Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy preview: PS5 hands-on with the funniest superheroes around

(Pocket-lint) - Square Enix amazed a just fewer erstwhile it announced a crippled featuring the hugely fashionable Marvel comic publication and movie superhero team, Guardians of the Galaxy. Not conscionable due to the fact that we hadn't heard thing astir it earlier the publisher's E3 2021 showcase, but that its merchandise day is besides remarkably adjacent - 26 October 2021. So, portion exciting, it raised immoderate eyebrows. There's ever suspicion erstwhile a triple-A crippled truthful adjacent to merchandise appears from nowhere.

Pandemic conditions tin beryllium mostly blamed for that though. The hype instrumentality is harder to thrust erstwhile there's small entree to gameplay owed to lockdowns and question restrictions. And, successful each fairness, Square Enix has allowed america to spell hands-on with the crippled astatine its earliest opportunity. It's thing that has allayed immoderate of our archetypal worries for sure.

Trial and error

We played a full section of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy connected PlayStation 5 - which lasted astir an hour-and-a-half. We can't accidental however large the run is successful total, nor remark connected assortment successful gameplay successful different sections, but we did bask what was connected offer.

Guardians of the Galaxy is simply a single-player crippled with squad combat and, arsenic such, tin look confusing initially. But, erstwhile you get a bent of the controls and the actions needed to nonstop antithetic AI teammates into conflict situations, it each becomes intuitive.

It didn't assistance that we were thrust into section 5 without progressing done tutorials first, but hey, we're professionals. And "trial and error" are our mediate names (well, it's really a hyphen arsenic successful "Pocket-lint", but you get what we mean).

The commencement of the section acceptable the stall and we got to rotation astir the Milano, the GOTG ship. There are plentifulness of Easter eggs to observe determination and we didn't person overmuch clip to find them, but you tin chat with different unit members and cheque retired objects lying around. Some of those punctual further conversations with your teammates - providing immoderate inheritance and a just fewer giggles on the way.

In addition, we played with the jukebox which is choc-full of 80s hits - a superb touch. After all, "cheesy popular hits" are our mediate names. Ahem.

We lone had a constricted magnitude of clip with the crippled astatine Square's London bureau though, truthful we rapidly started the main portion of the mission: a sojourn to a Nova Corps base, wherever things don't crook retired to beryllium straightforward.

Spoiler-free

We'll debar spoilers successful presumption of story, but needless to say, aft immoderate rudimentary puzzles that were solved by asking squad members to execute actions connected objects, we were soon acceptable upon by plentifulness of enemies to trial the combat system.

The section successful question is astir 4 hours into the game, truthful is really a tenable challenge. Waves of antithetic enemies, positive a mates of brag battles, were ours for the tasting. We died a just fewer times - but managed to fig it each retired and get done the full demo successful time.

It's possibly refreshing that Guardians of the Galaxy is chiefly a single-player crippled - it contrasts good with the game-as-service acquisition of Square Enix's different Marvel outing to day - Avengers.

What's besides bully is that it retains the tone of the comic books and movies, by utilising each of the unit members' unsocial talents, yet without hiding it down multi-player online play. You instrumentality power of Star-Lord (Peter Quill) but tin besides bid each of the others during conflict - Rocket Racoon, Groot, Gamora, Drax.

This is performed done radial menus pulled up with a fastener press, past flick the right-stick to the quality you want, past 1 of their peculiar moves, and they'll execute it connected the force you're focusing on. All the while, you are besides utilizing your ain run-and-gun, third-person combat abilities, positive different radial paper erstwhile you privation to nonstop disconnected an assigned peculiar determination yourself.

It's a small daunting but, arsenic we've already said, it becomes rather intuitive. The extremity effect is overmuch similar the conflict astatine the commencement of Guardians of the Galaxy 2, with Baby Groot dancing portion the remainder of the squad leap successful and retired of combat.

This chaotic amusive is besides interspersed with the team's trademark side-cracks and banter, positive an accidental to concisely intermission the enactment successful a "call to action" infinitesimal wherever the squad assemblage astir and Peter (you) person to take 1 of the gee-up options connected screen. Choose the close 1 and everyone gets a bonus for the fight. It's silly, but comic and precise in-keeping with GOTG generally.

Environmental objects tin besides beryllium utilized successful combat, by focusing connected them and asking a teammate to usage them. They are mostly circumstantial to definite characters, specified arsenic an entanglement portion for Groot to exploit.

We person to play a batch much to spot if antithetic locations and force types connection variety, but everything we experienced truthful acold felt crisp and flowed well.

Belly laughs

Outside of the combat, the crippled is elevated no-end done the changeless chatter. Like successful the movies, the Guardians ne'er unopen up and the publication is often drama gold. There are immoderate genuinely laugh-out-loud moments, adjacent conscionable successful our little demo.

We won't spoil it, but bash marque definite you sojourn the cells connected the Nova Corps basal and property a definite button. As it's optional, you'll miss retired connected a superb pay-off if you don't.

There are puzzles and a spot of adventuring to beryllium had, but not connected the level of a Tomb Raider oregon Uncharted. There's crafting and role-playing-style quality levelling too, but much to assistance successful conflict than thing else.

The crippled (chapter five, astatine least) is besides reasonably linear truthful determination are fewer different broadside quests and missions. Still, you volition apt beryllium enjoying the stunning performances from the dependable formed to care.

Industry fave Nolan North's instrumentality connected Rocket is superb, but each of the formed bash a large job. Perhaps our lone disapproval is that Quill's hairsbreadth is simply a small excessively blonde Morrissey, but that's (literally) splitting hairs.

The remainder of the graphical presumption is looking great, adjacent without ray-tracing - which is yet to beryllium implemented, we were told. We played connected PS5 and couldn't archer you whether it was moving successful autochthonal 4K oregon upscaled (which is simply a bully thing, we suppose), but it did play smoothly successful 60fps.

Writing by Rik Henderson. Editing by Mike Lowe. Originally published connected 22 September 2021.