After the crushing failure of Marvel’s Avengers, Eidos has a lot at stake with Guardians of the Galaxy. Recently announced at E3, the game is heavily inspired by James Gunn’s MCU movies, cribbing from the costume design, soundtrack, logo, and character likenesses. It’s worth pointing out that while these Guardians definitely resemble the big screen team, they’re distinct enough to avoid paying likeness fees to Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, and Dave Bautista.
The game will see the player stepping into Star Lord’s rocket boots, fighting enemies alongside AI-controlled teammates. There’s also a hint of Mass Effect in there too, with dialogue choices that will affect the story’s outcome. In the wake of the ‘game as a service’ nightmare of Marvel’s Avengers it’s nice to see a proper single-player focused adventure, especially as it’d have been easy to turn this into player vs enemy multiplayer title.
Even better is that we don’t have too long to wait to get our hands on it. Guardians of the Galaxy will be out on all major platforms this October and pre-orders are now open. As such, we know what’s in store for those brave (or foolish) enough to put down their money early.
Pre-orders will get access to the “Throwback Guardians Outfit Pack,” a collection of skins taking inspiration from classic comics. Purchasers of the Deluxe Edition will receive a steelbook case, a hardcover mini-artbook, Sun Lord and City Lord skins for Star Lord, and a digital download of the soundtrack.
It’s worth remembering that pre-ordering games is rarely a smart move, so even if you’re tempted by the prospect of special skins, I’d recommend holding back to see if it’s a bug-ridden mess or not. Besides, as we all know, pre-order content billed as “exclusive” will almost always eventually be purchasable.
Guardians of the Galaxy will release on current and last generation consoles and PC on October 26, 2021.
