(Review) Guardians of the Galaxy

The Short Version:

This game is probably a prime example of not judging a book by its cover (regardless of how pretty the cover looks). Guardians of the Galaxy took me by surprise. It is a title that excels in all of its core areas and delivers a fantastic, memorable experience.

Whether you’re a fan of the comic books, the films, or have never experienced anything related to it whatsoever, the game will send you on a captivating ride that’s brilliant from start to finish. One of the best single player games I’ve played in a while.

Pros:

-Gorgeous visuals

-Great story

-Fantastically well-written characters

-Engaging combat

-Brilliant soundtrack

-Very well optimised

Cons:

-Ship combat is poor

-A few bugs

My Rating: 9.5/10 - Masterpiece

A prime example of not judging a book by its cover, Guardians of the Galaxy is a triumph that delivers a fantastic, unforgettable experience. A must-have for fans and non-Marvel fans alike.

From Misfits to Super Heroes!

Guardians of the Galaxy (GotG) is a third-person, action-adventure game based on the iconic Marvel comic book series of the same name. It follows a group of deviants aptly named the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, as they are thrown into a dire situation of galactic proportions.

Despite the story revolving around the gang as a whole, you’ll only be playing as Star Lord, the cocky and mostly capable leader of the group, originally born on Earth but taken away from his home planet at a young age.

The world of GotG is full of sentient alien life, with a vast number of species colonising the cosmos. There are many factions, groups and civilisations spread throughout, each with their own traits and agendas.

As well as living with the rest of the gang, you'll be sharing your ship with a space llama. Best character in the game, hands-down, no room for debate here, end of conversation.

The ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ themselves are diverse. As well as Star Lord, there is Rocket: a tech-savvy raccoon with a knack for weapons. Alongside him is Groot: a tree-like creature whose roots can offer great assistance in traversal and combat. There’s Drax: a powerful warrior who definitely doesn’t let sarcasm go over his head. Last, but certainly not least, is Gamora: an assassin who’s stride and determination are unmatched. There’s also a llama, and he’s amazing.

These characters are what made the story so memorable for me. They’re just so likeable and well-written. The banter between them during missions is amusing, and makes the game feel even more enjoyable than it already was. They never feel tacked onto the narrative either, since each one has their own personal stake in the conflict.

They all go through some kind of development. The relationships between them are tested multiple times, which helps set them apart.

As for the actual story itself, it’s great. I haven’t read the comics, but I really enjoyed watching the films, and the game takes the same charm, excitement and variation that those movies had and makes something really gripping and entertaining out of it. In essence, it felt like playing through a twenty hour GotG film, and I mean that in the best possible way. If anything, I enjoyed this more than the films.

I’m not going to go over the premise or any other specifics of the narrative, as I think it’s best to go in blind. What I will say is this: if you’re looking for a game with a linear, compelling story followed by a captivating cast of characters and a good sense of humour, then here it is.

It’s a Beautiful Galaxy…

A quick look at some of the screenshots will tell you that GotG is a treat for the eyes, and the visuals showcased there are very much representative of what the final game looks like. In truth, during my first play session, I was in awe.

Remember when I said that playing this game feels like a really long GotG film? Here’s another example where this is very apparent. The set pieces are absolutely stunning, possibly some of the best I have ever seen.

Everything from the colours, to the details is executed in such a spectacular way that I walked through most levels, taking it all in.

The locations you travel to are incredibly diverse and unique. They may follow a singular path, but there are dozens of small detours that can reward you with crafting materials, collectables, and dialogue between characters, all making exploration worthwhile. They also pose their own challenges, which helped set them apart and basically eliminated any risk of repetitiveness.

Another area in the visual department that has to be talked about is the fantastic character designs. Like the environments, the level of attention to detail is nuts, and this is especially noticeable with characters who have fur, such as Rocket. It’s amazing how realistic it looks. The rest of the gang look just as good though, and their outfits and appearances look great.

Pretty much every single character I ran into in this game was visually impressive. Plus it's an added bonus that they made Star Lord nice to look at... An even further bonus that he doesn't look like Chris Pratt. How lovely!

Then there’s the animations, which, in some cutscenes, are astonishingly well-done, with some of the best uses of motion capture I’ve ever seen in a game. The smaller conversations don’t have the same impact as these, but they’re still satisfactory.

All of this, and the game is still really well optimised. I had occasional brief frame stutters when interacting with certain things, but the performance during intense cutscenes and escalating gameplay sequences rarely ever had an issue. I was able to keep well over 60 frames per second from start to finish, which is worth high praise.

A Team Like No Other…

GotG is quite an action-packed experience, with most levels containing dozens of combat areas. Since you play as Star Lord, you are equipped with two blasters and a pair of jet boots. That may sound rather mundane, and to begin with it is; but the more you progress, the more varied the fighting becomes.

At the end of a combat encounter, you are awarded experience based on how well you fought. Once that reaches a certain threshold, you are given an ability point to be spent on yourself or on other characters. Each character has four abilities to unlock, with the fourth being an ultimate ability that’s given to them once they’ve reached a certain narrative point.

On top of having unique combat advantages, each member has a hand in progressing through the levels, making you actually feel like a team.

Since you’re the head of the group, you get to command your squad, making them target specific enemies with an ability. It takes some getting used to since you’ll be moving around a lot during combat, but once you get into the flow of it, it becomes really engaging and fun to play. The initial staleness of Star Lord’s gameplay becomes a lot more fulfilling when you can fly around the area and unleash havoc on your enemies.

Then there’s the ‘huddle’ mechanic, which is nothing short of iconic. This is something you build up towards during confrontations. Once activated, the group huddles together, with Star Lord giving a riveting speech, ending with him turning on his tape recorder which plays a random classic 80s song. Do you want to play a game where you can fly around, shooting things and blowing stuff up, with ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ playing in the background? GotG lets you do that, and it’s here where the combat is at its best.

It's worth noting just how intense some of the combat encounters in GotG can be. What starts off a little clunky overtime becomes smooth, fast-paced and a hell of a lot of fun.

The only area that’s a bit of a let down is the aerial combat. You travel around the galaxy in the ‘Milano’, a small but spacious ship that’s lived in by the gang, and acts as the game’s hub. There are a few sequences in the story that have you flying it, and they’re not great. The aiming is off, and the actual flying of the vehicle feels sluggish.

It's also worth mentioning that GotG still has a few bugs, most of which are minor and have little impact… others can be game-breaking, though the latter of which I only experienced twice, with characters failing to respond to certain commands, stopping me from progressing. A simple save and reload fixes this, however, so as a whole, these didn’t bother me too much, and they certainly didn’t stop me from having a blast of a time.

Technical Details:

My PC Specs: Operating System: Windows 10 Processor (CPU): AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Graphics Card (GPU): Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Memory (RAM): 16GB

Resolution: 1920x1080

Performance: Mostly consistent 60FPS from start to finish.

Want to see more of my reviews? Take a look at my archive in Narukoopa's Reviews.