Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (2021)

I had a lot of fun with this game. Although it does nothing unique and really isn't set up to be played with mouse and keyboard, the characters I like (even though they aren't the MCU versions), the story and the setting all did good by me.

Although I had a lot of crashes, I don't know if that the fault of the game or my PC, so I'll let it slide. I will also ignore the Epic launcher terrible save synchronization which slows down starting the game. Also slowing the starting of the game: splash screens!

Still, I adore the humor and style of the GotG, whether in movie, comics or game form.so I had plenty of good times, even when the combat controls weren't top-notch (get a game controller!)

Guardians of the Galaxy was put together really well. Upon watching tidbits of gameplay I could see potential in it, but didn't think I would like it as much as I did, despite its shortcomings.

The name of the game here is: fun.

Square Enix did an incredible job with story, dialogue and character development. Every major piece in this game feels very well fleshed out and the writing constantly evolves throughout the 16 chapter journey, making you care not only about Peter Quill and his teammates, but also about secondary characters to the plot.

It's not easy to do that, but they manage to do it with charm. I laughed out loud on most of the chapters, during the myriad conversations the Guardians have on their missions. Well-written characters and dialogues and the game's amazing pace were honestly the main reason to keep me there 'til the end. It just works and it is funny and interesting as hell to see things unfold.

On top of that, GotG has a very stylish and smooth combat. It might get repetitive after a while, but it does its job well. Characters have their own unique traits, powers and outfits, their fighting style is varied enough to give room to creativity and just moving Quill and shooting around aliens feels good enough. I also love how the game doesn't overstay its welcome, making it easy to get all power-ups, collectables and secrets. It's a blast, honestly.

Not to mention how beautiful the game looks. From facial animations to how beautiful each planet is, this game excels on modern consoles, which helps to improve immersion even further.

But I have to say, it actually took me the first 2 chapters to start enjoying the game and understand its pacing. It's not a huge slow start, but it's definitely a slow burner, to the point that it put me to sleep right on the 1st chapter. Yes, it gets better really fast around the 3rd mission (which is insane, btw), but it took me a little while.

I also found very annoying that dialogues tend to overlap each other and you can even miss entire chunks of well-written jokes/story moments just by walking in the wrong place at the wrong time. Highly annoying. Just as annoying as the many unskippable cutscenes you have to go through whether you've seen them or not. Or maybe as annoying as Rocket Racoon, which, close to most other characters in the game, just seems a bit off.

And then we get to my biggest issues with the game. Two things that can drag the experience down.

1 - The puzzles - Guardians of the Galaxy insists on making you complete the same puzzles OVER and OVER again. And yes, it's great when you get a new gadget or discover some new team work skill. But only the first time. Then it just slows you down.

2 - Glitches/Crashes - I really don't understand how a game can ship like this. I CONSTANTLY got stuck into places, had my game freeze out of nowhere, experienced minor crashes or just had characters/story not progressing as they should. It was more than annoying, it really pissed me off! And it's a shame, because this game is actually really good!

I didn't think I'd enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy as much as I did, but I'm glad I got to experience such an entertaining and well-told game. If you like super heroes or just a good story, this game's for you.

I just wish that more super hero games were as good as this one.

Whaaaat just happened? I can't stand licensed game and tend to avoid them like the plague. Half the time they're a B movie version of the original material, regurgitating weak plots and already told a million times storylines. It wasn't perfect, there were definitely flaws (Gamora's character design was ??) but I absolutely did not expect this game to be good, let alone a blast.

Playing this is like reading a killer Guardians of the Galaxy story where you get to play Star-Lord. All of the banter between the characters alone is enough to recommend this game to anyone looking for some fun. I love that it's not yet another massive open world game with checklist quests. Sometimes it is fine to be a linear game, seriously, it's fine.

You have to try this. You'll blast through it pretty quickly and in that journey will be along for the ride on a cosmic story and some fun locales. I would love to see this same team make a Fantastic Four game.

A few weeks ago, I was sort of disillusioned by the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yes, it has its ups and downs, but I felt like their latest releases had brought them to a new low. Moon Knight had bored me more than any other Disney+ show, while Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness felt like little more than fan service and generic action, just with a Sam Raimi twist that made it slightly worth watching. For some reason, amongst this disappointment, I decided to—of all games—start playing Guardians of the Galaxy. While I'm still worried about the MCU as a whole, at least Guardians of the Galaxy reminded me how great these characters can be in the right hands.

Guardians of the Galaxy fits right alongside the Arkham games and Insomniac's Spider-Man games in terms of video games that nail the aesthetics and feel of their iconic characters. With Arkham, it's an ability to feel like both the greatest fighter and criminal in the world, and with Spider-Man, it's the ability to blend the difficult balance of both sides of Spider-Man's life, as well as just making the experience of swinging around New York City absolutely thrilling. For Guardians of the Galaxy, the trick is nailing the dynamic between these unique characters in a way that is both humorous as well as lovely in the amount of heart that this group is given.

Granted, I think Guardians of the Galaxy has plenty of flaws. The camera is frequently frustrating to control, and there were several times when the game wouldn't respond to my attempts to go to the main menu. However, Guardians of the Galaxy puts the narrative first, and that makes all the difference. There are long stretches of this game with little action or fighting, but instead, moments where dialogue and choice matter, where the dynamic between these characters is the most important thing. Honestly, I'd easily prefer a game that allows for these moments than a game that is combat first, narrative second.

Thankfully, the combat is fun as well, surprisingly using light elements of strategy games with enjoyable action. This isn't a difficult game, as simply holding the trigger button down can alleviate any villain, but the game at least makes this amusing. But I liked being able to control all the Guardians at once, utilizing their specific skill sets in ways that helped move the battles along. I almost wish they were a bit more proactive in battle, but still, it's a decent system nonetheless.

But again, what I really love about Guardians of the Galaxy is that focuses on character and the story that is being told, as opposed to trying to make a game that is nothing but action. There are large stretches of this game that are just character-building, and that's a relief, especially for a superhero game. By the end of this game, I found myself liking this team more than their movie counterparts.

Guardians of the Galaxy is a surprisingly lovely experience, the rare game that feels wholesome and big-hearted, where by the end, when the characters say they love you, it feels earned, like you and your team have been through a great adventure together. There's a lot to love about what is being done with the Guardians in this game, and I can't wait to revisit this team with a sequel, hopefully.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Review

Story

Im not sure how to explain the story without giving away much but its of course about The Guardians Of The Galaxy Peters Quill/Star lords team. Im not actually sure what there whole purpose is and what they actually do. Playing the game though they seem to be a business association Peter Quill/Star-Lord has put together with this group of misfits and they take jobs and try to get money and get into loads of trouble. They seem to have bad luck all the time. The group is made up of a band of criminals basically and a unique mix of characters from different races.

The game starts in a flashback as a young Peter Quill and its basically showing you how he got his name Star-lord. He got his name from a band  that he listens to. Its his favorite band and this whole flashback part you can listen to the whole album if you want. The flashback also shows Peters awesome mom Meredith.

After the Flashback the Guardians are on Peters ship the Milano. There all already together but i don't know how long maybe a month or two, because its clear theres problems in the group and not everyone gets a long. The group are trying to catch a monster to sell for money so they find themselves on a Quarantine planet that is restricted. As always with the guardians they get into a lot of trouble and things don't go exactly how they wanted it to.

The guardians are than arrested for entering the Quarantine planet and taken to Nova Corp and this is pretty much where the story escalates.

Characters

I love all the characters in this game and i know absolutely nothing about the Guardians of the Galaxy. I never watched any of the MCU movies because im tired of the MCU and its so damn bloated with pointless movies coming. It feels like when all you seen was nothing but zombie stuff a few years ago well the MCU is the same way. Its nothing but damn Marvel everywhere you turn. I never was interested in watching the Guardians of The Galaxy but in this game they were freaking great.

Peter Quill/Star-Lord

Hes just hilarious and has a hard time keeping the team together at times. Hes been in wars and helped end wars in game. He has a messed up background involving him being in prison on a planet for a while and other stuff. Hes great though he genuinely made me laugh in game and him interacting with the team was always great to see.

Gamora

Gamora was probably my favorite guardian. Shes the daughter of Thanos, but more like taken and didn't have any choice to be. She ultimately betrayed him. Gamora is tough also funny and kind and is very skilled and agile and also likes to collect dolls.

Drax

Drax who is a brute and very strong and very powerful. He is a Kylosian, half his people died to Thanos including his wife and his daughter in the Galactic War.

Drax in the game is funny as well since he doesn't understand earthly speech like metaphors and stuff and that leads to funny moments between the team where they say something and he takes it literally all the time.

Rocket

Is a raccoon(not a raccoon) is an intelligent and very smart and important part of the team because hes great at tech and making parts. He can also be annoying at times because he really doesn't care about anyone early on. His relationship with Groot is very interesting though because they always been together and hes one of the only ones who understands Groot speech.

Groot

I didn't know how they would make Groot compelling since he only says one thing which is "I am Groot" and that is pretty much it. I loved Groot though even though he says one thing and sometimes it can be a shout where he says "I am Groot" or a slow "I am Groot" he still has emotion to him and he never got old or anything.

There are other characters as well but i don't know if i should spoil them or not so i won't. i'll mention one in my final thoughts cause i freaking loved that character. All the characters are really great though i didn't have a problem with anybody.

Something to mention the difficulty in the game. Theres your standard easy, normal, hard but than they have were you can customize the difficulty with a bunch of options so you can make it easy or harder. You can turn off waypoints and hints and stuff as well

Exploration

This is a linear story-driven game which i appeciated. I was still surprised by this game because it had a lot i didn't expect like a fair number of planets you go in the story and they all are interesting with different looks and colors and weather conditions. On the planets in the story there is only one path to go but it has some other paths to collect stuff like these items to use for crafting or finding a number of outfits for all the characters. There's also these info stuff to collect to learn some lore about stuff. So there is some light exploration on the planets.

You use the guardians different abilities to open up paths as well. Gamora can hang on walls to give you a boost up to a high place or she can use her sword to slash up something in your path. Drax being very strong can break floors and walls and move heavy objects. Rocket being good with tech and being small can crawl into small places and activate switch panels.

Groot can use his roots to make bridges across things and also use his roots to raise platforms. Lastly Star-Lord/Peter Quill has the most stuff being the leader he has these guns which he uses a lot for stuff and to open new paths. He also has a visor scanner to scan the environment and learn interesting tidbits about certain objects on the planets. Also to see hidden paths. He also has jet-boots to jump high places to.

Part of exploration is on the ship the Milano as well. During some down time you can talk to your team on the ship and hear them talk to each other. You find items on planets to that you can give to the guardians, and this opens up deep conversations with them, letting them open up more and telling you about there past.

Enemies/Bosses

There are quite a number of enemies in this game which was also a surprise but there are some color swaps of enemies that are stronger versions. There are creatures and human enemies and alien like enemies. The bosses are also pretty good as well nothing mind blowing but there fun. There is a about maybe 15 creature enemies and a few human and alien enemies like snipers, barrier enemies, ones that fly and more with armor. You do fight mostly the human enemies in the game though.

Combat

The combat of the game which i thought i wasn't gonna like but i never got tired of it. You only play as Star-Lord in combat which yeah is disappointing, it would have been even better to play as the other guardians but the combat is pretty fun and action heavy. In combat Star-Lord dual wields-guns but they overheat so theres like a gears of war active reload thing where if you time it right you charge up the guns faster doing more damage. Star-Lords guns also has element shots. During the game you get different elements enemies are weak to and that damages them faster  you to stagger them. The enemies have a health bar but also a white bar that fills up for a stagger to occur much like Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

Star-Lord can also dodge and shoot while hes dodging and he can also jump and dodge and also shoot so hes very mobile. He can melee to and this can combo with a team mate to take out an enemy faster.

Now for the team aspect of the combat. Star-Lord can give out commands to his team to use certain abilities. You can't control them, there only controlled by the a.i, but much like Mass effect you choose abilities you want them to use in combat. Some Guardians are good for certain stuff like Drax is good for high stagger to enemies, Gamora is good for high damage to a enemies, Rocket is good for killing groups with his explosives and Groot is good for groups and he can grab multiple enemies and hold them in place. So like an enemy might be to fast so you use groot to grab them.

You can also tell certain guardians to use the environment to. You can tell Drax to throw a barrel of explosives or a rock at enemies, Gamora can cut things hanging so they fall on the enemies, Rocket can lay bombs down and create mines, groot can make roots appear from the ground. So combat has a lot to it.

You unlock new abilities for the Guardians to, when you obtain ability points from doing the combat. Each of the Guardians got 4 abilities to get. Another thing the combat has is huddling together. When your in trouble in combat the huddle appears. Peter gathers the team together and they talk, you have to listen to the teams mood and key words and than you have to choose a response to motivate them. If you choose correctly your party will get a damage boost and get revived, if you choose wrong than Peter only gets the boost. I sucked at this lol i never knew what to choose some responses looked good but than they weren't but, this also lets you listen to the sweet soundtrack in the game. So that what i used it for lol.

Negatives

Two slight things there are times in combat were if you get close to something you might get stuck in place. The game fixes it eventually and resets you out. Theres some frame dropping to but this is all minor to me this stuff doesn't effect my enjoyment unless its like that garbage Cyberpunk which is the worst broken game i ever played in my life.

Final Thoughts

This game was awesome enjoyed it from start to finish. It was lengthy game as well maybe 25 hours maybe 30 not sure. It was its own original story as well it didn't follow the bloated MCU's Guardians or even the comics either. I really liked the Guardians and just the team aspect and conversations and interactions. I enjoy those companion games a lot you know? Games like Enslaved Odyssey to the west with Trip, Bioshock Infinite with Elizabeth, Last Guardian with Trico, Last Of Us 1 with Ellie and Joel and even 2 as much as i hate it i liked Abby and Lev. I just liked seeing the characters how they dont get a long with each other but than during the journey they start to and thats what Guardians is.

The Guardians have just been together a bit so theres a lot of problems specially with Drax and Gamora and later rocket. Seeing them interact and talk on the Milano was a joy though. They were constantly talking, there is so much dialogue in this game the Guardians are always bantering with one another. Its detailed to, if there far away they will shout on the ship so you'll just hear everyone yelling its great man.  On the planets they constantly talk and joke and argue and i just love that stuff. The facial animations, the emotions they convey and the voice actors for the Guardian are excellent and i think there all new voice actors to. A lot of people complained mainly the MCU fans when they showed the Guardians game. They were all bitching about how they looked and it wasn't the real actors but who the hell cares! This Guardian of the Galaxy game nails it and even better than the movie i hear, especially Drax i hear Drax ain't portrayed seriously in the movies.

The Planets themselves were great as well. Like the graphics in the game were amazing some of the scenery in the game was very nice. Than theres aliens on the planet when you go into the city planets and stuff.

The story was awesome in the game i enjoyed the villian to and no it ain't Thanos. The other non guardians character were great as well like Mantis. I loved Mantis and shes a character i don't usually like, like the kind of character that can see the future and everything. Mantis though even though she is like that, like she can see infinite timelines and futures but its done in a way thats enjoyable and hilarious. She doesn't remember all the timelines because it just causes confusion so in game her interaction with the guardians is so funny like with Rocket. She keeps saying he dies from water but can't remember which time lines or at what point but mentions multiple time lines he dies from water, but than mentions that theres a time line where he gets crushed as well so shes just scaring the shit out of him. Mantis is just great though really like her weird out there personality. Theres others to but i don't want to spoil everyone.

Something i forgot to mention theres actually choices in game that effect the final battle much like Mass Effect 2 and i think Horizon also had this. You can get support that helps you in the finale if you talked to people and convinced them and made the right choices. Like you might have to persuade a character and stuff and if you don't they don't support you in the battle. So it has choices that truly effect a game and not an illusion of choice.

The combat was always enjoyable i never got tired of it, it was pretty fast paced to with dodging and movement. It wasn't to hard even though i played on hard mode but if your not careful you can die pretty quicky.

The damn soundtrack in the game like the Star-lord soundtrack! You can listen to the whole album in game or when the game first starts and i was like shit might have to just leave the game here for a bit lmao.  I seriously though this was a real-life band it was so damn good but it turns out it wasn't. It was made specifically for the game and the sound track is great it really is like your 80's metal soundtrack. Than there is a bunch of licensed 80' songs as well, so this soundtrack is excellent and even the in game Ost soundtrack. Seriously though listen to that Star-Lord album its 10 tracks.

I really hope there's a second one and if they allow us to control all 4 characters... Oh man, thats the next logical step. Im Kinda hoping Final Fantasy 7 Remake 2 takes a bit from Guardians and uses like certain teammates for the exploration and traversing. Eidos Montreal made a great game i don't know what happened with the avengers one but it was probably that live service garbage that never works but theres some terrible stuff in the game like Spider-man and just the avengers themselves.

So its like a seperate team in Eidos Montreal did Guardians. Theres not any dlc outfits either. It has all unlockable outfits and there is tons of great outfits.

Overall we need more linear games like Guardians, there is just to many open worlds nowadays and some of there stories ain't even compelling at times or they feel the same, or they just want to make the games as long as possible. A game don't need to be that long to be good, just needs to be a decent length, good writing, be memorable, have good characters, have a great story and good gameplay.

Final Score for Guardians Of The Galaxy is a 10.

Listen, when most people [myself included] saw that Square Enix was coming out with another Marvel game, I think it was eye-roll inducing. But man, developers Eidos-Montreal really knocked Guardians of the Galaxy out of the park.

I'm still playing through on XB1 but I didn't think I'd be this blown away by a Marvel game, as huge a fan I am. I was also skeptical about the "you can only play as Star-Lord" aspect, but even that cleared expectations. The way that Star-Lord interacts in combat and the environment with his Guardians team is phenomenally useful and immersive.

Graphically, it's beautiful to look at, both cutscenes and gameplay. The voice work among the cast is spot-on. It works much better distancing itself from the MCU versions of these characters than the Avengers game did with theirs. These characters feel like off-shoots of the movies but also different enough to enjoy it as a standalone.

I'm seriously hoping a sequel gets made, and I'm only about halfway through the story!

I used to be a huge Marvel fan, but I’ve gotten burnt out on the movies and TV shows lately. One Marvel property I still enjoy though is the Guardians of the Galaxy. They are more space adventure than superhero story. I decided to take a chance on this Square Enix venture.

First thing out of the way, the graphics are top notch. All the characters look good from the humans to the bizarre aliens. Granted, there’s only about 3-4 models of alien species that don’t have human face features. The alien worlds you visit have lots of details and unique plant and animal life that really sell the otherworldly nature of their biomes. The art direction does leave a bit too be desired. The worlds are alien, but they are the type of alien worlds you’ve seen in every SciFi game or show; the snowy ice planet, the colorful jungle world, the government spaceport. There’s a weird space dog with a Stranger Things face, and giant bats and worms. Again, creatures you’ve seen before.

When it comes to gameplay, it’s a mixed bag. The game has moments of just walking around interacting with the level, like in Knowhere, which add character to the world, then the combat levels can devolve into “walk into arena, shoot required number of bad guys, walk to next arena, shoot required number of bad guys”. It’s fine at first, but gets a little dry by the mid game point. They do make attempts to spice combat up by giving the Guardians different abilities to unlock, so there is a bit of tacticalness to encounters. My favorite move was using Rocket’s Grav Grenade to draw enemies together then hit them with Groot’s AOE Ground Spikes, followed by a Drax or Gamora attack of any kind. There’s also very basic exploration sections where you use your jet boots and some of the other Guardians abilities to reach new areas. You play solely as Star Lord, I wish there was at least some small sections where you could take control of the other Guardians. There’s also three brief spaceship segments. They were actually pretty fun and wouldn’t mind if there were a few more.

I do appreciate that Square Enix put their own spin on the content. There’s obvious influences from the Gunn film, but it’s not derivative of it. Rocket and Drax’s voice actors are doing good Bradley Cooper & Batista impressions. Peter Quill has a red jacket, which I think was introduced with Chris Pratt. Star-Lord does have a different backstory, one more in line with the comics and a different hairdo. His voice actor isn’t my favorite. He does great in the quieter, more human moments and the fun quippy moments aren’t bad, but when he raises his voice and tries to be tough sounding it just sounds off, save for one scene where he loses his cool in front of the team. He sounds like a teenager trying to sound tough, which I guess kinda works for his character. This is also my favorite version of Gamora and she looks better in the movie outfit than Saldana does. They do a good job setting up the lore and letting us know it’s different from the MCU lore. You see a few familiar faces for the sake of brand recognition, including Mantis unfortunately, but at least she’s kinda goofy in this one. They also bring in plenty of “new” faces. Wendigoes even show up, which is odd given they usually aren’t aliens in the Marvel Universe.

This game is also rated T and it shows in the dialogue. There’s lots of space swears in this game. I found it annoying after the first hour. They don’t have the same punch as a real swear and the Guardians are a bit of a more hard luck, lower dregs of society type of space story, so real swears would’ve been appreciated, especially from Rocket. They also refer to time in “ticks” and “cylces” which I guess makes sense in space, but I have no idea how long a “cycle” is, I’m guessing one day.

The story is a bit hit and miss for me. We learn this game is set towards the beginning of the Guardians existence. We don’t get their origin story of how they all meet, but they are only like 10 missions into their business venture. The character moments feel uneven. Rocket goes from hot to cold with no real buildup or reason. I get his temper is part of his character, but he borders on unlikable some times. Every character has a moment where they are fine and then they are angsty and broody until their internal trauma is addressed, but again there isn’t much of a buildup they just trade turns being the angsty one. Luckily the humor between the team is still pretty good and I got plenty of laughs out of this game.

The main story, so spoilers ahead, starts with the Guardians going monster hunting to make a profit selling it to a stereotypical monster queen. They unwittingly find the Soul Stone, which I am a little tired of Infinity stones showing up, but I can forgive it since this is a space epic. The Guardians are captured by Quill’s ex-girlfriend, Ko Rell, and Nova Corp. Ko Rell has a kid, Nikki, who could possibly be Quill’s as well. Quill talks Ko Rell down to a fine instead of a prison sentence and so the team tries to raise the money by scamming the monster queen, it doesn’t go well. That gets put on the back burner when an evil cult starts brainwashing the entire galaxy. The cult kills Ko Rell and makes Nikki their new messiah. Admittedly I wish there was more time spent with Ko Rell and Nikki before their demise. Turns out only Adam Warlock, a “new” face can save the galaxy, so the team has to find him. By the end of the game the story does get a bit out there with the cult and space magic and the plight of gods. I’m not a fan of big space operas like that and wished the Guardians were in a bit more of a grounded tale, especially for their first outing.

In this game, Star-Lord is the name of an 80s rock band and Peter Quill is a child of the 80s. So there’s a great licensed soundtrack of 80s hits in the game. Unfortunately, they are usually played quietly in the background or just use a quick snippet in story moments. One clever one is playing “Tainted Love” to symbolize when Ko Rell and Peter Quill bang. I wish they went with a Mafia 3 route and have some power ballads kick in during epic moments or badass boss fights.

All in all, this game is fun. I enjoyed most of the dialogue even with the uneven characterizations and the story was engaging , if a bit lofty. It’s a good entry into the franchise and would be interested to see what a Guardians of the Galaxy 2 would bring.

This was a fun one, I really enjoyed it. The team at Eidos Montreal did an amazing job capturing the overall atmosphere (including the witty banter) of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Yes, the game is completely linear but this actually seems necessary to get the cinematic feeling right. It's also on the easy side, so if you like your games a bit more challenging you probably want to play it on a harder difficulty setting. The combat is fun but overall it feels like your choices don't really matter that much, most of the time any Guardian action will do. This seems like a bit of a lost opportunity, the system would definitely have allowed for deeper combat mechanics.

If you like the Guardians of the Galaxy IP, this is pretty much a must-buy. For others, it's still a good action adventure but keep in mind that you'll spend quite a bit of time watching cutscenes. You can of course skip them but then you might as well pick up a different game.

While not without its flaws, Guardians of the Galaxy is a flarkin' beautiful game, with a great story, awesome soundtrack, and okay gameplay. I half-expected the Internet to descend on this game like a bunch of rabid flarknards, given how the events of Marvel's Avengers unfolded; but luckily people have been pretty level-headed about this game.

The graphics are downright sexy -- especially in raytracing mode on the PS5 (if you don't mind playing at 30fps). Environments look amazing; and the cast of characters looks great, with really good animations.

While nothing groundbreaking, the story is entertaining; and I'd say it's easily on par with Insomniac's recent Spider-Man games (if not better). While there are some similarities to the movie-version of GotG, this game leans heavily on (I assume) the comic versions of the lore instead. There are mentions of characters like Lady Death & Richard Rider; and the Thanos-stuff that is referenced is very different from what happened in the movies (not ThanosCopter types of stuff; but I assume later Thanos-comics-related).

The soundtrack is pure 80s: Jefferson Starship, A-ha, the Rickroll song, Billy Idol, etc, etc, etc; including a fictional 80s band which Starlord apparently got his name from. While it's good music, it often seems like they just drop "random 80s song" into the game from time-to-time, without really any effort to match it to the scene.

The voice acting is excellent, and the characters banter non-flarkin'-stop -- to the point where you often feel like you're missing something by playing the game and not stopping to listen to these smartasses argue with each other. (Side Note: I couldn't get over how Starlord's voice actor was aboot the most Canadian-sounding character I've ever heard in a game. Eh.)

The actual combat gameplay was probably the low-point of the game. It's not overtly bad; it's just-- chaotic. There's a lot going on at once, and it's tough to keep track of all five characters at the same time. What ends up happening is, you shoot a bunch of guys as you're spinning plates by randomly popping off team members' abilities whenever you see they've cooled down. Then eventually, you get a full-team-boost ult, which grinds everything to a halt for 30-60sec while you watch Starlord give the team some lame pep-talk. I'd have rather the ult just "fired" and let you keep playing without the useless cutscene.

Also, specific to the PS5-version of the game, the DualSense rumble effects are <chef's kiss>. There's one part where I was having a conversation with Gamora while Rocket ran back & forth between two rooms doing repairs. He'd open the door to a faraway room --> (gentle rumble on the left side of the controller)... Then he'd go into a closer room on the other side of me --> (stronger rumble on the right side of the controller). Cool stuff like this, and a lot of spaceshippy rumbly other stuff, happens throughout the game.

And here's the part where I don't know how to end my review. I like turtles.

The middle parts of this game see the scope of the story rapidly grow, combat get more challenging and prominent, and missions get longer as a result. Not being open world just means it kinda goes and goes, and I had trouble getting to a good stopping point last night as a result. The last chapter I finished was a lot in both combat and story, so I'm taking a day or two off the game to not wear myself out on it.

Still it's really good, in some ways even better than Spider-Man: Miles Morales if we're talking excellent AAA superhero titles of recent times. I'll prefer it overall to those Spider-Man games if it holds up until the end. You'll definitely see this on my GOTY list.

I keep seeing comparisons between this and Mass Effect. This is not as much of an RPG, but you can see that inspiration clearly. It makes me consider what I would even want out of a new standalone Mass Effect, and if it looked more like this in tone, storytelling, party interactions, even some of the combat which thankfully is not cover-based... I would be very into that.