One of the most misunderstood game premise's of all time if the reactions to the trailers of this game are anything to go by. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is a action team leadership simulator and it is surprisingly fun in how it plays. All of the Guardians have four abilities by the end with each functioning uniquely both from a member to member basis as well as for the individual members. Drax is the brute so he can bulldoze through enemies, Gamora's abilities do high damage to individual targets which can be helpful with tougher mobs and boss fights, Groot is all about Crowd Control and Support which includes the only healing ability in the game because you heal relatively quickly in battle as well as after every encounter, and Rocket is AoE damage to the nth degree which suits him and his explosives perfectly. Your gameplay as Star Lord is to mostly guide them effectively through battle while taking out any shields with elemental damage shots and making sure the situation never becomes unmanageable, which along with all of the couching gameplay actually makes this game extremely fun. The Huddle when I saw it in trailers was something I thought was just going to be a gimmick, but you have no idea how much I spammed that ability throughout this game for the pure endorphins I got from spamming everyone's abilities, shooting everything in sight and listening to a random 80s song from one of the best curated playlists that I've found in any game ever. You have no idea how much my heart jumped when Rick Astley started playing as my soundtrack to ass kicking the Dweller in Darkness. However, the one aspect of this game that I absolutely have to credit for nailing tremendously is the story, characters and lore. Each of the Characters are each a healthy mix between the original comic characters and their James Gunn movie counterparts. Peter Quill's backstory is much more in line with the comics with his father being the king of Spartox with a much more serious leadership mindset throughout the story, but they somehow adjusted the comic backstory just enough to retain the boyish charm and slight goofiness he had as a boy who was never allowed to grow up quite properly. Gamora is much more standoffish and socially awkward compared to both other iterations, but that surprisingly makes this Gamora feel much more well-rounded as a character compared to both the comics and the Gunn movies. Groot is more or less just comic book Groot, which is just a more sure and confident version of Groot from the first Gunn film. Rocket is pretty much just Rocket from the Gunn films, but that's great because the Gunn films nailed Rocket anyway. Drax is actually a massive improvement (though not to say I don't adore Bautista's Drax) due to his personality including his stoicism and brutality being much more in line with his comic book counterpart to actually justify his title. Mantis actually had her comic book backstory and powers in this game, though she still retained the bubbly and offkilter energy that made the Gunn-version so fun to follow. Cosmo is best boy. Adam Warlock is actually Adam Warlock through-and-through, literally the most faithful adaptation of that character I think anyone will ever do. This led to some of the most realised, fun and emotional dialogue I've ever heard in any comic book games before. The lore of each location is also much more fleshed out and full that it was portrayed in the Gunn films, like just comparing Knowhere in this game to Knowhere in the films and this game managed to not only provide different areas and districts of the Head, but also to nail the scale of the Celestial Head with much more accuracy than the films and this accuracy and depth can be seen from ever location that you traverse in the game which shows the tremendous amount of love and care this team had for the Cosmic Side of the Marvel Universe. Finally, the story is just as fun and just as emotionally vulnerable as the rest of the story. For a story that allows Gamora to hoard dolls from online vendors as a hobby and allows Peter Quill's inspiration speeches and 80s references to feel just as cringey and funny as they need to be, it's also a story that explores grief, a history of violence, PTSD and many other more specific linked themes with just as much depth and care as they deserve to be felt. I haven't felt nearly as heartbroken as I have while watching some of these cutscenes than I have for years since probably the end of Insomniac's first Spider-Man game, but even then I'd say that this game does miles better than even that as it's not reliant on moment-to-moment storytelling like the Insomniac Spidey games... it's just a well written ensemble character journey from start to finish. This is a game I wholeheartedly recommend if you want to not only experience the definitive versions of each of these Guardians characters, but also if you want to add another game to the list of quintessential Marvel Comic-adaption games that aren't Spider-Man like the Nolan North-Deadpool game and the X-Men Origins: Wolverine tie-in game that was way better than it had any credit being. Like those two games, there is no comparison and no need for one because there will never be a better game that could encapsulate the energy, characters and dynamics of the Guardians of the Galaxy quite like this game that everyone believed was gonna be bad.
Read more