It wasn't long ago when this game came out, I really wanted to play it. Sure, it wasn't a proper release with all the bugs and glitches needed fixing. But it was a Firaxis game, finally. We're getting a new Civilization title soon, but XCOM is going to take a while, I had to settle for this.
And in many ways, it's a great game. Stellar presentation. likeable characters outside few, fun card-based combat, nice Marvel tidbits, and the overall package just being solid. It's not perfect, there are gripes I have with it. Which has a lot to do with the story-telling and outside mission social mechanics, the introduction of the major heroes, and how they undermine the underdogs.
This seemed way too ambitious, enough to bring in heavy hitters. Which, works for the gameplay side, but other parts just not so much. I'll get to why that is. All I can say is that I was really having fun, Firaxis knows how to make Tactics be great while satiating lust for power grinds.
Our story begins with the original Ghost Rider grieving for his loss, before they get attacked by Lilith's minions. The game's central antagonist, and it gets more interesting later on. Doctor Strange can only do so much, deciphering how Hydra got brainwashed into following a demon god.
Which is why after their battle, Captain Marvel, Strange, and Iron Man were asked to come by an old sage named Caretaker. Who runs an abbey on a small island somewhere far away from civilization and hidden. Also, a few of the Runaways under her tutelage, became a part of our ragteam of superheroes. But with the last thing being is resurrecting our sleepy protagonist, The Hunter.
Yeah, this character creator is super limited. It generally doesn't mean much once gone and done, but I wanted to move forward. The stiff facial animation, dated XCOM look wasn't helping either. That aside, I wanted to really see where this game was taking me in the prologue. Characters introduced themselves, and I was getting busy walking around the place in third-person before the next mission was called, and began with her, Strange, and Blade. Yep, that Blade.
Things were really heating up. The Hydra soldiers were revealed to be completely brainwashed by Lilith. Another villain comes crashing the party, and that is possessed Venom. Yeah, he doesn't stop the engorgement lingo, going on and on till we wiped the floor with him.
Of course, we couldn't stop him, he almost got The Hunter killed before Spider-Man shows up and chases him out. Also, I forgot to mention everytime a Marvel character gets introduced, their flash card shows up with a catchy quip below the name. This becomes a recurring thing with every new Marvel character that gets introduced in the game. Not a fan, but I do like the additions.
The game's card system is reliably split on two resources, one is the limited card spent (3 or 4), the other is hero points. Hero points are earned through using the Attack cards, while Skill cards need both play slots and hero points to be used, but environment objects need only hero points to be used. Say you have an Attack card, but you can't get them to kick em directly at an explosive barrel or concrete block, well just reposition one character per turn, and it's good.
These moves don't stay the same, and it's because of their uniqueness and variety. Most attack cards function to knock enemies out, sometimes even refunding them. Few have different knockout effects, can stun, freeze, weaken, bleed, etc. Depends on the hero, and card upgrades.
Some skill cards can stun enemies down, like from Nico for example. I needed to collect these data shards these guys are guarding with limited time. So I stun one of the Hydra units using a shield to remove protection and bypass. Her cards also large gambles that make or break the combat.
But no worries, there's so much to do in the small playground, especially with the limited redraws where I can remove selected cards and redraw for another. Did I mention small playground? That's the caveat, it's all taking place in one square area, with the rest of the background only for sightseeing with few feet of useable path in the background.
Enhancing the cards, and unlocking new kinds of these stuff requires using the facilities in the Abbey, like summoning Gamma Coils to get common rarity cards, which after progressing will surely have more types to redeem. Sometimes mission rewards give new cards as well as Hero Ops, which require a hero to be absent as they are sent out on errand missions. You need more than 2 of the same cards to upgrade them, including some resources. Furthermore, levelling up heroes also help.
Now about the Abbey, this is where a substantial part of character bonding and let's say "development" begins as we call it. First off, let me start with the Hunter. I can choose either male or female, but I can't choose to change their monotone personality. It's so-so, and not intriguing.
What does work is the character is a vessel to interact with the other heroes, and their personalities kind of shine here. Though, I get this feeling that after maybe I cross the 20hr play mark, it won't sound like much of their voices have changed in tone either. There's something a bit off feeling here. And that affects how I get immersed into the dialogues, and exchanges between them. It's a Marvel game, there's good writing, humor, and banter to work with, yet we're all familiar with.
There's a day cycle, working on the facilities, setting up things like research and hero ops missions, talking to the other characters, hanging out with them to increase relationships, all before getting to the mission panel and choosing what to do. Not all of this is bad and mundane, it's intriguing what I find new going on with these guys, but what's even more interesting is outside the manor.
Out there are tombs, caves, secret entrances, and so on to seek, especially post-missions during night before bedtime. I also have my dog Charlie who can sense things, and help me find items, crates to open with keys too. It's like the Tomb Raider part of the game without the jump button.
Charlie's a good boy, but his helping mechanic is broken. Also, over 10hrs in, and the game has quite a slow start to things. It heats up, the missions get harder, I had to load my saves multiple times to get a combo right for the cards. Experimentation helps a ton, and is what makes it really exciting to try out. Also, remember that friendship bonding thing? You unlock new cards like Hero Combos which removes one enemy out of the mission completely, and 0 health bosses.
The best part about these cards is how they reflect the power trip these heroes have. It's insanely fun when you figure out how to balance the abuse, and get a good role going. And hey, if things don't work out, there's always the save scumming that can help. Especially with higher difficulty.
Also, Blade. Man, they finally got a use out of him in a game. I'm sure more heroes to unlock are Spider-Man, Scarlet Rose, Wolverine, etc. I just wish the UI looked less unappealing, as well as the texts. The tutorial section didn't help with everything being thrown at me, need I remind my immersion was already ruined with the slobbering pacing early on.
If you love tactics game, and card based with Marvel heroes going absolute mayhem, this is the one for you. There's other stuff to appreciate, despite the shortcomings, but I'll damned, this didn't disappoint me. Also, technical issues notwithstanding, it mostly ran fine on my rig.
I can say many things about the story, but I haven't gotten that far. I just feel like there's this ruggety small group that can do so well to introduce themselves and fit the unique side of the impending doom that's coming. But no, their thunder is stolen by the heavy-hitters, and doesn't come off well.
