Marvel’s Avengers is one of the most anticipated games of this moment and during our stay at Gamescom 2019, I finally had the chance to get my hands on the tutorial. Although it was labeled as a tutorial, it was so much more. I controlled some of the most powerful Avengers during an extremely thrilling mission, which felt amazing!
Defend the bridge
Our story begins at A-Day, where Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk, Black Widow, and Thor are unveiling a hi-tech Avengers headquarters, including the reveal of their own new helicarrier, powered by an experimental energy source. This day was supposed to be a celebration for the Avengers, a sort of homecoming to San Fransisco, but things went terribly wrong. The Avengers aren’t alone and when they are attacked, the celebration turns into a rescue mission. The Avengers desperately try to save all civilians while making sure the iconic Golden Gate Bridge won’t go to waste. What follows was my first actual hands-on with the single-player campaign and I must say, I was impressed from start to finish.
The game gave me full control over the five playable Avengers and it’s good to see that all five do play a lot differently. Thor was all over the place, swinging Mjölnir around like it was nothing, proving himself worthy of accurate crowd-control. Iron Man, on the other hand, was a more tactical character who likes to soar above the battlegrounds. With a combination of his blasters and hi-tech suit, he’s certainly a force to be reckoned with. Next up was The Hulk, which is basically your tank and literally nothing could stop him. I could grab my enemies and use them as a melee weapon against others, which was pure brilliance if you ask me. Captain America offered a completely different mechanic using his shield as a boomerang and Black Widow was that bad-ass martial arts master you would expect her to be. This demonstration served as an introduction to the playable Avengers and I must say I was really impressed with what I saw. The action was fast-paced, thrilling, and unexpected until the very end. It’s just a first glimpse of what to come but the concept arts demonstrated in the presentation after this tutorial certainly gave away the direction this game will eventually be going.
A darker Marvel universe
Crystal Dynamics is the team behind this game and right from the start, they made sure everybody knew this is their own unique take on The Avengers. No, it’s not part of the MCU and no, you won’t see the same faces as in cinemas or comics. These Avengers are completely new and I must admit, this felt a little strange at first since you’re used to other voices and faces but after a while, you easily forget this. The team created a brand new world to explore and judging on the concept art, this might be darker than what we’re used of in Marvel games. The A-Day celebration ended in a catastrophe where Captain America had to sacrifice himself to save the entire city. Sadly, a lot of people died that day and The Avengers got blamed for the tragedy. The main single-player campaign kicks off five years later and is set in a world where Super Heroes are outlawed. It will be your job to reassemble Earth’s Mightiest Heroes if you want to save the planet once more.
Although we haven’t seen any actual gameplay of this, the developers assured us that the cinematic gameplay we know and love from the studio will also be presented in this campaign. It’s a campaign that will showcase darker versions of our heroes and I think they’re really up for a challenge if they want to make it out alive. I can’t wait to see where this will eventually lead to but Marvel’s Avengers is far more than single-player only.
Multiplayer madness
As other demonstration already pointed out, Marvel’s Avengers also features a big multiplayer segment, in fact, it’s the biggest part of the game. Using a reclaimed helicarrier as a base of operations, players are able to launch single-player and co-op Warzone missions in hotspots around the globe. These Warzone missions are playable with up to four players and will challenge you with a lot of different dangers. It’s here where you’ll work together as a newly assembled team of Avengers and only by combing your strengths accordingly, you’ll overcome the challenge. Creating your own Avenger goes extremely deep as demonstrated during the presentation. You’ll be able to invest a lot of energy into your character, ranging from new skills and abilities to unlockable costumes. It’s never pay to win, the only thing that will cost you additional money are some in-game store exclusive costumes which won’t affect the way you play at all. Buying these rare cosmetics is always fully optional and it’s simply there to satisfy the fans who are looking for costumes you can’t simply unlock by playing. Sadly, we didn’t see the multiplayer in action but it’s clear that the team has big plans for the future of this mode, including new heroes and new locations at no additional cost for years after the initial release.
Early conclusion:
Although the actual hands-on focused on a small introduction to the single-player campaign, I must admit I’m certainly impressed. All Avengers have their own distinctive style and the action is just as high-paced and intense as you would expect from a modern Avengers game. We didn’t get a chance to see the impressive multiplayer in action but after playing the first tutorial, I completely have faith that Crystal Dynamics will create one of the most memorable Marvel games out there.
