Those wanting to live out the ultimate fantasy of being Earth's Mightiest Heroes; either solo or online with friends via a multitude of missions to accomplish as well as an original story: this is Marvel's Avengers. It is a live-service game that will continuously be updated with new characters and stories including Spider-Man and Hawkeye.
At launch, however, there are plenty of things experience including several surprising moments in not only the story, but in the online Avengers Initiative mode as well. A spoiler warning is in effect for those who have not completed the campaign or any of the current iconic missions for all characters.
10 Monica Is Worse Than M.O.D.O.K.
While George Tarleton AKA MODOK is indeed the main villain of the story, he is just as much of a victim as the Avengers. Enter: Monica Rappaccini, the co-founder of AIM and a mad scientist who manipulated the events of A-Day. She also broke Bruce Banner's heart, siphoned Captain America for his super-soldier blood, and tortured Inhumans to create Adaptoids.
Thanks to MODOK's "punishment" for using Captain America's blood on him, Monica lived to become an Inhuman. Monica now possesses the ability to clone herself thus setting her up to be a longlasting threat throughout the future of this game's additional content.
9 There's So Much More To Do After The Story
In most games, once the player is done with the main campaign, they are forced to wait another month or two for additional content. But that is not the case here! Players can jump into the Avengers Initiative mode which features iconic story-like missions for each character and even more missions from both SHIELD and the Resistance.
Drop zones, threat sectors, villain sectors, HIVE missions, and more — all combined with a multitude of gear, cosmetics to unlock? Players will not be running out of missions to do for a while, which is very refreshing from a AAA title.
8 Kamala Is The New Heart Of The Team
Crystal Dynamics took quite the chance by not only including a character that is still relatively new compared to most Marvel characters but making her the main star of the story. Nearly everything storywise is told through Kamala Khan's eyes as she tries to bring the Avengers back together after A-Day and it is perfect.
She's nice, goofy, and a little too plucky for her own good but she's determined to do the right thing, much like the fallen Captain America. It's impossible to not like her in this story, she was the perfect protagonist throughout the game and one of the best characters.
7 The Combat Has Many Layers
Gameplay videos and trailers do not do this game's combat justice. Yes, at first, each character feels like it's just button mashing until the player wins the fight, but with the enemies getting harder and harder, it forces the player to learn new tricks and upgrade through the skill tree.
All of the distinguished combat styles and abilities lead to each character feeling 100% unique from one another. They also require more tactics including dodging and parrying to win a fight; button mashing will just get the player killed, even if someone plays as the Hulk.
6 Hulk Vs Iron Man
Everyone expecting a Science Bros. dynamic similar to the movies ends up getting surprised by quite the opposite: Bruce Banner himself is partially responsible for the outlawing of the Avengers, which cost Tony Stark his wealth and company. Obviously, Stark is not very pleased to see Bruce when they reunite.
This leads to a dark but well-written character arc that culminates in a confrontation in the third act. Seeing Iron Man and Hulk battle out of pure hate for each other is a dark moment that makes one realize how important someone like Captain America is to the team.
5 Fighting A Kree Sentry?!
After Captain America is saved, he states that the Terrigen crystal was being pulled to a strange signature in the San Francisco bay; most are likely to assume that this is just a large source of the same crystal. Instead, this leads to a final boss battle in said bay against MODOK, and it turns out Terrigen originates from a Kree sentry!
This is quite a shock as nobody was expecting a cosmic threat to be thrown into the middle of all this. However, it not only makes for a great final confrontation with MODOK as every single Avenger, it also further teases the future appearance of Captain Marvel who is confirmed to exist in this canon.
4 It Never Feels Like An MCU Rip-Off
Though it makes a few nods to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the game's well-made story and world never feel like they're stealing from the movies. This especially comes through in the performances of the voice actors; Troy Baker and Nolan North never attempt to sound like Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo.
The same can be said concerning the visuals of the game; it's definitely Crystal Dynamics' own unique take on these characters and worlds, similar to the Batman: Arkham games. This makes it not only refreshing to start anew but also hypes the future of this game's universe.
3 A New Marvel Universe
Those going through the story and even some Avengers Initiative missions should pay close attention throughout. There are easter eggs, details, references, collectibles, and much more that'll make any Marvel fan gasp. Make sure to take screenshots because currently, there is no option to replay the story.
This game is building up its own Marvel universe; this is shown by the easter eggs combined with the many teases of characters in the future. These include already confirmed picks like Hawkeye, Black Panther, and Kate Bishop.
2 The God Of Mischief
In Thor's iconic mission, he travels to Scandinavia to confront a doppelganger who is framing him. This story ends with Thor losing the imitator, but he discovers a trail of green footprints which makes him comment, "Hm. Brother."
Obviously, this is a tease for the inclusion of Loki, the God of Mischief and the adopted brother of Thor. It was inevitable that Loki would be added to the game, but what will he be? A new villain to battle? Or will he be a playable character to capitalize on the fanbase's hype for him? Only time will tell.
1 The Kree Are Coming
Taking a page from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the game features a mid-credits scene that confirms Monica's return for future stories but then shows the destroyed Kree sentry eject a beacon into space. This basically confirms that the Kree Empire will be a big threat faction in the future of the game.
With the Kree attacking Earth, it will assuredly call upon the return of Captain Marvel to the Avengers. Question is, which villain will it bring? Hala The Accuser? Ronan? Both? Either way, it is going to be a big new content drop for players.