After what has certainly felt like an excessively long period of silence, Marvel’s Avengers developer Crystal Dynamics finally unveiled some new gameplay for the action-RPG this week, though so far, at least, fan reactions haven’t exactly given them cause to celebrate. Two trailers, one a cinematic affair focused on narrative and the other on further showcasing combat, were released yesterday and it’s the latter, in particular, that’s gone down like a led balloon with audiences on social media.
The crux of the issue, it seems, is a noticeable lack of gameplay variety on show with Thor, who has demanded much of the spotlight in previous demos. Here, he’s largely reduced to routinely pummeling several waves of identical-looking enemies with his iconic hammer. Speaking of which, the lack of audible clout whenever the Thunder God swings Mjolnir continues to be a sticking point for many and critics certainly aren’t pulling any punches in letting Crystal know of their disappointment.
Check out just some of the reactions below:
https://twitter.com/alwaystomauro/status/1275853508206624770?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1275853508206624770&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fepicstream.com%2Fnews%2FTinyDiapana%2FMarvel-Fans-Unimpressed-and-Disappointed-by-Marvels-Avengers-Gameplay-Footage
head of marketing for avengers should be fired dude. i cannot believe that the gameplay they decided to show was you going in circles killing the same kind of robots over and over again as thor, unbelievable
— i eat dinner and chuu on my food! (@SpiderMatt88) June 24, 2020
https://twitter.com/karazorlls/status/1275842981292134400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1275842981292134400&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fepicstream.com%2Fnews%2FTinyDiapana%2FMarvel-Fans-Unimpressed-and-Disappointed-by-Marvels-Avengers-Gameplay-Footage
Others have gone into specific detail in regards to Marvel’s Avengers‘ apparent shortcomings, with a lack of impact or variety in combat once again being the primary point of contention.
The Avengers game looks seriously underwhelming. I think they're biting off more than they can chew, looks like it's sacrificing a lot to suit co-op play.
Gameplay lacks a lot of impact; compare Thor's hammer throw to Kratos' in the recent GOW. Leagues apart. Very floaty.
— Jack 🕊 (@jckbrd) June 24, 2020
The gameplay looks rough, the controlling doesn't seem fun and just looks pretty meh , they could created such a good avengers game but just doesn't look good
— イアンの契約 Ian Deal (@eazzz90) June 24, 2020
Not exactly the overwhelming hype that Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix have likely been banking on generating with these latest teasers, then, but it can’t hurt to remain optimistic. There is, after all, several months still to go until the ambitious title finally makes it to retail, meaning there’s still plenty of time left to add some all-important polish.
Marvel’s Avengers is out September 4th for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC and Stadia as well as next-gen consoles, with those that own the game on current-gen able to upgrade free of charge. See here for all the details.
