14 Jun, 2021
0Despite bungling the last Marvel property they were, Square Enix has pulled a potential new winner out the bag as Star-Lord and the gang come to gaming with Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy.
Square were quick to sidle away from the looming live-service demon in the back by immediately declaring that Guardians of the Galaxy would be a single player third-person action-adventure title. No loot boxes in view this time, just good old fashioned straight-down-the-line single player story gaming.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy appears to have captured the style and fun of its movies, with the 80s music and colourful aesthetic of James Gunn’s films featuring prominently throughout the showcase.
You play as Star-Lord: leader of the guardians and all round affable doofus. In his role you’ll be making decisions for the team that will have consequences for how your shipmates view you. The gameplay shown teased dialogue options and story/moral choices that prompt Telltale-style reactions to let you know if you’ve upset or pleased one of your friends. What sort of real impact these choices will actually have often tends to be a bit ambiguous, with games frequently using such systems to merely present the illusion of an impactful choice. Regardless it’s a good take for a game like Guardians where no doubt squad tensions and relationships will come to a head in some capacity at some point. It wouldn’t be a group-based story without a few fall outs, after all.
The game also presents a Final Fantasy–style combat system where you can order your teammates to execute certain attacks in combinations, You yourself have special abilities too to turn the tide of battle. To top off the more cinematic combat moments is of course a library of every 80s hit you can think of, giving you the real experience of Star-Lord and the films.
Overall this is a welcomed announcement. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy looks to be a fun time with hopefully a solid enough story to match. We’ll be looking forward to it here at Gaming Digest as it releases on October 26th for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
