When Eidos-Montreal began working “Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy,” they had their own vision of the Milano’s crew. They knew it would be influenced by the James Gunn’s movies, but they didn’t want to make a carbon copy of the films.
“We watched the movies and read the comics,” said Patrick Fortier, senior gameplay director. They took in all the influences and came up with their own idea of the ragtag team. When they brought the idea to Marvel, the company was on board with it. “They want to empower you,” he said.
Eidos-Montreal’s version remade the origins of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” and revamped their looks. If you pore over pictures, you’ll notice that the studio’s Peter Quill is a child of the ’80s. Instead of the 1960s and 1970s rock that became touchstones of the movie soundtrack, the game is filled with songs by New Kids on the Block and Rick Astley. Star-Lord’s jacket has a “Space Invader” pin and his name is written in the font of a heavy metal band. More importantly, the circumstances in which they meet are different as well as the Guardians just formed up and they have to adjust to each other’s quirks.
BEING TRAPPED ON THE ROCK
As players jump into the campaign, the differences are clear but Eidos-Montreal manages to capture the swashbuckling fun and humor of the franchise. In the hour-plus remote demo, I began on the Milano as the Guardians debated on whether to pay back a fine levied on them by the Nova Corps. Exploring the ship, it’s definitely bigger than the one in the movie with rooms for each team member. It can also hold a space llama, which manages to ruin the vessel.
It’s part of the reason they head over to a Nova Corps outpost called The Rock. After much arguing between Quill and Rocket Raccoon, Star-Lord decides to pay the trespassing fine that the Nova Corps officer Ko-Rel handed to them. The only problem is that the base seems to be overrun by a weird cult.
Before getting into running and gunning, Eidos-Montreal shows off simple puzzles that break up the combat. Rocket Raccoon plays a key role in this because being a small trash panda and techy crew mate, he can hack doors and get into small areas like air vents. As Star-Lord, players can direct Rocket to areas of interest and he’ll help out, sometimes grudgingly.
Along with that, players can use Quill’s visor to scan rooms and objects. In a fight, it helps players discover enemy weak points. When it comes to puzzles, Eidos-Montreal uses it to reveal circuitry and players can manipulate nodes to help the current flow to the right places. It’s a similar concept as the one Ubisoft uses in “Watch Dogs.”
What’s notable is that players have access to other Guardians by using the left bumper. That could mean that Drax, Gamora and Groot could also have similar roles when it comes to overcoming obstacles.
STAR-LORD AS COACH AND QUARTERBACK
The more intriguing element is the combat. Taking on the “Guardians of the Galaxy” is a different beast from solo acts such as Spider-Man. Despite only controlling Star-Lord, Eidos-Montreal had to make battling enemies feel like a team experience. Somehow the studio gets it right by making Quill act like coach and quarterback, said Fortier. Star-Lord will mostly rely on his twin blasters, which makes him a ranged character.
To make sure that players don’t just attack from afar, they make the blasters more effective in the midrange. Move too far away from a target and they become less effective. The reason the developers want players at that distance is that Star-Lord has to direct the action and his teammates in the middle of a skirmish. Players can call on other Guardians to attack his target, and what’s interesting is that each teammate has a specialty.
Gamora does the heaviest damage. Drax inflicts the biggest stagger damage, which stuns foes and opens them up for attack. Rocket is the other ranged attacker and does area of effect damage while Groot defends other teammates and immobilizes foes. Players have to read the battlefield and figure out which talents are needed where to defeat an enemy.
I quickly found out that heavies with shields are a pain because they block Star-Lord’s attacks. Groot can grab them, lowering their shields so players can call on Gamora and Drax to deal heavy damage and eliminate the troublemaker quickly. Elsewhere, players can use the environment to deal additional pain. Quill can direct Drax to throw exploding barrels or he can tell Gamora to cut the rope holding a crate hanging over a crowd of cultists to inflict a crushing blow.
Star-Lord also has a role to play in this fray. His elemental blasters can be used to freeze enemies. It acts almost like crowd control just as long as his guns don’t overheat. If players manage to freeze an enemy and it’s low on health, they can move in for an instant kill.
“As you develop your own playstyle, you’ll figure out that I need: crowd control tools, stagger control tools,” said Fortier. Sometimes teammates will be down and players will have to adapt with solution B and solution C for a fight. That’s unlocked via upgrades for each character so that one teammate can cover for the role of another if they’re occupied or down. He said the more players unravel the combo system, the easier it will be to dispatch enemies as players learn how to mix-in Quill’s moves with the abilities of his teammates.
When I was in a skirmish, I tried to hit the trouble spots fast. Grenadiers gave everyone trouble and I used Quill’s double jump to reach the platforms they were bombing away from. When teammates went down, it was my job to revive them.
AI THAT LENDS GUARDIANS THEIR PERSONALITY
What Eidos-Montreal captures is the sense of teamwork involved in combat. It reminds me of the opening of the “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” when they’re battling the Abilisk or “Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout!” ride. Fans come across scenes where they’re each doing their best against a foe, and somehow all the fighting makes sense amid the chaos.
The developers do the same thing by giving each team member AI that reflects their personality, said Jean-Francois Dugas, senior creative director. Drax will always be aggressive and Leeroy Jenkins himself into trouble because of that. Gamora, the silent assassin, will pick off the weakest foe like a lioness after a pack of gazelles. Knowing that, players will have to keep an eye on each character as they read the battlefield.
Tying this team dynamic together is the concept of the huddle. Through battles, a meter builds up and when it’s full, Quill can get the Guardians of the Galaxy together to coach them up. In this moment, players will have to pick dialogue options, and depending on if players choose correctly, three things can happen. The huddle can produce a damage boost for the team, Quill can get the damage boost for himself or the huddle can revive everyone and give the team a damage boost. It’s essentially get-out-of-trouble card that comes from a hit song from 1980s.
PROGRESSION SYSTEMS
The other notable element in the demo is that players will evolve their character through ability points that open new ways to attack. In addition, Quill can get upgrades for his gear by collecting resources during the adventure. He can take them to the a workbench where Rocket can tweak his gear to make the cooldown on his blasters faster or allow Star-Lord to use his visor to scan during battle.
What I liked about the demo is how “Guardians of the Galaxy” seems to capture everything that fans fell in love with, but Eidos-Montreal puts its own spin on the franchise. Although it’s different in shape, Dugas and Fortier said the theme of family still runs through the video game. That’s always been a key motif in the series and players will see how their version of the Guardians of the Galaxy turn from business partners into a family with all its dysfunctions and acceptance.
If Eidos-Montreal can capture this in a video game, then it can be every bit as good as the film.
“Guardians of the Galaxy” is scheduled for release Oct. 26 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC and NIntendo Switch.