Marvel's Avengers: Definitive Edition - Review

Avengers: Meander!

Console: PlayStation 5.

One of the biggest disappointments in video games in the last generation has to be Square Enix's Marvel's Avengers. It saw The Avengers star in their own AAA video game with the promise of many Marvel superheroes finding their way into the game down the road. Following on the heels of very successful superhero games, like the Arkham Trilogy, and with the MCU at its peak, how could it fail? 

Alas, it wasn´t to be. The title failed to meet critical and commercial expectations. Square promised continued support for the title and did give it quite a bit of DLC and improvements, rebranding it to the 'Definitive Edition', but it was too late to turn its fortunes around. 

Now 3 years later, the game has been delisted because new owner Embracer lost the license and in accompanying firesale, I picked the game up. I was always interested in the title but because of the mixed reviews and my own growing apathy towards the MCU, it wasn't high on my priority list. 

Now that I have the game, let's dive, and see where it ended up. 

Before I start in earnest I must say that this review, while technically about the Definitive Edition, will not include all the story expansions and its related content It would just become too much for one review. That will get its own separate review. Someday. 

The main story, 'Reassembled', sees the Avengers disbanded and hated by the world. During 'A-Day', a day to celebrate the Avengers, terrorists the Golden Gate Bridge and infiltrate a state-of-the-art Helicarrier powered by the experimental Terrigen energy source. The core ends up breached and the resulting explosion lays waste to San Francisco and releases a gas that turns some people into superpowered 'Inhumans'. 

In the 5 years since A-Day, the Avengers have been disbanded and A.I.M. has become a de-facto military working for the U.S. government that hunts down the 'sick' Inhumans and keeps the country in an iron grip with its military and large-scale misinformation campaign. 

Amongst the visitors affected by the Terrigen mists is Kamala Kahn, a super-fan and fan-fiction writer who gains polymorphic, size-changing powers. She discovers a corrupted video file that seemingly shows A.I.M. leader Tarleton locking Captain America in the reactor room, leaving him to die. With this evidence in hand, Kamala sets out to find reassemble the Avengers, find out what truly happened at A-Day, stop A.I.M. and save all of her fellow Inhumans. 

The story is nothing special. It's eerily similar in its setup as Avengers Endgame. The Avengers lose a big battle, people die, a 5-year time-skip, etc. I only noticed these similarities late in the game because the movie is 4 years old by now but back when the game first came out, I imagine it was a lot easier to notice. 

The pacing is also not good, though that has more to do with the gameplay than the narrative. The opening is strong but once the game shifts o live service maps and activities, the momentum grinds to a halt. I can see people having trouble motivating themselves through these slow sections even if the action set pieces amongst them can be quite thrilling. 

Even with its flaws, the story is still well executed. I wanted to see Kamala grow, wanted to meet all the Avengers bring them together and pay Monica (the secondary bad guy who is much better than the bland M.O.D.O.K.) her dues. This is, in large part, thanks to the characters and the performers behind them. With video game voice actour greats like Nolan North as Tony Stark, Troy Baker as Bruce Banner, Laura Bailey of Natascha Romanoff and more, these characters are elevated a notch. I especially like Kamala, Bruce and the father-daughter type bond they developed. 

For all the problems, when The Avengers finally assemble in the final act, it is quite thrilling.

Now, on to the gameplay. Marvel's Avengers is an action singleplayer, co-op multiplayer, brawler and live service hybrid, to its own detriment. There's that single-player story mode that is set up like something like Uncharted. Action setpieces are intertwined by more free-roaming, explorative and combat sections. The combat is about chaining together your attacks and special abilities, unique to each character, into large combos. It's a fine, if not a rather brain-dead system. There are many effects to play around with but due to a variety of reasons, such as the poor balancing, basic button mashing is really all that´s required. 

In the multiplayer mode, you and 3 others are dropped in a large, free-roaming map in which you have to accomplish a variety of missions. Basic stuff really, like protecting the base and defeating all enemies. Not my thing, with its repetitive design and lack of variation. All maps have different aesthetics but when it comes down to it, they have all the same core design. The low number of them means that you´ll be revisiting them quite a bit. You can still play this mode if you want, however, because Marvel's Avengers uses a peer-to-peer connection, so that's something. 

I also don't like how starting at nearly the halfway point, the single-player becomes littered with multiplayer maps that you have to complete with NPC partners to progress. These sections are the reason for the poor pacing, the repetitiveness and the blandness, because of everything I told above. 

The lack of personality also doesn't help. With a property like The Avengers, there is such a rich history to pull from. Yet, the game has barely any easter eggs or references aside from plenty of MCU elements. Aside from Abomination, M.O.D.O.K. and Taskmaster there are only generic robots for you to fight!

Whatever mode you play, it´s littered with live service elements. Many of these have been toned down in this ´Definitive Edition´, all micro-transactions have been removed and the types of currencies have been brought down, but they are still here and they are still troublesome. 

We have 'Fortnite-like' emotes, gear, costumes and the like. The costumes you could earn with currency have now, for the most part, been made free and unlocked from the start. No point in talking about that. No, the gear is what I want to talk about. Players are pushed to keep playing the game to get more gear so they can get better bonuses. Better defence, stronger attack, and other such effects. 

All of this gear is, at least in single-player, quite useless. Just auto-equipped with the best gear you get while playing is enough. Not a very good way to introduce and entice players to it, no? Even in multiplayer, I can´t see it having a very noticeable effect aside from the very strong (and thus rare) ones. You can upgrade gear and relics, the more powerful and effect-heavy counterpart, with the currency you earn but I wouldn't bother. 

So much focus is put on the gear that the levelling system and everything connected to it gets pushed to the site. Just as in many games with RPG elements, Insomniac´s Spider-Man is a relevant example, by earning exp you can level up and unlock more elaborate combos and new skills. The experience payout is so low that you're unable to make use of all these skills and abilities. Even in multiplayer, you'd need to do some serious grinding to unlock it all. Had they removed the gear, you would have had a much better progression system in place. 

Before my usual 'graphics and performance' bit I have to spend a few words on each Avenger and their playstyle. Playing as all your favourite (well, recognizable) Avengers with their different playstyles is a big part of the game's design after all. 

Ms. Marvel is clearly designed as a beginner-friendly character with good range, forgivable dodge and a healing skill. Because of these factors, she's my go-to gal. Hulk isn't quite my style. A brute that doesn't have the precision I like and is often a sitting duck due to its size and slow speed. Iron Man is nice. I can't quite get the hang of the flying but the mix between close and long-range attacks works well. 

I'm glad they chose Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan as the focus in this game. She now has at least one video game, nearly, to her name. 

Black Widow is a quick, agile dodger with sneak attacks. A bit like Miles Morales, now that I think of it. If my reflexes were better she might've become my favourite because of this playstyle. Thor is Hulk mixed with Iron Man's flight. Strong but slow and I therefore am not his biggest fan. Do quite like Mjölnir and his specials though. It took a little while to get the hang of Captain America, but once I did I really liked him. Good mix of athletics, powerful punches and some good range with that shield throw. 

Now it´s graphics and performance time. Say what you will, but the PS5 version of Marvel´s Avengers runs well and looks bloody good. Well-done character models with good animations, good texture work, lighting, particle effects and some very picturesque and blockbuster visuals. I did notice some hiccups here and there, like a piece of Thor´s cape acting weird, and the HUD staying on screens a few seconds too long during transitions but it´s not major stuff. 

Conclusion

When it's all set and done I don't regret my time with Marvel's Avengers. It's the definition of a mid-tier game. One that has some good elements and is fun under the right circumstances, and in the right mindset, but one that has nearly as many issues that weigh it all down. Fun story, excellent graphics, and decent combat with intrusive live service elements and sections that can be quite boring and repetitive. It's not worth buying at full price but for 20 bones or less? If you want to get a chance to play as the Avengers in a big game, then yes, I'd give it a go. Just keep yourself to the main campaign as much as possible.