Preview: Marvel’s Avengers is a true superhero dream come true

A couple of years ago, Square Enix announced that they’d be partnering with Marvel for an Avengers game. That’s literally all we knew for the longest time but now, we’re just under a year from release and we have our first look at the game.

The demo we got to see behind closed doors at E3 puts us at the heart of the inciting incident of the game. It’s Avengers Day, a celebration of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes but an earth-shattering disturbance will ultimately dethrone them from that title. The Golden Gate bridge is under attack, Thor and Iron Man instantly fly towards the action.

The first hero we see is Thor, he packs a huge punch and is laying down the hurt on some canon fodder goons. As he swings his hammer around, you hear the clang and bang of his heavy hitting hammer. While his foes sometimes roll on the ground in pain once dealt with, one could be forgiven for thinking Thor was straight up murdering these fools.

At one point in the demo, he hits a guy so hard he flies into the sky and is never seen again. Another moment sees him pin a guy against a truck with his hammer as lightning electrifies it until he calls it back to himself. It is surprisingly brutal but the lack of blood and gore still ensures it’ll hit that T for Teen rating they’re likely aiming for.

If you’ve played God of War, you’ll likely feel quite comfortable with the gameplay of Thor. He can throw and recall his hammer, he can use just his fists, and he has the ability to do powerful lightning strikes on enemies.

The next hero we see is Iron Man who is flying across the bridge, dodging cars exploding and flying through the air. He begins to use his repulsers to shoot enemies in his flight path without stopping.

Iron Man plays as you expect but that’s perfect, he flies with the grace you’d hope for and is a capable fighter with his tried and true arsenal of weapons. What’s so great about Marvel’s Avengers is that each hero has a very specific feel to them, it’s going to feel like you’re playing a different superhero game for each character and that’s essential.

The next hero we see is Hulk who is on the Quinjet with Black Widow. She flies it over the bridge and Bruce Banner jumps out the back, his clothes ripping off as he transforms in mid-air. He hits the ground with a massive thud and uses his rage to make quick work of the thugs amongst the chaos. He punches, he smashes, he throws people, he even picks up two thugs in each hand and smashes them into each other.

As pieces of the bridge collapse, Hulk is able to traverse by jumping between gaps and bouncing between semi-truck trailers, walls, and other objects like an ape-like creature. After finally reaching a new group of characters, Hulk blows up a gas tanker and eliminates a large group of enemies.

This is when we switch over to the man with America’s ass, Captain America. Captain America is pre-occupied with a SHIELD Helicarrier that has been hijacked. He tosses his shield around and it ricochets between thugs like a bouncy frisbee. He’s incredibly capable with his bare hands as well and showcases some acrobatic-esque abilities by throwing guys into the air and then continuing to lay the hurt on them as they fall back to the ground.

The final character we see in action is Black Widow back on the bridge. She goes toe to toe with the mastermind of the situation at hand, Taskmaster. After a quick and frantic chase that leads them to the top of the iconic bridge, they fight and she showcases her ability to be an expert shooter but also a formidable foe in CQC.

Once Taskmaster is defeated, the Avengers realize that they were played. Taskmaster was simply attacking the bridge as a diversion, the actual city was attacked while they were distracted. The heroes look over the city feeling hopeless, building tumble as others are ablaze.

The SHIELD Helicarrier then explodes with Captain America onboard, killing him in the process. The demo then ends with the trailer that was seen earlier this week, the Avengers are hated by the public and the team is in a state of disarray. That’s the start of Marvel’s Avengers, there’s still plenty left to see and from what I saw, everyone who cares for these characters should be super excited.

I got both a Batman: Arkham and God of War vibe from the gameplay, the visuals definitely looked much better than the trailer made them seem, and there’s a plethora of content and characters to be seen in the future. I went in feeling slightly hesitant after the trailer, it was slightly underwhelming, but believe me when I say Marvel’s Avengers doesn’t fall short on delivering the triumphant and exhilarating action these universes hold.

Marvel’s Avengers will release on May 15th, 2020 for Xbox One, PS4, Google Stadia, and PC.