Marvel's Avengers - Preview, the Avengers join in the beta

Since its first announcement, Marvel's Avengers it has always been a kind of mystery, the potential of the title was noticed but at the same time it was not clear where to place it in the market. The last two appointments have been quite clarifying and, finally, before the start of the public beta, we were able to put our hand on the title in advance. The work, which as we recall will be developed by Crystal Dynamics, takes a lot of inspiration from the recent ones Game as a Service, but at the same time it contains a very distinct soul of its own. Net of the contents, what really bodes well are the stories, characters and missions that the team has promised to include, for free, within the experience. In addition to a rich and full-bodied main adventure, the product will focus a lot on multiplayer, always offering new material for the joy of the players, without however excluding a single player experience.

What we could try, in addition to the classic sequence on the Golden Gate Bridge, are about two missions related to the story and, above all, the other quests present on the War Table, which in the long run will turn into the main experience proposed by the team. Before going into a more technical and specific discussion, it must be said that you can clearly see the care and passion of the team, which not only risks offering a rich game capable of lasting over the years, but also to be enjoyed as an "encyclopedia" for both old and new fans of the House of Ideas. Net of many doubts that will have to be unraveled in the following weeks, what emerges is a solid, fun, dynamic product capable of having its say within the market. However, we know that the life cycle of this type of games tends to increase and decrease not only based on the amount of content proposed, but also by the differentiation between characters and missions. The final videogame will have to continue to entertain over time, excluding a priori excessive redundancy that risks tearing the work apart. Fortunately, both the software house and the publisher have promised quests of varying duration and intensity, from the mildest ones that will take you away about ten minutes, to larger and more articulated ones lasting even two hours.

A new run with Marvel's Avengers

By now we know more or less what to expect from the plot and at the moment we will not go into this aspect; if you want to know more about it, we refer you to our old preview. Basically the beta of Marvel's Avengers, as already mentioned above, immediately throws the user into the A-Day sequence, at which time the Avengers will be officially defeated resulting in the death of captain America. Once the mission is complete and all 5 heroes have been tested, the game will put you in the shoes of Kamala khan, or Ms. Marvel, intent on rebuilding the Avengers and saving the world. In fact, what is clear from the start is how your support will be essential to give new glory to the team. The next mission is quite explicit in this: Kamala e Bruce Banner, AKA Hulk, they are looking for the last traces of Jarvis, well-known artificial intelligence created by Tony Stark.

In addition to saying that this mission has proved useful to learn to know the two heroes in depth, the rhythm, the structure of the quest and the actual fluidity of the same, give us hope for future ones as well. Although everything in this phase was extremely linear, we made a thorough knowledge of the combat system for both characters, immediately understanding its strengths and weaknesses. It all ended with a boss fight against Abomination, in which we had to exploit all the lessons learned up to that point. The fight against the villain was nice and fun, also proved capable of making us feel really powerful as the Hulk. We still don't know what other unannounced villains there will be in the game, but if it gives us so much one day we could really experience, obviously on a hypothetical level, a sort of infinity saga even within the game itself.

Unfortunately, beyond that, we have seen very little of the main story, but what he revealed showed a crazy attention to detail: Marvel's Avengers also gives space to the history of The Marvel movies, with information and images that trace the past of the House of Ideas, showing the world, once again, where we started from. If we analyze this aspect of production, in fact, it emerges that the software house knows perfectly well that this is a game that cannot fail, and it seems willing to give fans what they want. Obviously there is a lot of fan service, but it is the one served well, which is pleasing and does not ridicule or out of place with respect to the experience. Everything is extremely consistent with the context in which we find ourselves and we can't wait to find out more when we have the full title in our hands.

Marvel's Avengers moves online

Surely this is the second most central aspect of the beta, beyond the vital hub of Marvel's Avengers to access the content that will follow after the release, those that will enrich the experience with characters, stories and maps. In fact, as we are writing this article, Square Enix has already communicated that Hawk eye e Spider-Man (which will arrive exclusively to Playstation) will be included in the roster as free post-launch DLC. Their introduction will bring new stories, maps and missions, as well as all the future characters who will be lucky enough to become part of the Avengers. We judged the online quests, in very general terms, to be entertaining, but none of them ultimately shone in a particular aspect. In any case, however, the final result is something enjoyable, capable of entertaining while also providing a large replay value. In fact, even if you perform the same task multiple times, you just need to switch heroes for a totally different experience. But what are these missions actually for? Their nature obviously changes according to the one you choose, there will be more linear tasks and others more dispersive, with secondary and optional objectives within them. In addition to progressing in the story, they will give you the opportunity to upgrade your character, both thanks to the skill points useful to unlock unique skills, and by obtaining increasingly powerful equipment.

Each mission, basically, was summed up in arriving at a certain point to take down a large number of enemies: in some cases we had to defend a certain area, buy time while Jervis hacked the defenses of the AIM and so on. Although it may all seem somewhat monotonous, Marvel's Avengers actually offers a range of situations that we have not found absolutely redundant; the real stroke of genius are precisely the peculiarities of the various characters, which field a well-defined strategic component and allow the player to customize his hero according to taste. We have noticed how with Iron-Man the wisest choice is to deal with the aerial enemies, while perhaps the Hulk and Kamala attract the attention of the most lethal opponents. After the prologue, the beta allowed us to control only four heroes and, to the two just mentioned, they are added Tony Stark e Black Widow. The quests at our disposal were about ten and gave us hope for the future. One in particular, that is the one with the highest degree of difficulty, ended with a well-articulated boss fight: in addition to a staging worthy of the best Marvel movies, this also had some platform elements that made it much more complex than it might seem. In fact, in that case we not only had to focus on destroying the enemy, but also on how to do it. In the end, being a sort of giant robotic spider, our task was to slowly destroy its weak points, so as to tear it apart and make it vulnerable to specific attacks. The whole phase was exhilarating, and if that's just the beginning we can't wait to see the clashes in the later stages of the adventure.

Although this particular aspect of the production still hides many doubts regarding sustainability in terms of unpublished content, the one seen so far bodes well, also because the company itself was very clear in communicating its project. Each map and game setting seems to be quite curated, even if what we have seen has not led to great differentiation between the areas. Basically, even if the habitat of the location changes, the structures and their functions do not seem to adapt that much to a “unique” context. It will be necessary to understand the impact that the introduction of new characters will bring on this aspect of Marvel's Avengers, given that this is the only sincere criticism that we want to move towards a product that, after the test, has still satisfied us. In any case, we would like to applaud the level design, which allows you to explore the surrounding environment in total tranquility regardless of the chosen hero, without the unique characteristics of each character influencing by penalizing the movements. If Iron-Man can swing left and right, the Hulk will use his enormous strength to make great leaps. On the other hand, Black Widow will move quickly using the grappling hook, while Kamala will take advantage of her extendable limbs.Obviously the structure of the maps has a specific weight also in the clashes, and for this reason you will have to be good at reading the situation and understanding where to be decisive.

Characters and upgrades

In the end, it's all a matter of balance and inventiveness, two factors that actually hide many pitfalls. Already the fact that there were only four heroes in the beta suggests that Thor e captain America are two beautiful aces to show after publication, since during the bridge sequence they are probably the two that struck us most. So we just have to talk about those we had available, starting from another necessary premise: the choice of the hero will not penalize anyone or anything, both during the fighting and in the exploration of the various maps, everything has been designed to create a sort of compactness between the characters and, above all, to allow the user to choose whoever he wants. The real difference obviously lies in their usability: each player will be able to unlock certain skills that will make a character more suitable, perhaps, to a certain situation than to another. An example could be Iron-Man: the US tycoon, in fact, can enjoy three different types of guns, namely thrusters, lasers and rockets. Each of these will guarantee different effects, the choice of which to unlock first is entirely up to you. It will be possible to upgrade the Hulk to perform powerful ranged attacks, or use Black Widow to quickly get rid of small enemies. To unlock the skills, as in the most classic RPGs, you will have to get the points to spend in the branch that best suits your tastes. Each character can also fill any role and, to make the above possible, the gear comes into play.

These are nothing more than pieces of equipment obtainable from both chests and enemies. Their task, however, is not only to increase the power level of a certain character, but also to give him certain bonuses that can be decisive for the completion of a certain mission. In fact, if enemies cause frost-like damage in a quest, equipping equipment that grants you a high defense to this element can be much more productive than something more resistant. In full Destiny style, the parts that make up your armor will be super accessible, with a marked improvement from mission to mission. Unfortunately, however, these upgrades will not change the appearance of the character, for that there will be dedicated skins to be purchased separately. The business model chosen by Square Enix is ​​to support Marvel's Avengers for free, with important content and updates, while the microtransactions will be linked to purely aesthetic elements that will not pose any kind of problem to the players in progressing homogeneously in the adventure.

To all this are added the special moves, which are basically super shots with different functions: in the beta we could not see if they can be upgraded or replaced, but for the current level of challenge everything seemed to work. Each hero has three, two on average powerful and a third that can overturn the existences of the clash, Suffice it to say that Iron-Man will be able to call and control the HulkBuster during the fight. However, these attacks will need to be used carefully, as they take time to reload and exploit again.

Net of what has been said, however, it should be noted that an excellent balance is immediately created between the characters; sure, some work and have more fun than others, but in general our feelings are positive. Another point still to be debunked will be how the helicarrier will be developed and what its enhancement will entail during the adventure. Unfortunately, during the beta of Marvel's Avengers we were unable to deepen this element, but we are also very confident about this. For now we have only been able to explore a small part of the "new" base of the Avengers, and we must say that we were still particularly satisfied with it: even within it there will be surprises and goodies for the fans, but we prefer not to spoil the surprise.

Conclusions (Unite!)

The heart of this Marvel's Avengers-themed beta was definitely the online sector, and unfortunately something just didn't work out. We had been warned that there was a risk of not finding companions and, in most cases, it did. However, we were also lucky and, in some cases, were able to test the game with other users. While we weren't able to get their support in large-scale missions, what we experienced in their company felt significantly more functional, as the other player-controlled hero could fully exploit his potential. There were also minor bugs, but never anything that would compromise the experience. The frame rate in the most dense moments was a little shaky, but also in this case we are talking about easily fixed flaws.

In conclusion, we believe that this contact with Marvel's Avengers has been more than positive, although some doubts still remain. We do not know if the missions in the long run can be redundant or repetitive, the risk when developing such a product is always around the corner (someone said Anthem?), but we hope that the software house has learned from the failure of other productions. Crystal Dynamics Action-RPG has great potential, and we're not talking about the unlimited Marvel licenses. We refer to the care taken to characterize the characters, both in relating to the other members of the team and in the combat moves. Soon the beta will be available for everyone, but we assure you that the path taken is the right one. We do not know if the final product will be able to withstand the weight of expectations, or if it will be in line with our test, what we feel like saying, however, is that, potentially, we are faced with the definitive title that fans of the house of ideas dream of. always.