the PS4 disc version is cheap right now and you can upgrade to the PS5 version for free from that.

[Thor]

Yep, I'm rather enjoying this. Photo mode is nice, lacks options, but is still nice:

 

 

Only downsides so far are Nolan North and Troy Baker sounding like themselves, and the fact that the game is trying to be Destiny when all I want is a solid single player campaign with no online nonsense.

[Thor]

Played more of this last night before packing my PS5 up to send back to sony (unrelated). This is not a good game. It's very pretty, in fact the PS5 version in performance mode is quite impressive visually (apart from the menus) ... but that and the Avengers licence are the only two things going for it. There is way too much bullshit, and way too much filler. According to the game I am 54% through the campaign. I feel like I've done fuck all, and many of the missions feel like filler content: beat up bad guys, enter base, access computer, maybe defeat a tough enemy, ad nauseam. The killer is that it really really really fucking REALLY wants to be Destiny. 

 

It can't be.

 

What's the best thing about Destiny? It's not the graphics even though it is very pretty, its not the story (though some of it is excellent if you take the time to engage with it), it's not the mad sci-fi setting, and it's certainly not the outrageously complicated menu system with menus within menus within menus.

 

 

It's the guns, the shooting of said guns, the different types and options for those guns, and the chance that you'll get an amazing gun if you keep playing.

 

Marvel's Avenger's doesn't have guns, it's a primarily a button mashing game ... and not a particularly good one. But they aped the menu system. They aped the strike team and strike mission system, which would work in a game with guns, this doesn't have guns. It does have shooting if you're Iron Man, but the shooting that shooting actually awful, it feels woefully imprecise. But no matter what character you play as, the gameplay is incredibly repetitive, in fact it's downright derivative. My nephew loves it, but he's 10. 

 

This is a simple game for children who want to play as Iron Man or Hulk for giggles. 

 

When my PS5 comes back from Sony I doubt I'll continue the campaign.

 

@Mr. Gerbik Don't waste even a singly penny on this. 

[Mr. Gerbik]

1 hour ago, Thor said:

 

@Mr. Gerbik Don't waste even a singly penny on this. 

I bought it day one.

 

It's shit. The campaign bit is fun if you're a Marvel nerd like me, although you do have to look past the poundland look of the main characters - specifically the faces. And it's extremely simplistic, go forwards to unlock new cutscene. Not worth full price at all but imo worth a go if you can get it extremely cheap. The endgame content, where it REALLY wants to be Destiny is utter, irredeemable shite. And buggy too. It's a huge missed opportunity, it completely squanders the ip. Three main villains out of thousands they could have chosen. One doesn't even show up again in the endgame, the other two are repeated ad infinitum. 

 

It's not just shit, it's SUPERSHIT

 

[Kevvy Metal]

On 05/04/2021 at 23:29, Thor said:

Yep, I'm rather enjoying this. Photo mode is nice, lacks options, but is still nice:

 

 

Only downsides so far are Nolan North and Troy Baker sounding like themselves, and the fact that the game is trying to be Destiny when all I want is a solid single player campaign with no online nonsense.

 

On 07/04/2021 at 14:48, Thor said:

Played more of this last night before packing my PS5 up to send back to sony (unrelated). This is not a good game. It's very pretty, in fact the PS5 version in performance mode is quite impressive visually (apart from the menus) ... but that and the Avengers licence are the only two things going for it. There is way too much bullshit, and way too much filler. According to the game I am 54% through the campaign. I feel like I've done fuck all, and many of the missions feel like filler content: beat up bad guys, enter base, access computer, maybe defeat a tough enemy, ad nauseam. The killer is that it really really really fucking REALLY wants to be Destiny. 

 

It can't be.

 

What's the best thing about Destiny? It's not the graphics even though it is very pretty, its not the story (though some of it is excellent if you take the time to engage with it), it's not the mad sci-fi setting, and it's certainly not the outrageously complicated menu system with menus within menus within menus.

 

 

It's the guns, the shooting of said guns, the different types and options for those guns, and the chance that you'll get an amazing gun if you keep playing.

 

Marvel's Avenger's doesn't have guns, it's a primarily a button mashing game ... and not a particularly good one. But they aped the menu system. They aped the strike team and strike mission system, which would work in a game with guns, this doesn't have guns. It does have shooting if you're Iron Man, but the shooting that shooting actually awful, it feels woefully imprecise. But no matter what character you play as, the gameplay is incredibly repetitive, in fact it's downright derivative. My nephew loves it, but he's 10. 

 

This is a simple game for children who want to play as Iron Man or Hulk for giggles. 

 

When my PS5 comes back from Sony I doubt I'll continue the campaign.

 

@Mr. Gerbik Don't waste even a singly penny on this. 

[El Spatula]

Could just post that for every single Thor post about a game since the dawn of time. Sometimes the other way round.

[Thor]

Nah, not recently. And in this case my assessment is fair. Despite the demo being poor, the game's campaign does make a very good first impression, and when you first get the proper Iron Man suit you think it's going to get really good ... and it goes, quite spectacularly, the other way. A shame. It's no wonder the story campaign isn't the first option on the menu. 

[dreamylittledream]

2 hours ago, Thor said:

Nah, not recently. And in this case my assessment is fair. Despite the demo being poor, the game's campaign does make a very good first impression, and when you first get the proper Iron Man suit you think it's going to get really good ... and it goes, quite spectacularly, the other way. A shame. It's no wonder the story campaign isn't the first option on the menu. 

Play it all the way through @Thor, the campaign has a few wobbles where it leans on the weak multiplayer skirmish missions that make up the endgame but if you mainline it, there is plenty of good stuff after you meet Iron Man. 
 

It’s very Tomb Raider meets scrolling beat em up but lots of fun nevertheless.
 

From when you rescue Cap to the conclusion is pretty much all good and it tells a quite neat Avengers story for Marvel fans

[Thor]

Er, you may want to avoid story spoilers when trying to entice me into playing more of the game.

[MardiganX]

The biggest problem I found is that no matter who you play as the gameplay is identical, unless it’s a forced character section, which makes the excitement of playing as these different characters completely hollow. Story wise there are some enjoyable moments and battles but scrape past the thin lair of Marvel shine and it’s a very boring game.

 

Another aspect that started to piss me off as I got toward the end of the campaign was how much the game rips from Marvel mobile games like Strike Force, where you have Iso catalysts and all manner of invisible bullshit that is meant to entice you into the grind. A grind that is entirely smoke and mirrors because it’s essentially the same enemies scaling with you as you equip different gear.

 

On a more positive note however, Kate Bishop is a joy to play with but even that sadly only emphasises how terrible the surrounding gameplay is because her move set and general swagger is fantastic. I’ve yet to play as Hawkeye but imagine he will be well measured and fun to control too... it’s just a shame they are trapped inside a complete shell in terms of gameplay mechanics.

 

Im now just finishing off the campaign related stuff only because Kate (and Hawkeye hopefully) is a brilliantly implemented character, but no amount of bug fixes and Wakanda DLC can rescue the endgame of what is at its core a weak, dull and painfully repetitive experience.

[mechamonkey]

I'm still really enjoying it, once you level up your perks, gear and abilities you can specialize quite a lot which makes the characters play somewhat differently, pretty great fun with friends too.
I like to think of it more as a Streets of Rage scrolling beat em up rather than a destiny like to be honest.
Loved the Kate Bishop and Hawkeye stuff and to be honest really looking forward to Wakanda etc, I am however dying of AIM, no more plz, theres an entire Marvel Universe out there (this wont change its not like Destiny is swimming in wildly different enemies after all these years etc)
I totally get why people hate this and will change noones mind, this is just my experience.

[PK]

It seems like a really odd decision to have made this game a loot grinder. I'd have thought that a linear, Uncharted-style campaign with a PvP multiplayer mode would have been a guaranteed winner, riding off the back of MCU hype.

 

Does the grind feel like something that was tacked on, rather than what the game's been designed around?

[MardiganX]

The grind feels completely superficial. Like you start at 0 and even with my Iron Man at 40 now he is still fighting the exact same enemies that he did at level 4 and 5. There is no sense of gaining more power to let accomplish things because most of the missions and enemies simply scale to whatever level you are anyway. Maybe games like Destiny did a better job of hiding that aspect, but it’s painfully transparent with Avengers.

 

Its the skill unlocks that really drive progress and that feeling getting more powerful but when your base set of abilities can actually get your through any battle as long as your ‘power’ is either keel or higher than what the enemies are set to what’s the point?

 

The characters themselves are wonderfully realised, look incredible, are fun to control and really do have brilliant move sets and detailed ability options. But, they are stuck in a world where the tasks they have to complete in order to progress really don’t require much of what they can actually do. When guys are fully upgraded and can do loads of cool shit the gameplay feels like you are Superman but you have been asked to direct traffic due to a set of lights going out.

[dreamylittledream]

9 hours ago, Thor said:

Er, you may want to avoid story spoilers when trying to entice me into playing more of the game.

Oh come on you didn’t really think he wouldn’t come back, it’s a super hero game and he’s on the bloody box

[Thor]

Just now, dreamylittledream said:

Oh come on you didn’t really think he wouldn’t come back, it’s a super hero game and he’s on the bloody box

I actually thought they'd gone on a different direction. Oh well. 

[Broker]

1 hour ago, MardiganX said:

Maybe games like Destiny did a better job of hiding that aspect, but it’s painfully transparent with Avengers.

At launch Destiny did a great job of hiding the repetitive nature of its enemies behind a slow progression through planets and the alien races, but it’s all been stripped out now. 
 

How many types of enemy do you fight in this? I think the key is probably having more superficial variety.

[MardiganX]

Just now, Broker said:

At launch Destiny did a great job of hiding the repetitive nature of its enemies behind a slow progression through planets and the alien races, but it’s all been stripped out now. 
 

How many types of enemy do you fight in this? I think the key is probably having more superficial variety.

 

See I thought that too, that superficial variety would make a difference but after 1 or 2 missions that is meaningless and every enemy boils down to the same set of actions if you want to beat them. Like you have 50 different awesome and amazing things that each character can do, looking amazing as they do it. But you only need 3 of those things to win. The problem with Avengers was never the way gear was displayed or how upgrading worked. The problem is the core gameplay, which is the absolutely critical element if you want a game of this style to succeed, is repetitive, shallow and after a couple hours of cool animations very boring to play.

[Broker]

I think the enemies in Destiny do have some gameplay variety. There’s little ones who swarm you, big ones who charge in, snipers, some with specific weak points you have to target etc. They all look a bit different to clue you in on how to fight them. I guess that’s what makes the difference. 

[MardiganX]

I think its the lack of top level / boss enemy variety that is the main issue. Apart from 2 fairly early 'boss' fights every end of mission scenario or boss is basically the same, until you hit the end of the campaign and it decides to mix things up a little again. As others have mentioned above, when you consider the depth of the source material that is fucking criminal. They only way I can make sense of it is that Square and whoever else thought they would be clever and drip feed the Marvel world in to keep people coming back and obviously paying for more content, but that model is all but dead given how weak the core gameplay actually is when you get past the gloss.

 

There are moments where it seems like they had a clue about how to use the diverse skills of each character and make the gameplay blend with it but the other 90% is you doing the exact same actions with whatever character you decide to play with. Why not make Iron Man almost entirely ranged focus? Why make him as good if not better than other unamed characters () in CQC? Why not have each mission require potentially optional tasks that only certain characters can do? Actually, sorry they do have some cracked doors that only a heavy attack from certain characters can open to get you some gear  forgot about that.

 

These are rhetorical questions by the way  the answer is core gameplay is secondary to the wider grind model that can encourage further payments. There is no way a lot of the content that is currently free would have been that way had the launch of the game went different. I want to love the game. What Marvel have done with their world in recent years through movies and other merchandise has been phenomenal, but in one monumentally badly judged cash grab that halo has been tarnished.

 

 

[Gabe]

4 hours ago, Broker said:

I think the enemies in Destiny do have some gameplay variety. There’s little ones who swarm you, big ones who charge in, snipers, some with specific weak points you have to target etc. They all look a bit different to clue you in on how to fight them. I guess that’s what makes the difference. 

There is that same sort of enemy variety in this, too, so it isn't all that different; you have enemies that will keep their distance and snipe away, you have big brusiers that will come in with the heavy moves and you have the bog-standard fodder that will try to overwhelm with numbers. They all look fairly similar, mind.

 

The problem is that the core punching people isn't all that interesting.

 

I said the same as @MardiganX whilst I was playing it, in that none of the characters every really feel they have dedicated roles. Iron Man is a good example; he should be all about speed, agility and range, but that is hard to fit into the maps they have without him flying off and leaving everybody else behind. Captain America should be about brawling, tactics and leadership (outside of giving buffs, I'm not sure how they could make that a meaningful - and fun - mechanic). Thor should be all about the weapon-based melee combat with a does of lightning, Black Widow could've been been another brawler but with a side of some weapons and gadgets etc. Hulk should, well, smash - but there's just no sense of sheer power with him.

 

The potential for making characters different, and therefore worth playing with, just hasn't been realised unless (apparently) you fill nearly all of the skill trees, and even then I don't think it adds proper, meaningful differences (I don't know, I still haven't gone back since I finished the initial campaign). Having such a small team to choose from makes this aspect all the more frustrating.

 

Of course, the bigger issue is that the endgame is boring. Not just because enemies scale with you, but because none of the activities are particularly interesting and I don't know how they fix that. I don't even really know what type of modes would entice me to want to run through the same maps again and again, though I don't play MP so I'm not the idea audience anyway.

 

Even so, if there was something in there to keep me interested (be it fun, different skillsets and playing styles or mechanically varied maps) then I'd probably dip in and out of it every once in a while for a bit of beat-em-up action. But there isn't. There are too few maps and none of them offer any different tactical situations or approaches, nor do they allow for any interaction with the environment (I'm thinking of, say, destructible environments that perhaps only Hulk and Iron Man could destroy to cause massive damage and/or create choke points in big open arenas).

 

It is shame it is what it is, and there's nothing in the roadmap that looks like it would do anything to give it a shot in the arm either, sadly. Worse still, this failing probably kills off any other attempt at a Marvel RPG for another good few years.

[tnman]

5 hours ago, MardiganX said:

They only way I can make sense of it is that Square and whoever else thought they would be clever and drip feed the Marvel world in to keep people coming back and obviously paying for more content, but that model is all but dead given how weak the core gameplay actually is when you get past the gloss.

 

They made a lot of noise before release about how all of the post-launch story content would be free, so that's not the case at least.

[BitterToad]

I played the first mission of this yesterday due to its PSNow-ness and... it was great! Super fun, all the heroes felt really different, even if Iron Man was a bit weak, great storytelling if you're into that sort of thing and a fun Uncharted meets Avengers type feel to the whole thing. I'm quite excited to go back to be honest, which is mad considering how much Monster Hunter was holding my attention before I tried this. 

[Mr. Gerbik]

25 minutes ago, BitterToad said:

I played the first mission of this yesterday due to its PSNow-ness and... it was great! Super fun, all the heroes felt really different, even if Iron Man was a bit weak, great storytelling if you're into that sort of thing and a fun Uncharted meets Avengers type feel to the whole thing. I'm quite excited to go back to be honest, which is mad considering how much Monster Hunter was holding my attention before I tried this. 

This is truly the new Sonic cycle:

On 08/04/2021 at 19:58, Kevvy Metal said:

 

I had the exact same experience with this game. Oh this is rather enjoyable Marvel fan service and it looks great! And after a few more hours in: oh wait oh no...

[Halo]

The PC version is £17.99 at GMG - and it was £15.29 for me as part of their XP loyalty program if you’ve bought products from there before.

[dataDave]

Meanwhile, on MiSTer today...