{"id":95893,"date":"2026-10-27T17:26:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T09:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=95893"},"modified":"2026-10-27T17:26:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T09:26:00","slug":"marvels-forgotten-mass-effect-clone-couldnt-escape-the-avengers-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=95893","title":{"rendered":"Marvel’s Forgotten Mass Effect Clone Couldn’t Escape the Avengers’ Failure"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The Avengers are massively successful on the big screen, with four films collectively making nearly $8 billion at the worldwide box office. But that cinematic success hasn’t carried over to the video game world. Crystal Dynamics\u2019 2020 Marvel\u2019s Avengers<\/em> was a disappointment, with a tepid response from critics and players both. While the character writing was on point, its combat was a repetitive grind built around superfluous live-service elements.<\/p>\n

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Avengers<\/em> was the first game to come out of a collaboration between Marvel and Final Fantasy maker Square Enix. A black cloud hung over it that ended up overshadowing the next Marvel game from Square Enix: Marvel\u2019s Guardians of the Galaxy<\/em>, which was released five years ago on Oct. 26, 2021. It was better than anyone expected, yet was still a disappointment in Square Enix\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n

Guardians of the Galaxy<\/em> offered a new spin on the ragtag bunch made famous by the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Everyone you\u2019re familiar with is here \u2014 Peter Quill\/Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, Groot, and Drax \u2014 plus some comic characters who hadn\u2019t been adapted before, like Lady Hellbender. It deftly balances universe-at-stake storytelling with more personal looks at its characters, like Quill.<\/p>\n

While Chris Pratt\u2019s Star-Lord may never be mature enough to have kids, Guardians of the Galaxy<\/em>\u2019s Quill wonders throughout the game if he\u2019s actually the father of his old Nova Corps flame\u2019s teenage daughter, Nikki. The tension of \u201cIs this mercenary who\u2019s barely scraping by actually a dad?\u201d hangs over the game, and results in some tender moments between Quill and his former lover, the Centurion Ko-Rel.<\/p>\n

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\"Marvel's\n <\/picture>Image: Eidos-Montr\u00e9al\/Square Enix<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Gamora, Rocket, and the rest of the Guardians get great character work too. Some of that character work comes from your gameplay and dialogue choices as Quill; I\u2019m especially fond of Rocket\u2019s scenes when he\u2019s branded a \u201cmonster\u201d to be offered up for Lady Hellbender\u2019s collection. The biggest strength of Guardians of the Galaxy<\/em> is how well its characters are brought to life, and that goes for non-Guardians too; Adam Warlock\u2019s alliteration-heavy dialogue makes him feel unique, and who can\u2019t help but fall in love with best boy Cosmo and his puppies?<\/p>\n

Guardians of the Galaxy<\/em> has great combat too, with Quill directing his Guardians teammates around Mass Effect-style. Everyone has special abilities, and using them in tandem is key to success. The best bits of combat are when Quill yells for his team to huddle up and gives them a pep talk. An \u201880s banger will then play while the Guardians lay waste to their feeble foes. (The game also has an original, 1980s-inspired soundtrack from the fictional band \u201cStar-Lord\u201d that slaps more than it has any right to.)<\/p>\n

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\"Marvel's\n <\/picture>Image: Eidos-Montr\u00e9al\/Square Enix<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Though it\u2019s an excellent game, Guardians of the Galaxy<\/em> failed to make much of a splash. Even I remember being wary of it pre-release, and I wasn\u2019t quite sold on it until I read previews comparing it to Mass Effect. Now? It\u2019s one of my favorite games of this generation, primarily because the writing is just so strong.<\/p>\n

According to publisher Square Enix, Guardians of the Galaxy<\/em> was a disappointment. \u201cDespite strong reviews, the game\u2019s sales on launch undershot our initial expectations,\u201d Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda said a few months after Guardians of the Galaxy<\/em> came out. By November 2022, it had reached over 8 million players, but it\u2019s not clear how much of that number came from copies sold and how many players checked it out, however long or brief, on Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus.<\/p>\n

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Guardians of the Galaxy<\/em> developer Eidos-Montr\u00e9al was sold to Embracer Group during the summer of 2022. It\u2019s since undergone multiple rounds of layoffs, and hasn\u2019t singularly developed a game since Guardians of the Galaxy<\/em>. (It\u2019s supporting Playground Games on next year\u2019s Fable<\/em> and is co-developing Grounded 2<\/em> with Obsidian Entertainment.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a shame that Marvel\u2019s Guardians of the Galaxy<\/em> never quite landed with players in ways that other superhero games have, like Insomniac\u2019s Spider-Man series. With its great character work and fun-filled action, it deserves to be looked at with the best of them.<\/p>\n