After fans pleaded with Crystal Dynamics to make their cooperative dreams come true, Marvel’s Avengers has added a new team attack for Iron Man and Captain America. The game features cohesion between iconic characters from the Marvel Comics universe, including (but not limited to) the Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Thor, Black Widow, Captain America, and Iron Man. Players can take a team of three heroes into battle, with team attacks offering nifty animations and brutal offensives against enemies.
However, despite the amount of hype generated for Marvel’s Avengers prior to launch, it has not had nearly the same success as fellow Marvel blockbuster Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man. While it sports a roster of famous superheroes, the game has lost most of its player base since its launch in September 2020, with a reported 96% of the game’s players having abandoned it since release. While it is the second largest Square Enix launch of the year behind Final Fantasy VII Remake, Marvel’s Avengers has still yet to turn a profit.
However, Square and Crystal Dynamics aren't giving up, as the official Marvel’s Avengers Twitter announces the game implemented a new team attack between Iron Man and Captain America at the behest of fans in a new update. Captain America can now reflect certain attacks off his iconic shield and redirect them at enemies. Taking advantage of this, Iron Man can shoot a massive laser at his ally’s shield, which then reflects the beam at enemies and can be manually redirected as long as Iron Man continues producing the heat. Fans interested in seeing the team attack in action can view it below.
Both critically and commercially, Marvel’s Avengers is one of the most disappointing games of 2020. While the new team attack is interesting, it hardly makes up for the utter lack of content the teams still need to address. The combat is engaging and fun, and players being able to cater each character to their play style while maintaining the individuality of the heroes is good to see, but the repetitive gameplay and missions saw most gamers putting it down a day or two after completing the campaign. Moreover, the meticulous, tiresome grind for better gear compounds that monotony, leaving the overall gameplay loop shallow and unmemorable.
If the publisher and developer want to save Marvel’s Avengers, they'll have to do much more than add new team attacks and DLC characters to the game. Adding greater variation in missions and an overhaul to the burdensome gear grind would be a great start. Due to the game’s low overall population, crossplay is a feature Square Enix should be implemented immediately to save certain platforms from an early grave. Even BioWare’s Anthem maintained its population longer than Marvel’s Avengers, which is a testament to how disappointing the superhero looter has been.
Marvel’s Avengers is available on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia, and it will launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X in 2021.
Source: Marvel’s Avengers