Marvel Avengers, six months later

Marvel Avengers he was as plagued by tinnitus as he was by inertia. Before the game was released, it was defined by a chaotic noise of muddy messages, sky-high expectations and that little thing called the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After the launch, the conversation changed: Would it become aanother hit like Destinygo the disappointing way of Hymn, or land somewhere in the middle? Six months later, this is where things are.

• In 2017, Square Enix announced a partnership with Marvel to make games based on the Marvel franchises. Crystal Dynamics, hot out of tomb Raider reboots, would lead to the development of a game based on the extremely popular Avengers franchise. Eidos Montreal (Deus Ex: Mankind Divided) would contribute.
• Crystal Dynamics pulled the curtain Marvel Avengers at the Square Enix presentation at E3 2019, announcing a release date of May 15, 2020.
• About that demonstration. Fans got that that something was … turned off. The five playable characters – Black Widow, Thor, The Hulk, Iron Man and Cap – had a striking resemblance to their on-screen counterparts in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and even played like a bunch of Hollywood Chrises. It looked like Crystal Dynamics was trying to copy a facsimile from a fictional universe that already existed. Besides, where was Hawkeye?

• At New York Comic Con 2019, Crystal Dynamics revealed that Kamala Khan (whom you may know as Ms. Marvel) would be the sixth playable character in Marvel Avengers. It would end up being the driving force of the game’s narrative.
• Throughout much of 2019, it became clear that Marvel Avengers it would be a single-player game with cooperative elements, and that would have games-as-a-service elements, a la Destiny. The E3 presentation certainly looked cool. But it was not clear how, exactly, all the disparate parts would come together. A video from the end of October put things surprisingly clarity. Bring that loot grind, baby!
• Two weeks in 2020, Square Enix late the game until September 4th.
• As cities across the country made moves to (finally) remove the Confederate monuments, the official Marvel Avengers Twitter account posted a brief ad showing a disfigured statue of Captain America, flanked by drones flashing some lights that looked very police. The account quickly deleted the tweet and posted an apology.
• Ah, there’s Hawkeye! In July 2020, Crystal Dynamics revealed that Clint Barton, also known as the guy who totally saved himself Infinite War, would be the first DLC hero to Marvel Avengers. A week later, Crystal Dynamics announced that Spider-Man would also make the list – but only for the PlayStation version. Oh, yes, and he would be free. Exclusive console DLC, folks: It sucks. This too does not make sense.
• Throughout August 2020, Crystal Dynamics held a series of open betas. Kotakuis Mike Fahey went for a spin in the game, but he was impressed, not much inspired by the same combat and repetitive mission structure as always. Going around like Ms. Marvel and Iron Man was pretty cool, though.
• Just before the game was released, an enterprising individual overlaid the real faces of the MCU actors in the game models of Marvel Avengers. (Warning: don’t click this link if you don’t want nightmares from the mysterious valley.)
• A third post-launch character! Crystal Dynamics announced that Kate Bishop, instead of Hawkeye, would be the game’s first post-launch hero. No hard feelings between mentor and pupil, right?

• During a pre-launch flow, Crystal Dynamics suggested that the Black Panther would also join the Marvel Avengers list at some point. Following the tragic death by Chadwick Boseman, who played the hero in the films, Crystal Dynamics changed the initial plans for this flow.
• Marvel Avengers officially launched on September 4, 2020, but those who caught the deluxe edition were able to play on September 1st. With your hands on the full game, Kotakuis Mike Fahey found himself more impressed than he was with the beta, mainly because the game’s story missions – anchored by a steal Mrs. Marvel– were creative, engaging and a true delight for any longtime Marvel fan.
• The spectrum of microtransactions, which basically infringed all live games to some degree, It’s not over almost as intrusive as potential players feared.
• The other big cloud hovering over Marvel Avengers before launch: “How bad is the grind?” This too, It’s not over almost as bad as many expected. Of course, with all the various in-game currencies and leveling gauges, some level of observation of the numbers going up was to be expected. But the campaign was, surprisingly, the focus, and you can play Marvel Avengers as a single player game. The grind was there, but only if you wanted. What a pleasant surprise.
• Of course, those who wanted the routine quickly ran into problems. Less than a week after launch, players at the end of the game noticed that the loot drops at the end of certain high-level missions, sometimes losing low-level equipment or, worse, no equipment – despite the fact that those same missions had the chance to drop first-rate equipment. Crystal Dynamics recognized the withdrawal problem fell and announced a correction, but noted that higher-level items were falling “as planned”.
• Marvel Avengers is not based on or even related to Avengers films. Easter eggs are a fair game, however. In one of the game’s many hubs (more on that boring design choice in a moment), players uncovered a legal reference for Avengers: Age of Ultron. Who is worthy now?

• The game was plagued by a number of minor problems, from poorly balanced combat to the occasional infinite loading screen, but few things buggy players more than computer-controlled teammates. Among other errors, AI Hulk, Cap and co. attack enemies when you need to revive and stop attacking enemies when you are still absolutely alive. The most powerful heroes on Earth? Right. The most intelligent heroes on Earth? No way.
• Crystal Dynamics abandoned the first major patch for Marvel Avengers on a Friday night in the middle of September. He addressed several of the small problems mentioned above, but did not change any of the more fundamental problems (specifically, the scarcity of new content or engaging end-game activities).
• So, crickets, for a while. As players Sold Out Rosters and repeated the missions that were repeatedly reproducible indefinitely, the enthusiasm for the game waned. In early October, more than a month after launch, the Steam game base dropped to less than 2,000. Crystal Dynamics said Kotaku that the game would become exciting again, citing the upcoming releases of Kate Bishop, Hawkeye and new mission types as examples of content arriving at the game hungry for content. Meanwhile, what we had the most fun at that time was a game chair.
• In mid-October, Crystal Dynamics released a second major patch. Much like the first, it consisted almost entirely of adjustments in quality of life. There was a great addition, however, with the inclusion of a new hub: the SHIELD Substation. In addition, the patch also prevented factions from being relegated to specific hubs. (Before the upgrade, if you wanted to collect a faction’s reward, you’d have to load into one hub, collect all of its assignments, load into the other hub, collect those assignments, and so on. The update made it possible for you to do all this work in one place. Sweet relief.)
• In October 2020, Crystal Dynamics late the Kate Bishop DLC of that month until an unspecified date. In addition, the next generation versions of the game, which were planned to launch alongside the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X / S in November, were pushed into 2021. Crystal Dynamics cited difficulties with a work at home structure as a reason for the delay.
• Kate Bishop was launched in early December with an operation – which is Marvel Avengers– speak for “main mission” – unforgivably called “Taking AIM” The expansion was Funny, at least for a while, thanks to an immersive, albeit brief, storyline and the incredible grandeur of Kate’s powers.
• It took months, but in December, Crystal Dynamics did so that Captain America could use his shield to refract Iron Man’s laser beam.
• Iron Man Received a suit that makes him look like a dead-eyed insect. It is purely cosmetic – and as scary as it is hilarious.

And that is where things are. Marvel Avengers no doubt it generated more excitement in the weeks prior to launch than in the weeks after, but it is not down for the count. On March 18, the Hawkeye DLC –that looks totally crazy—It will be released, along with the next generation versions. Also consider that there are more Marvel superheroes than grains of sand on Earth. This is a bottomless pit on which to build and can serve as the basis for a seriously heroic return.

But these superhero stories always have great evil, and for Avengers, it is not MODOK or Thanos or some other giant thumb with a purple face. It’s the grind. When the Hawkeye expansion arrives, the game’s grind will receive a major review, changing from a linear experience point system to an exponential one. It will go into action for all characters “around level 25” – halfway through – which essentially does nothing but add more grind to the game. Crystal Dynamics explained the change by saying it could help “new players” acclimate to the game’s skill system. Now, all the game needs are these new players.

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