Do we need Guardians?
Before the premiere, it was not too loud about Guardians of the Galaxy , and the trailers were not met with particular enthusiasm and it is hardly surprising. The spectacular failure of Marvel’s Avengers was still widely echoed when the publisher announced over a year after the floppy premiere that a game dedicated to Guardians of the Galaxy would be released on computers and consoles, in addition it presented quite average on the accompanying promotional materials. Even the assurance that in this title the game-service formula was abandoned in favor of a classic, closed formula did not help much. After completing the campaign, however, I can say that marketers have apparently ignored the greatest asset of the new Eidos Montreal game for some reason.
In search of earnings
Although no trailer suggested it, presenting moderately interesting fragments of scenes, Guardians of the Galaxy is first and foremost a story! As in the case of Avengers , the position is not based on a movie license and in this case it is definitely an advantage. Released from the “responsibility” of embedding the narrative within the well-known series, the scriptwriters created an independent story with new incarnations of the Guardians, in which, however, the viewers will easily find references to film and comic versions of the heroes and their adventures. What’s more, the creators, aware of the popularity of the team in other media, did not bother to present the next origin storyWe get to know the crew and crew of the Milano ship some time after we started our hired business. This happens in extremely down-to-earth circumstances – as a result of a mishap, Star Lord, Gamora, Drax, Groot and Rocket fall into a large debt and look for a task that will pay it off. Of course, at some point the issue of defending the galaxy has to come up, but most of the time the story is quite intimate.
Although we only control Peter Quill in the game, the rest of the characters play a huge role. The creators decided to make the development of relations between the characters the heart of production. Whether it’s in the cutscenes when the story’s threads unfold, or in making comments and arguing while exploring – you can still hear the Guardians, and with undisguised pleasure. Guardians of the Galaxycan boast of well-written dialogues full of good humor. They are kept in a similar tone to the film version, but here the writers had the advantage that they could spread the whole thing for about 12 hours, giving the crew a lot of room for development and more interesting connection. The great English dubbing adds to the character. Although the item was published in a quite successful, full Polish language version and you should certainly appreciate how much content was translated and recorded, I would recommend playing in the original version, as long as the language barrier will not be an obstacle. Despite all efforts, some humor must die in such a situation.
Interactive movie
Some viewers may even complain that there is too much history in Eidos Montreal. Indeed, the storyline dominates the experience and is completely subordinated to it, after all, quite poor gameplay. The time between the cinematic scenes was primarily filled with a linear exploration layer (we will not find any side activities except the main plot here), in which, in order to reach the goal, the Guardians have to overcome very simple environmental puzzles, using the unique skills of individual characters. Just a simple element that emphasizes the importance of the team. As for the combat system, well … you can only say that it is and works fairly well. Fortunately, apart from the final stages, the action sequence is relatively small and very good, because Guardians of the Galaxythen it turns into a fairly shallow shooter. Due to the fact that Star Lord’s crosshair “sticks” to enemies, it is not too difficult and engaging, and only the team abilities unlocked during the campaign enliven the battle arenas. Unfortunately, in terms of mechanics, we are dealing with something that would fit into the mid-budget segment rather than AAA, to which the game aspires at least in terms of price.
Surprisingly, however, it is easy to swallow the inconvenience due to the fact that these modest systems actually serve to anchor the production within the game medium. I don’t remember the last time a game was so close to the “interactive movie” category. As I mentioned earlier, the dialogues take place almost all the time and here too, the focus is on interactivity, often putting Star Lord before more or less significant choices. Some have visible consequences, but very often it is something as pleasantly prosaic as reconciling the different characters of comrades during numerous arguments and misunderstandings. An interesting element are also collections during fights. When things turn to the detriment of the Guardians, Peter can get the team together and choose the right answer to motivate the team and choose the right song. Again, it’s nothing complicated but it adds charm and harmonizes with the story as much as possible. It is worth appreciating the scenes on board Milano in between voyages. This is a well-thought-out opportunity to take a break, improve your equipment and, above all, talk to your companions, or even discover new facts. It is absolutely not forced and you want to rest for a while.
Visiting the galaxy
While there are cuts in the gameplay layer, the title looks much better in terms of visuals. The whole thing is kept in quite cartoon-like aesthetics, not trying to be realistic, but full of details. It’s hard not to suspend your eye while traveling through various and very imaginatively presented worlds. The use of the performance capture technology also ensures a good experience , thanks to which the characters (including dogs!) Behave very naturally during cutscenes. However, it is clear that we are dealing with an intergenerational title and the developers had to make some technical compromises. Also, owners of powerful PCs of new consoles are unlikely to feel the next-gen graphics. Hence, on the outdated PS4 Pro console on which I tested the game, Guardians of the Galaxyuses dynamic resolution, from 1440p up (source: Digital Foundry ). The whole looks quite solid, because although the quality of the models leaves a bit to be desired, the image is really sharp and manages to maintain smoothness at 30fps, visually not significantly different from the new equipment. However, the ideal is a bit lacking, because in literally a few scenes there are quite significant drops, but not drastically influencing the difficulty. I also see that the developers are gradually fixing these flaws.
A certain disappointment, however, is the music layer. Although there is a lot of licensed music in the game, as in the MCU movies, mainly in the form of classic rock, it rarely has the opportunity to sound beyond the aforementioned rebounds during the fight. You can feel the wasted potential here.
Adventure in style
Despite some ills, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy turned out to be one of the nicer surprises this year. A well-written adventure with the participation of colorful heroes during the domination of large productions for several dozen hours reminds that it is also worth reaching for more modest volumes. It is refreshing in a way that, despite being linked to a big brand, we got a fully independent and closed experience, without the need to expand with paid add-ons or a sequel. Which does not mean, however, that I would not like to play in a possible sequel in a few years. The team from Eidos Montreal has sensed very well how to bring the game Guardians to life and I would not be surprised if they were to come back in an even better shape.
