Avengers: 8 Ways To Save The Game
No matter where you stand, things could look a lot better.
Marvel's Avengers is one of the most prominent mixed bags in quite some time.
On the one hand you've got a luxuriously presented loot-based brawler; a game that takes Ultimate Alliance 3's template and adds far more expensive production values. The characters look stunning, action is pyrotechnic as hell, and the story has a sincere enough heart that it propels you from one location to the next.
On the other hand... this is a grind-heavy, sponsorship-fuelled corporate box-ticker with very few takeaway positives other than "Well, I'm glad I can play as [insert character of choice]!" Gameplay becomes repetitive and stale, with the available beta roster quickly blurring into one. A loot system is supposed to keep you going, but its invisibility proves (to me, anyway) that this wasn't part of the mission statement from day one.
In so many ways, it feels like Square Enix have been given the keys to the Marvel kingdom, only to go hog-wild with as many money-making opportunities as possible.
There's a veneer of big budget cynicism that hasn't been seen quite so nakedly since 2017's Star Wars Battlefront II. Like that game, hopefully there's a future for Marvel's Avengers that pleases everyone, as its current state needs a lot of tweaking.