Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Review friv game - Galaxy Asparagus and... Space Llama

It's amazing how quickly the Guardians of the Galaxy went from obscure characters to real-life rock stars in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and honored with a solo AAA video game from Friv2Online, the studio behind Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mankind Divided. Let's talk more about the virtual adventures of the Guardians: we explored the far corners of the galaxy, saved the world, and are ready to share our impressions in the Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy review.

Guardians of the Galaxy takes place 12 years after the Galactic War between the Chitauri, led by Thanos, and the Kree, in which many worlds were affected.

Even after many years, the galaxy has not yet recovered from the upheavals, and a new threat has already loomed in the background. Out of nowhere, the Great Unifier Raker and his Church of Universal Truth appear, who seek to establish peace in the entire universe - a terrible, incomprehensible world where everyone will be happy, but this happiness will turn out to be false. Conquering planet after planet, the cult is steadily moving towards its goal, and the last obstacle to its total domination will be a squad of heroes - the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Marvel's Guardians of the GalaxyLike Star Wars, with which the friv game has a lot in common with its atmosphere, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is a "space fantasy" where it's okay to draw energy from faith or meet a dragon in space.
But this will be later, and at the beginning of the adventure, nothing is known about the threat yet. Guardians are known for being underdogs and often take on dubious cases - for example, infiltrating the protected Quarantine Zone in order to profit from the loot left over from the war. Here they are, from left to right: "zemnyuk" Peter (or Peter, as the Soviet telepathic dog Cosmo calls him) "Star-Lord" Quill, the most dangerous killer in the Gamora galaxy, Drax the Destroyer (they say that it was he who killed Thanos, but this not exactly), Rocket (not a raccoon!) and the talking tree Groot (by the end of the story, you will learn to understand what he says, just from the intonations of the phrase “I am Groot”).

By the beginning of the events, the characters have been working together for some time and have experienced a number of adventures, which are mentioned more than once in the dialogues. Therefore, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy does not become a boring origin about the first mission of the Guardians of the Galaxy, on the contrary, there is already a "chemistry" between the characters, and their characters change with the course of the plot. Moreover, the changes are quite dramatic: Guardians learn to trust each other and become a real family, getting rid of disagreements. Well, almost - disputes between Peter and Rocket about who owns the spaceship "Milano" will not subside until the very end.

Marvel's Guardians of the GalaxyQuite apt characteristic of the Rocket
I would like to say a big thank you for the script of the game, the characters and the jokes of Eidos. The plot is unpredictable, and it is impossible to guess where fate will throw the Guardians once again. It works on several levels at once, instantly switching between the personal tensions of the characters and the reflection of the universal threat. Heroes not only save the world - they fight their fears, correct the mistakes of the past and let go of the pain of loss. And in addition to action scenes, skirmishes with fanatics and bounty hunters, there was a place in the game for very touching episodes that could break through to tears.

The characters of Guardians of the Galaxy are as similar as possible to the heroes of James Gunn's films - if you wish, you can even dress them in the costumes of cinematic Guardians. And the voices in the dubbing (the game is fully localized into Russian) are chosen in such a way that they evoke associations with them. As always, Peter flaunts feigned coolness, Drax is not good at metaphors and sarcasm, and Rocket is driven by a thirst for destruction. Other characters also succeeded, meeting with some of them (including the villains ) sincerely rejoices, anticipating an interesting development of events.

Marvel's Guardians of the GalaxyI suspect that Lady Hellbender will receive as much attention on the Internet as Alsina Dimitrescu.
There are a lot of dialogues in the friv game: according to the developers, there are twice as many replicas here as in Deus Ex : Mankind Divided, so the characters do not stop for a minute, vividly commenting on everything they see. As the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy, you actively participate in them, choosing phrases from prepared options. They affect the scenario, although slightly, from time to time, in the upper corner of the screen, marks appear in the spirit of Telltale games *the character will remember this*, and the dropped word can “come around” many hours later.

For example, in my case, Peter managed to strike up a friendship with a girl at the beginning of the game, for which she shared with him the master key to all doors. A few chapters later, this key came in handy to open the cache. There was an alternate entry route nearby, so I would have been able to get there anyway, but this attention to detail made the script more coherent and cohesive.

Marvel's Guardians of the GalaxyDetailing of the characters in the game is beyond praise
Well, one cannot fail to mention the humor that Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is saturated with. The game is full of jokes, they come in an endless stream, from the invariably funny phrases of the straightforward Drax and the inventive curse of the Rocket to completely insane scenes. Be sure to stay at Milano and take part in the conversations of your teammates. Listen to the snoring of the space llama and don't miss the opportunity to sing the Catathian battle hymn in chorus. Check out your local glossary and read Quill's diary, which colorfully describes the adventures of Galaxy Asparagus - a play on the team's self-name here.

On the spaceship, by the way, you can still chat with the team about the items found during the adventure and listen to the music from the game: the soundtrack contains many songs from the 80s and a whole album of the fictional band Star Lord, very driving and in the spirit of the times - read our interview with Steve Schepkowski, sound engineer at Eidos Montreal. Here you can wander, as in the Normandy, but do not expect much from the Milano - the boat is small, and the raccoon wept for interesting activities on it.

Marvel's Guardians of the GalaxyProbably some kind of book in the style of "100 ways to kill, which you did not know"
But outside the starship there is plenty of entertainment. The scenario will take Peter and his friends to different parts of the galaxy, to planets that are completely different from Earth. It's easy to believe that Guardians of the Galaxy takes place somewhere in deep space : the scenery here is simply fantastic, the design of the worlds and architecture are admirable.

Locations are mostly linear, but with branches where you can find resources for leveling Quill's skills, collectible costumes and items. They won't let you get too far away from the team - don't expect an open world game. In the meantime, Peter is wandering somewhere, other Guardians grumble good-naturedly, they say, he is on his own again. However, sometimes they can help get to a hard-to-reach point: Gamora clings to rocks and throws Peter up, Drax can lift and carry heavy objects, and Groot raises platforms with his roots.

Marvel's Guardians of the GalaxyThe game has some very beautiful locations. Now the heroes, for example, are literally watching the edge of the galaxy
In addition, the abilities of the characters are used to solve puzzles : the same Groot builds bridges over the abysses, and the Rocket squeezes through narrow manholes. Quill himself uses the elemental abilities of his weapon: for example, he can freeze a waterfall to create a platform that you can climb on.

Even more opportunities open up in battles. The combat system seemed to be the most controversial part of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy in gameplay demos. And at the beginning of the friv game, it feels rather poor and boring.

Marvel's Guardians of the GalaxyBattles look chaotic, but the interface is very readable and you will always be in control of the battlefield
However, it is worth pumping the Guardians a little, and you will begin to eagerly rush into battle. Only Star-Lord can be directly controlled, while you give instructions to other characters using a special menu and time dilation. Each of the allies has a specific role in the arena: Drax stuns opponents (so they become more vulnerable and easy to finish off), Gamora deals high damage, Rocket focuses on area attacks, and Groot immobilizes enemies. Peter, on the other hand, turned out to be a versatile fighter with excellent mobility thanks to rocket boots, good ranged damage and good survivability in hand-to-hand fights.

Elemental attacks gradually open up for Quill's blasters (and opponents have vulnerabilities to one or another type of damage), and for the resources found, you can pump passive bonuses like accelerated shield recovery or an increase in health. Each Guardian has four active skills, including an “ult”, and they can be combined, thus increasing the combo multiplier: the higher it is, the more stylish the battle turns out, the more points you get and the faster you can open all the skills of the heroes.

Marvel's Guardians of the GalaxyUnfortunately, you can't switch weapons, and you'll only be fighting with a couple of blasters from start to finish. Fortunately, elemental attacks diversify the situation a little.
Due to competent tactics, you can carry out very beautiful joint attacks. For example, at the beginning of the battle, collect enemies in a heap due to the Rocket's gravity grenade, then toss them into the air with Groot's spikes, stun them with Drax's special ability and finish them off with Gamora's swift blows. Those who remain alive, Quill will mow down with a hurricane of fire.

Opponents try not to lose face by attacking in a crowd. Some hit from afar, others quickly rush around the arena, others are very thick-skinned and distract attention. If you gape, they quickly deal with the heroes, so standing still here is like death - you need to use the tactics mentioned above, as well as keep an eye on the interactive objects around: some can be used against enemies, for example, throw an explosive barrel into the crowd or cut the rope hanging from above cargo.

If things take a very bad turn, it's time to call a meeting. This is Star-Lord's special ability: he gathers a team around him, listens to the remarks of the Guardians and, relying on them, builds an inspiring speech. If the words are chosen correctly, all heroes will receive a good attack bonus, and wounded teammates will return to battle.

In my opinion, the mechanics of the "fly" looks rather strange, and besides, it takes away from the battle in its midst, but, on the other hand, after this event, one of the licensed tracks always turns on - it's very funny, you know, to continue the battle under Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley.