Last year, Square Enix gave us Marvel’s Avengers. A game that, at least for my part, left a lot to be desired. This year they are back with Gardeners of… Sorry, I meant Guardians of the Galaxy and blow me down (with a feather), this game is something else. Just for the story, the game is well worth playing, but it is also an abundance of lore, well-written dialogue, action-packed fighting sequences and wonderful environments that elevate it to one of, or perhaps, the best Marvel game to date.

Despite the monumental success that the Marvel brand has had in the world of cinema and TV, for some reason things have gone significantly worse in the video game market (if we do not count Spider-Man as whose brand is owned by Sony). During the 2000s, we have been bombarded with various Marvel movies, where Avengers was undoubtedly the biggest cash cow. After a long period of waiting, Square Enix finally announced the game we all thought we had been waiting for in Marvel’s Avengers. But as we now know, the game failed to live up to its hype after getting caught up in bugs, repetitive gaming and poor design overall.

It’s no wonder that people were skeptical in advance of Square Enix’s latest game in the series, and terefore it feels very good to be able to say directly that Guardians of the Galaxy is something completely different.

In addition to shooting with your weapons, you can combine attacks with the other members of the team. (Image credit: Square Enix)

Gameplay

Guardians of the Galaxy is a single-player beat-’em-up that will be played through the eyes of the team of Guardians we have grown to love from the comic books and films.

You play through the entire game from Peter Quill‘s (a.k.a. Star Lord) perspective, and he will be the one to give out commands and request help from the rest of his team. So wile you yourself run through puzzles and fights shooting stuff with your Element guns (which you can also use to freeze or electrocute), you simultaneously command the rest of the gang’s various unique skills. For example Groot can root enemies and build long bark bridges, Rocket is a master of AOE attacks and computer hacking, Gamora uses her katana to do heavy damage or cut things that are in the way and Drax the Destroyer uses raw power to move heavy objects or knock enemies staggering them. These are just a few things they can do. You unlock new skills through the course of the game with the skill points you unlock by performing well in fights.

Play through enough of the story and you’ll unlock a final attack for each character that is totally over-the-top and wonderfully overpowered. I’ll let you discover these for yourself, but as a teaser, Rocket’s mega-move arms the tiny racoon with a bunch of oversized machine guns that will easily clear out an area of minions in seconds.

Rocket’s ‘Five Barrel Barrage’ is his final ability, and something you’d want to unlock. Trust me.

Aside from fighting, from the very beginning, you are encouraged to explore outside the linear paths of the Guardians of the Galaxy, because when you do, you will find character logs to fill in their variegated backgrounds, new clothes to fill the team’s wardrobe, and artifacts that open up new conversations with the other characters as you chill back on the Milano, the spaceship that serves as the group’s hub and home.

Story

When the game begins, our team of Guardians is still in its relative infancy. Having started out as a trio consisting of Star-Lord, Rocket and Groot, the gang has recently allowed the two new recruits to join their forces, Drax and Gamora.

The story is delivered in chapters, and you’ll be running on a linear journey that has you interacting with some of Marvel’s biggest characters. You follow the dysfunctional Guardians living aboard the Milano spaceship as they complete more or less legal jobs/missions and collect bounties. Your various crimes eventually catch up to you, and you’ll be sent to a Nova Corps ship (a type of space Police) to pay a fine for your deeds, which eventually leads you to The Grand Unifier Raker, who heads up the dangerous cult The Universal Church of Truth.

Along the way you will encounter a potpourri of strange yet wonderful characters including: Cosmo, the Russian telepathic space dog, a purple llama with a tendency to chew electrical threads to the Rockets’ great annoyance, Lady Hellbender, a collector of exotic creatures and overall giant badass, and Mantis, a strange, unpredictable super-creature who seems to know all the threads of time and space.

The Milano works as a hub where our heroes get a chance to talk to each other between missions.

Graphics

Actually, there is not much to say about the graphics. It’s nice but not jaw-droppingly nice. I played the game on Playstation 5 and it had a nice flow in 4K 60fps all the time. I wouldn’t say that this is a game you play to demonstrate the power of nextgen consoles, however. This is a genuine fan service filled to the brim with yummy lore and trivia from the Marvel universe, with just the right amount of excitement for you to want to keep playing, all the way to the finish.

Verdict

If you, like many others, are a little tired of extremely open game worlds where there are a thousand things to do simultaneously, this is definitely the game for you. It’s linear and story told in a perfectly balanced way and I really enjoyed not constantly being distracted by side-quests. The only thing I can imagine that the developers might have done wrong, is the absent of a multiplayer mode. It would have been awesome to be able to choose one of the guardians and play through the game with friends.

I’d recommend this game to anyone who wants a great offline pick up and play-game and if you’re also a fan of Marvel as a whole, Guardians of the Galaxy is an absolute must on your gaming shelf.

Score: 8/10

Guardians of the Galaxy is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/Series S, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows. I reviewed the game on PS5 with a code provided by the publisher.