Hello ladies, gentlemen and those of a non-binary nature, my name is Daibhi and this is the Gamerhub community. The Guardians Of The Galaxy franchise is huge these days, with everyone loving the ragtag and frequently changing roster of mercenaries in space. It wasn’t always like this though. Back in 2013, when Marvel announced that a film adaptation was going to be made, a lot of people were completely scunnered, seemingly having no idea who they were. Fortunately, James Gunn and Marvel created a film that was simply unforgettable. Even if it did launch the onslaught of Chris Pratt movies on us all.
Seriously, why is he everywhere?
So what happens when you take a highly successful movie and turn it into a video game? Well, film adaptations haven’t always had a great history. Yes, Toy Story 2 on the PlayStation 1 was amazing, but conversely, ET’s video game crashed the gaming market back in the 1980s. The clever folks at Eidos-Montreal and Square Enix realised that and decided to do the smart thing. Instead of reinventing the wheel, they decided to write their own story for the game. They kept the same cast of characters (Star Lord, Rocket, Groot, Gamora and Drax), but changed the looks and hired different voice actors. In 2021, whilst everyone was locked indoors due the virus we can’t talk about, the game launched on PlayStations 4 and 5, both the Xbox One and Series consoles, Windows, and Nintendo Switch. Was it good? Was it amazing? Did it give us up? Did it let us down? Did gamers run around and desert it? I’ll endeavour to answer you in this review…
Plot
Some of the lore between game and movie is slightly different due to the nature of the game’s development but here are the basics: Thanos is dead, and one of the Guardians is responsible for it. Drax owes Peter a life debt, and the other three have been space mercenaries for a while. Gamora is new, but we never find out how she joined the Guardians in the first place. To be honest with you, Guardians lore is complicated at the best of times, so I’m glad Eidos-Montreal skipped a lot of this.
I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore…
We actually start the game in a flashback, with a younger Peter Quill listening to an admittedly awesome rock album, before being called to his kitchen. Once he leaves his bedroom, he wakes up as an adult on board the Milano, and the game’s plot starts. This story is a heart-breaking exploration of parenthood, maturity, and grief, but don’t let the last wee paragraph fool you, there are plenty of humorous moments along the way. For example, a running joke about Fing Fang Foom actually gets paid off later on in the game in one of the most brilliant bits of foreshadowing I think I’ve seen outside of the Assassins Creed Franchise.
I won’t spoil anymore of the plot than I already have done, because honestly, you just need to play the game.
Gameplay
So, with a game basically featuring 5 main characters, there are multiple ways developers could go around giving gamers great gameplay, but I honestly didn’t think that the ballsy developers at Eidos Montreal would go with the riskiest option. Instead of either having co-op modes or switching which character you play at different times, they went a different way. You play as Peter Quill/ Star-Lord at all times, with the other characters helping you get past obstacles and beat up all the opponents. The gameplay isn’t just running, teamplay and combat though, as the heart of this game comes from managing relationships with the other characters. Keep the relationships good, and the game gets easier, fail at doing so and you have on hell of a mountain to climb.
Managing this group of people is trickier than it is to rock a rhyme that’s right on time
The funny thing about that particular game mechanic is that the game already has several difficulty modes, but this game really does add more on to it. Managing the relationships is difficult, particularly with Rocket Raccoon, and you’re going to swallow a bit of humble pie at times if you want to get past certain boss battles. With every major boss battle, Peter’s guns gain new abilities which help you get past the next series of aliens trying to kill you. Also, before every skirmish, there’s a pep talk. Get Peter to say the right thing and the other guardians are pumped up, get it wrong and well… it’s not going to be easy. Also, the boss battles are accompanied by one heck of a soundtrack, and speaking of which…
Soundtrack
Realising that the music was one of the standout features of the Marvel film, Eidos Montreal and Square Enix did two brilliant things. Firstly, they created a 1980’s hair metal band. This was left down to the brilliant sound designer Steve Szczepkowski, writing a whole album full of songs and then hiring musicians to sound just right. Fans of Judas Priest, Megadeth, Dragon Force and Meat Loaf really should give this album a listen, and I can happily inform you I have it on my Spotify. All the tracks are brilliant, and I don’t mind sharing to you that I’m actually listening to this album as I write this for you.
Just look at this!
Then there are the licensed songs. Don’t worry, anyone who loves sharing their gameplay on Twitch, you have the option to mute this if you fancy making a video and not getting struck by copyright goblins. From Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear The Reaper”, to Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out For a Hero”, all the licensed songs are perfect thematically as well as making everyone over the age of 35 feel a bit nostalgic. I have to admit, escaping a closing space pod in the Milano whilst having Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” playing is a memory I will probably take to my grave.
Now let’s talk about the voice acting. Sorry, MCU fans, but you won’t hear Dave Bautista or Vin Diesel in this game. I couldn’t find out if they had ever been approached during my research, but I kinda hope they weren’t. This game forges its own path on more than one occasion, so I think there would have been too much of a disconnect playing as a different-looking Quill and hearing Chris Pratt’s voice. Also, Chris Pratt’s status in pop culture is ubiquitous at this point, so I’m glad he isn’t in this particular thing.
Graphics
If the soundtrack wasn’t as great as it is, I’d have suggested that most of the soundtrack had gone on this particular aspect as this game is absolutely stunning. From fighting against a bunch of aliens aboard some space wreckage and seeing some vivid yellows, blues and pinks, to the less saturated and worn-down vistas on Knowhere, this game is a veritable feast for the eyes. Everything about this game’s design really does work, and I really loved the attention to detail placed on the character models as well. There is one slight gripe I have with this game and it’s that hair doesn’t react properly and looks a bit too mid 2010’s in terms of what it looks like. I won’t go too far on to criticising that though, as I understand that hair is ridiculously hard to code.
Reception
I don’t normally cover how this game was received, but due to the virus that kept us all inside, I don’t think that this game was given half of the advertisement and promotion that it fully deserved. This game is phenomenal, and it has entered into my top 10 games of all time. Sadly, this game didn’t sell anywhere near as much as the people behind it had hoped, and so there’s no sequel coming. I’m very sad about that, but there are lots of videogames based on comic book properties.
Final Thoughts
This game is genuinely one of the best I’ve ever reviewed for any of the companies I’ve written for (not just the Hub). It’s a very fun game, with everything you could want, and there are plenty of accessible options. It doesn’t quite go down the Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS4 route, but there are enough to help anyone play the game. To be honest, I was playing this game before the most recent State of Play by Sony. When the latest Concord information dropped, I got asked to hurry this review up because face it, State Of Play was disappointing but everyone loves funny space mercenaries.
This game is genuinely superb, and it gets what I think might be the highest Joystick rating I think I’ve ever given.
Guardians Of The Galaxy gets 4.7 out of 5 Joysticks.
For the Gamerhub Community, I’ve been Daibhi and you are all legends.
