Avengers

Gameplay

Marvel's Avengers is a third-person, action-adventure game. It features an original story with single-player and co-operative gameplay. The game features a combat system chaining attacks, dodges, abilities, skills and elements during a combat phase. The game can be played offline through single-player or online with up to four people during certain aspects of the game. The game features customization options including abilities and costumes, which can be upgraded using a skill tree. Costumes have been sourced from "all corners of the Marvel universe" and can be earned in-game or bought separately as downloadable content. Players are able to receive free updates containing new regions and characters.

Synopsis

Characters

Marvel's Avengers features a roster of characters from the Marvel Universe. The initial roster of playable heroes consists of:

Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow (Laura Bailey),

Steve Rogers / Captain America (Jeff Schine)

Tony Stark / Iron Man (Nolan North)

Bruce Banner / Hulk (Troy Baker / Darin De Paul)

Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel (Sandra Saad).

Thor Odinson (Travis Willingham)

Following the game's initial release, more superheroes were made available via free downloadable content:

Kate Bishop / Hawkeye II (Ashly Burch), added in December 2020

Clint Barton / Hawkeye (Giacomo Gianniotti), added in March 2021

T'Challa / Black Panther (Christopher Judge), added in August 2021

Peter Parker / Spider-Man (Sean Chiplock), added in November 2021 for the PlayStation 4 & 5 versions,

Jane Foster / The Mighty Thor (Zehra Fazal), added in June 2022

Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier (Scott Porter), added in November 2022

Opposing the Avengers is the corporation Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.). Within the game's narrative, superheroes have been outlawed while A.I.M. takes the Avengers' place in society as a peacekeeping force, promising to find a cure for what is dubbed the "Inhuman Disease". A.I.M. is headed by Monica Rappaccini (Jolene Andersen) and George Tarleton / MODOK (Usman Ally), who is severely mutated as a result of the events of A-Day. Other villains include Emil Blonsky / Abomination (Jamieson Price), Tony Masters / Taskmaster (Walter Gray IV), and Loki (Travis Willingham). The game's DLC missions introduce more villains, namely the Super-Adaptoid, Lyle Getz (Darin De Paul), Maestro (Darin De Paul), Ulysses Klaue / Klaw (Steve Blum), and Brock Rumlow / Crossbones (Fred Tatasciore).

Plot

11-year-old Kamala Khan attends a celebration event called "Avengers Day" which unveils the Avengers' second headquarters in San Francisco and their own Helicarrier called the Chimera. The ceremony is interrupted by a terrorist attack led by Taskmaster, which leads to the Chimera's Terrigen Crystal-powered core exploding and Steve Rogers' apparent death. San Francisco is destroyed and blanketed by Terrigen Mist in the aftermath, which causes numerous individuals, including Kamala, to involuntarily manifest superhuman powers as Inhumans. Blamed for the tragedy known as "A-Day", the Avengers disband and a company named A.I.M. rises to power.

Five years later at her home in Jersey City, Kamala discovers damaged video footage which seemingly implicate a scientist named George Tarleton in Rogers' death. She attempts to meet a contact from an anti-A.I.M. resistance movement known as "Tiny Dancer", but is captured by Tarleton and A.I.M.'s scientist Monica Rappaccini. Kamala escapes and travels to Utah to find the resistance's base of operations. Her search leads her to the Chimera's damaged remains in which she finds the Hulk who attacks her before reverting into Bruce Banner. She convinces him to assist her in proving the Avengers' innocence. Traveling to a former S.H.I.E.L.D. compound to retrieve J.A.R.V.I.S., the two are confronted by A.I.M. and one of their operatives, Emil Blonsky. Hulk defeats him before he and Kamala return to the Chimera to reactivate J.A.R.V.I.S. and set out to reunite the Avengers. While they find Tony Stark at his family estate, he bears a grudge against Banner because his testimony of A-Day incriminated the Avengers. Upon learning of Kamala's evidence, Stark agrees to join them and works to restore the Chimera.

During their search for parts to help Stark, Kamala and Banner stumble upon the Ant Hill, an Inhuman sanctuary and the resistance's headquarters run by Hank Pym. While assisting them, Kamala disobeys orders and attempts to raid an A.I.M. facility alone to save Inhuman prisoners, but is captured. While in custody, she learns Rappaccini's efforts to make an Inhuman cure are unsuccessful, leading Tarleton to prioritize the manufacturing of Adaptoid androids. Natasha Romanoff drops her cover within A.I.M. and infiltrates the facility. She captures Rappaccini, frees Kamala, and reveals her identity as "Tiny Dancer". Banner attempts to interrogate Rappaccini about the Adaptoid laboratory's whereabouts, but the latter resists before A.I.M. forces attack the Chimera and retrieve her. Witnessing the attack, Thor Odinson intervenes and re-joins the Avengers. J.A.R.V.I.S. restores the footage which shows Rogers ordering Tarleton to seal him inside so he can destroy the Chimera's reactor, apparently causing the explosion. Believing A-Day really was their fault, the Avengers disband again.

Story expansions

After a series of tachyon storms occur across the world, the Avengers investigate and discover their relation to A.I.M.'s experiments. While investigating an A.I.M. facility, they encounter Kate Bishop, Clint Barton's protégé and ex-Avenger-in-training. Meeting with her at a S.H.I.E.L.D. outpost, the Avengers learn that Barton had been captured by A.I.M. while investigating Nick Fury's disappearance and its relation to the tachyon storms. Capturing A.I.M. scientist Lyle Getz, they interrogate him and learn that Rappaccini is attempting to master time travel. After Rogers offers her a chance to join the Avengers, Bishop leads the team on a raid, during which they discover Rappaccini is in contact with a future version of herself and that Barton apparently works with her.

Consulting Pym, the Avengers agree to travel back in time to rescue Barton and end Rappaccini's experiments before they tear reality apart. With help from the resistance, they construct their own time gate and go back to before Barton initially went through A.I.M.'s portal and rescue him, whereupon he reveals that he was attempting to contact Fury, who is with the future Rappaccini, and that they are working together to avert a future apocalypse. Agreeing to let Barton travel to the future, the Avengers return to the present to ensure he succeeds and takes control of Rappaccini's time gate after defeating a Super-Adaptoid created by her future self. Once Barton returns to the present, Bishop destroys the gateway and agrees to join the Avengers as a full-time member.

While debriefing the Avengers, Barton reveals that Rappaccini was trying to thwart a Kree invasion with Fury's help. After the latter realized the battle was a lost cause, he sent Barton to the past to prepare the Avengers for the invasion before it occurs. Before he can tell the Avengers more, Barton suddenly falls unconscious due to the effects of time travel.

Several weeks after falling into a coma, Barton dreams about his future self searching for Fury and coming across a time gate built by Pym. Hawkeye then suddenly awakens and formally rejoins the Avengers as they resume their mission to save the future. Barton goes to his home in Brooklyn to retrieve an essential package, only to find that most of his belongings have been stolen by the Watchdogs, A.I.M.'s hired terrorists, to lure Barton into a trap and capture him. The Avengers recover Barton's belongings before meeting with Pym at a S.H.I.E.L.D. outpost. Barton gives him a SIM card to analyze, discovering it contains information about tachyons' ability to alter time.

Release

A teaser trailer was released on Marvel Entertainment's YouTube channel in January 2017 which announced the game. The game was under the working title The Avengers Project. More than two years later at E3 2019, Square Enix hosted a press conference that shared more details on the game, including a full trailer and release date. The 14-minute presentation showcased a trailer made from in-game footage, a brief description of the gameplay including characters, multiplayer and customization, and a preview of the actors behind the game. A playable demo was available to show floor attendees behind closed doors.

A closed beta was available for those who pre-ordered the game. This began 7 August and ran until 9 August for PlayStation 4. The closed beta came to Windows and Xbox One from 14 to 16 August, with an open beta for all PlayStation 4 users also being available during this weekend. A final open beta took place from 21 to 23 August for all launch platforms apart from Stadia.

Marvel's Avengers was originally set to release on PlayStation 4, Stadia, Windows, and Xbox One on 15 May 2020, but was pushed back to 4 September, to adjust and polish the game. The game was released in four editions; a Standard Edition, an Exclusive Digital Edition (only for PS4), a Deluxe Edition, and an Earth's Mightiest Edition, with the latter three editions being playable from 1 September, and the standard edition releasing on 4 September. The game released on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S on 18 March 2021. PS4 and Xbox One players are entitled to a free upgrade.

Publishing rights for the Asian release of the game were handled by Bandai Namco Entertainment.

Post-release content

Following the initial release of the game, Crystal Dynamics developed several free downloadable content (DLC) packs adding new playable characters and missions that continue the game's story. In December of 2020, the first of these expansions was revealed to focus on Hawkeye (Kate Bishop). Later, in August, Spider-Man was announced as the second playable DLC character, exclusively to PlayStation. Crystal Dynamics studio head Scot Amos stated the exclusivity of Spider-Man came from Marvel and Sony's existing partnership, and clarified that he was meant to be the only console-exclusive character.

On 1 September, the third announced playable DLC character was Hawkeye (Kate Bishop). Kate's expansion, titled Operation: Kate Bishop – Taking A.I.M., was the first one to be released, on 8 December, after being delayed from its planned October release. The second expansion, Operation: Hawkeye – Future Imperfect, which patches Clint Barton as a playable character, was released on 18 March 2021. The third expansion, Operation: Black Panther – War for Wakanda, which added Black Panther to the game, was released on 17 August 2021. Hero Event: Spider-Man – With Great Power was released on 30 November 2021. Hero Event: The Mighty Thor was released on 28 June 2022, which adds Jane Foster version of Thor. Hero Event: Winter Soldier was released on 29 November 2022.

On 20 January 2023, Crystal Dynamics announced that all official support for Marvel's Avengers would end on 30 September and the game would be delisted from digital storefronts on 30 September 2023. Crystal Dynamics released the last content update on 31 March 2023.

Tie-in media and merchandise

Marvel Comics has published five tie-in prequel comics for the game in a collection called Marvel's Avengers: Road to A-Day. Each comic focuses on one of the five playable characters available at launch, excluding Ms. Marvel. The first comic to be released was Marvel's Avengers: Iron Man #1 on 11 December 2019, followed by Marvel's Avengers: Thor #1 on 8 January 2020, Marvel's Avengers: Hulk #1 on 5 February 2020, Marvel's Avengers: Captain America #1 on 18 March 2020, and concluding with Marvel's Avengers: Black Widow #1 on 25 March 2020.

Titan Books published two tie-in books for the game on 1 September 2020. The first book, titled Marvel's Avengers: The Extinction Key was written by Greg Keyes, is a prequel focused on the events that take place prior to the A-Day, which also sets the game's events in motion. The novel follows the Avengers as they try to prevent an ancient organization called the Zodiac from acquiring an infinitely powerful weapon capable of warping the very fabric of time and space – the Zodiac Key. The Extinction Key also introduces the game's versions of Doctor Strange and Brother Voodoo, as well as specific members of S.H.I.E.L.D. The second book, Marvel's Avengers: The Art of the Game contains concept art, storyboards and artist commentary, an intimate study of the Avengers, plus a detailed view at the different environments and missions in the game.

Funko released a set of Pop! Vinyl figurines based on the playable characters in the game that are available at launch, in addition to figures based on Taskmaster and Abomination. Black Widow received a glow-in-the-dark chase variant, with the stock of this variant being at a rate of one in every six Black Widow figures. Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and Hulk also received alternate designs exclusive to certain retailers, with the first two being glow-in-the-dark variants. The designs for the characters were also loosely adapted for Lego Marvel Avengers sets releasing in 2020, though the events depicted are not from the game itself. There was also the release of several Hasbro figures to tie-in to the game. This includes 5-inch basic figures of Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Taskmaster, Abomination, Captain America and Ms. Marvel as well as 6-inch Marvel Legends figures of Captain America, Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, Hulk and Abomination.

Reception

Critical response

Marvel's Avengers received "mixed or average reviews" from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received fair approval, being recommended by 39% of critics.

Destructoid summarized its 6/10 review by calling the game "Slightly above average or simply inoffensive. Fans of the genre should enjoy it a bit, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled." Shacknews praised the campaign and unique character abilities, but noted the "convoluted and uninspired" menus and bug issues. USgamer scored the game 2.5/5 stars and wrote: "If Marvel's Avengers was just the single-player story campaign, it would be amazing. There, Crystal Dynamics sells you on its version of the Avengers and introduces the charming and endearing Ms. Marvel to players everywhere. Combat has depth to it, and each hero truly feels distinct. Unfortunately, the endgame is where our heroes falter, with broken matchmaking, rough options in terms of progression, and endlessly reused environments and enemies."

Electronic Gaming Monthly said "Marvel's Avengers squanders the potential of what might have been a fun superhero romp by grafting on an annoying, overly repetitive games-as-a-service component. Playing as the cast of heroes offers decent thrills, and the campaign tells an enjoyable enough story, but odds are good you'll get bored long before you grind your way to the top." Game Informer gave the game an 8.75/10, writing: "Developer Crystal Dynamics delivers a powerful superhero showcase that taps into each Avenger's unique abilities to light up the battlefield in thrilling ways, but when the dust settles, it slows down to show a softer, human side that is every bit as engaging, placing a character you wouldn't expect in the central role." IGN gave the game 6/10, praising its combat, superhero flavor and campaign, but criticizing its technical issues, loot system and recycled, repetitive end-game.

Post-release

In the weeks following its launch, Avengers saw a large player drop due to audiences frustrated at the game's problems, such as bugs, repetitive gameplay, and lack of content in the base game. One update included a patch that fixed over a thousand player-reported issues in the game. Peter Morics of Screen Rant reported around 1,190 players on Steam during a weekend in November 2020 – a 96% decline since the game's debut. Gene Park of The Washington Post noted that only over a thousand players were playing Avengers on PC, which he described as "an early and worrying symptom of a dying live service game." The dwindling number of players, which Paul Tassi of Forbes observed as falling below 500 players at one point, have begun causing problems with matchmaking multiplayer games on PC.

Mike Fahey of Kotaku noted that players such as himself were growing bored with the game's repetitive features and lack of content, saying, "We need new content. New enemies. New game mechanics... The initial excitement over playing beloved superheroes has dulled, thanks to a lack of variety in late-game content". After receiving a statement from Crystal Dynamics, he advised players, "There are plenty of other games out there to play, and as much as I would love to engage my superhero fantasies on a daily basis, nonstop for weeks on end, it's not currently happening in Marvel's Avengers." Thomas Carroll of Comic Book Resources felt that the game had "plenty of bugs and crashes and a severe lack of content and customisation" alongside a large $60 price tag for a live-service game. He believed that Square Enix relied too much on the established Marvel brand in marketing, instead of "bothering to create a quality experience people would pay for once, then continue to pay for whenever new content was released." Paul Tassi enjoyed his initial experiences with the game, but over time grew frustrated over the game's bugs and underwhelming, grind-heavy loot system, concluding that it was "too broken to effectively play right now." Although Gene Park commended Crystal Dynamics for listening to feedback and implementing fixes, he felt the game's lack of content in the base game highlighted that it "didn't need to be a live service game, and it's become increasingly clear that it shouldn't have been in the first place."

In September 2021, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix introduced XP boost, which can only be purchased through real-world money. XP boost allows players to gain more experience points for a short period of time, allowing them to level up faster. This move followed an update in March 2021, which altered the progression system to make the leveling-up process take significantly longer than it did when the game first launched. These changes drew ire from both the community and gaming journalists, especially as Square Enix had previously declared in 2019 that the game's microtransactions would only be redeemable for cosmetics and customization items and would not be used to create a pay-to-win system. Crystal Dynamics removed the XP boost from the in-game marketplace one month later, on 3 November.

Sales

The beta of Avengers was the most downloaded beta in PlayStation history. According to Square Enix, there were over 6 million beta players and more than 27 million hours playing in beta.

In the United Kingdom, Marvel's Avengers was the best-selling retail game during its first week on sale. In the United States, the game was the top-selling title for the month of September, and second-highest launch-month dollar sales of all-time for a superhero game behind Spider-Man. In Japan, the PlayStation 4 version sold 42,979 physical units within its first week on sale, making it the second-best-selling retail game of the week in the country. The game sold 3 million copies by November 2020.

Despite initial strong sales, Avengers failed to turn a profit for Square Enix, with the publisher reporting an estimated loss of $63 million for their latest fiscal period at the time. In November 2021, Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda described the game as a commercial disappointment for the company. However, he affirmed that service games would be an important focus for the company in the future.

In March 2021, Avengers was the 9th best selling game on Xbox in the United States. As of June 2021, it was 9th in the top 10 best selling games of the last 12 months. Following the Black Panther expansion in September 2021, the game returned to the top 10 of the UK video game chart for two weeks. It was the 13th most downloaded game in the United States and Canada and the 16th in Europe on PlayStation 5 that same month.

Awards

At the Golden Joystick Awards in 2020, Sandra Saad won "best performer" for her role as Kamala Khan in Avengers.