What Critics Are Saying About Marvel's Avengers
Before developing Marvel's Avengers, Crystal Dynamics worked on revitalizing the Tomb Raider franchise. While the company had a hand in the series for over a decade, that's all Crystal Dynamics worked on during that time. It seemed as though the studio would be saddled with rolling the tomb raiding ball up a never-ending hill, but then it announced it had its own take on Avengers storyline on the way.
A little over a year after the full reveal, Marvel's Avengers released on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. However, the wait was anything but smooth. Audiences were worried thanks to various developments and announcements, including the news that Spider-Man would swing into the game as PS4-exclusive DLC. But, since the title launched on Sept. 4, you can see for yourselves if Marvel's Avengers was worth the wait, thanks in no small part to your friendly neighborhood video game critics.
Marvel's Avengers is at its best when it focuses on story and action
Many outlets praised the story of Marvel's Avengers, including IGN, which called it "a highly entertaining comic book action movie in playable form." As the site and other outlets noted, newcomer Kamala Khan is the central star and glue of the game. Since Khan is the only character absent from Marvel Cinematic Universe material, Marvel's Avengers gives her plenty of room to help reunite the team and grow into her new superhero role — and not just because she has super-stretch powers that let her temporarily turn into a 30-foot giant.
Marvel's Avengers also delivers on the action front. Polygon stated the title feels like "a Marvel-themed Dynasty Warriors game." Each character has several trees of unlockable attacks. The longer you play, the more ways you have to punch, blast, and smash through opponents, which lets players more effectively combat enemies resistant to simple punches.
By all accounts, Marvel's Avengers' single-player experience stands out as a solid, if straightforward, beat 'em up romp.
Marvel's Avengers' loot and multiplayer feel tacked on and uninspired
Unfortunately, while many critics agree that Marvel's Avengers' single-player campaign is its superpower, the game's loot and multiplayer portions are its kryptonite.
According to IGN, Marvel's Avengers' loot system is "just awful." You earn (and replace) loot at an expedited rate because the gear system favors loot that says you are more powerful with an arbitrary power level number over loot with "interesting" effects — such as shrinking enemies when you punch them with Pym Particle-infused fists. The result is gear that reportedly isn't worth the multiplayer grind.
Meanwhile, the multiplayer experience necessary for grinding out gear supposedly isn't worth the hassle, either. According to Polygon, the multiplayer post-game missions are "formulaic" since they "all feature a fairly similar structure." Every mission consists of wandering a big map, searching for loot (if you want), defeating waves of enemies to open doors or destroy devices, and then rinsing and repeating. What doesn't help matters is each enemy hive features the same hallways and rooms copied and pasted, so even if you haven't visited one particular base before, it will look like every other one you've raided previously.
Many critics question Marvel's Avengers' "games as a service" viability since neither the multiplayer missions or the loot rewards are particularly enticing. It seems like the DLC will make or break the game's longevity.