Marvel's Avengers is the superhero action RPG by Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix that has finally made its long-awaited jump to PS5 and Xbox Series X. The current-gen version of the game has added a number of technical enhancements, though the gameplay and content is much the same as it was at launch.
Marvel's Avengers follows a version of the team that is similar to the one from the MCU. This version of the Avengers was forced to disband after they failed to stop a terrorist attack that destroyed part of San Francisco. The attack involved detonating a Terrigen energy crystal, which left some survivors with superpowers. One of these was a young woman named Kamala Khan, who seeks to reunite the team in order to learn the truth of what happened that fateful day. Since the release of Marvel's Avengers, two new post-campaign storylines have been released, each with its own playable character. Kate Bishop was the first, and the Hawkeye campaign launched alongside the new versions of the game.
It's no secret that Marvel's Avengers has been light on new content since launch. The PS5 version of the game is more about improving the game on a technical level, which it does in spades. The most striking thing about PS5 versions of games is the load times, or rather, lack of loading. Marvel's Avengers used to take almost a minute to boot up from the PS4 home menu and it now loads in seconds. The same is true when jumping into missions, which happens in the blink of an eye.
Marvel's Avengers has a performance mode and quality mode for its visuals. This means that the game either runs at 60fps or has better lighting and reflections. In the case of Marvel's Avengers, the PS5 performance mode is far superior to quality. The level of difference between the visuals is barely noticeable, as seen with the screenshot above. Marvel's Avengers doesn't have ray-tracing, and the action tends to move so fast that it's hard to appreciate improvements in reflections. The smoothness of the performance mode is worth far more than a graphical update that is barely noticeable. This is helped by the fact that the frame rate is almost always steady, even when lots of enemies are on the field, which is a night and day difference compared to the base PS4 version of the game.
The PS5 version of Marvel's Avengers also makes use of the unique features of the DualSense controller. Haptic feedback is here, but like most games, the feeling fades into the background over time. The same cannot be said for the adaptive triggers, which are commonly used for ranged attacks. These offer a satisfying kickback to long-range hits, especially Thor's hammer or the bows. The timing of Hawkeye's release is perfect, as the initial promise of the adaptive triggers enhancing the experience for archer characters is realized in Marvel's Avengers.
There was a concern that releasing Kate Bishop and Hawkeye so close together would make them feel too similar. This is surprisingly not the case, with Kate Bishop's warping/hi-tech powers feeling distinct from Hawkeye's trick arrows. What will feel extremely familiar is Hawkeye's story campaign. Part of the Future Imperfect campaign is set in a future timeline, where Earth has been devastated after a war with the Kree Empire. The Kree might have annihilated the armies of Earth, but they somehow forgot to get rid of the AIM troopers. Hawkeye's campaign uses the exact same robot foes that have been present throughout Marvel's Avengers. This made the new story missions feel similar to the content in the base game, and Crystal Dynamics needs to come up with new content if it wants to win back the dwindling audience for the game.
The technical prowess of Marvel's Avengers on PS5 is impressive; the game has never looked better and the endless load times are a thing of the past. The new content that launched alongside the current-gen update is nothing to write home about, however, and there isn't much here for players who finished the base game at launch. The upcoming Black Panther campaign and new DLC content might fix that, but Hawkeye isn't enough on his own. The PS5 version of Marvel's Avengers is the definitive version of the game for players who held off at launch, as the frustrating technical issues are gone, but the game hasn't quite received the content overhaul that it needs to win back the crowd that's already experienced it.
Marvel's Avengers is available now for Google Stadia, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Screen Rant was provided with a digital code for the PS5 version of the game for the purposes of this review.