The Guardians of the Galaxy are back in a brand new action-adventure title. In the second title of the Square Enix/Marvel video game-verse you play as Star-Lord leader of the team of adventurers for hire. Taking place years after a galactic war, the Guardians find themselves dealing the troubling aftermath of it all.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is a 2021 action-adventure game, it is developed by Eidos-Montreal and published by Square Enix. It releases on October 26, 2021 on PC, console, and GeForce Now.

Editor’s Note: An early Playstation review code for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy was provided by Square Enix in support of this review. Slight spoilers for the game and the overall lore of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise including the source, MCU, and TV series may be present within this review.

The Guardians return in a second video game by Square Enix.

In an article I made a month or so ago I mentioned that Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy was one of my favorite games of the E3 2021 show. This was due to a number of reasons including my recent love of the property since their introduction into the MCU, the fact that Eidos really tried to make them resemble the comic incarnation while providing some originality that felt very on brand, and the gameplay & insane soundtrack which would otherwise be a licensing nightmare builds a new game world that’s uniquely theirs. Having spent the last week with the game I can say if you were worried about another Marvel’s Avengers episode then your fears can easily be put to rest.

Marvel’s Guardians is big on exploration so when available explore as much of the maps as you can.

THE GOOD: Guardians of the Galaxy is despite it’s decades old debut still a rather new franchise for many. It wasn’t until their acclaimed debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe did the series get the recognition it deserved. The new game by Square Enix & Eidos-Montreal while inspired by many incarnations of the team is very much an original vision by Eidos. The story of the game takes place sometime after war rocked the core of the galaxy ultimately bringing the Guardians together by chance. Much of the story involves the Guardians doing odd jobs for survival as new adventurers for hire following the war. Their group & individual histories as criminals however gain them the attention of the Nova Corps; a galactic police force tasked with protecting the galaxy.

Without getting too much into spoilers there is a major arc played out over the course of the game. As the story goes on there will be opportunities to converse with members of the team. Though there’s no major penalty or advantage in doing or not doing so it does provide more background on each character and more backstory for the game’s lore. You can also converse with the Guardians and other characters throughout the wilds of the story via optional dialogue tree which actually does have sole minor effects on the story. Such as making things easier or harder for the team. This plays a bit into the individual relationships of the Guardians as well as their companions. There’s also a team huddle mechanic that will give the characters a bonus such as limited invincibility if Star-Lord properly motivates the team. This is dependent on whether or not you’re kicking ass or getting your ass kicked.

Gameplay has you playing as Star-Lord using his elemental guns and abilities in battle while commanding each Guardian through a handful of menus. These commands include freezing enemies in place, destroying a large group with a powerful attack, using a Guardian to weaponize the environments of the battlefield, etc. As expected music is an important part of the game. The soundtrack features dozens of tracks from classic 80s & beyond rock, jazz, pop, and much more. The choice of music may even surprise some fans, though with that being said as licensing is currently hell especially for music I do worry if ‘Guardians’ will be a victim of being delisted some point in the future. Or worse re-released with the music changed or ultimately flat out removed.

Relationship building plays a small role in Marvel’s Guardians.

Each Guardian ability has a cool down which is about 15-30 seconds depending on how powerful the ability is. With the crafting mechanic you can further unlock abilities for Star-Lord such as lowered cool down, extra health, etc. The material for the crafting is found throughout the game world via exploration which is highly encouraged by the game itself. Some of Star-Lord’s abilities will also unlock new areas for exploration on the game maps. You can also use his visor the scan items for even more lore spread throughout the world. There’s also some RPG mechanics such as gaining ability points in battle to unlock more abilities for the team.

There’s also a ton of costumes to unlock from the game including the MCU outfit which are all found via exploring. In certain points of the game you’ll relax on the Guardians’ ship the Milano. There you can listen to music, craft, converse with your team, and enjoy the view that space has to offer. As you explore the game you’ll also find collectible items that will provide even more lore for the Guardians so the game makes it a point to learn as much about them as possible.

You’ll be happy to know that there’s plenty of unlockable costumes found in-game.

THE BAD: While an excellently open game it does hold back on the exploring bit given how much I’ve already discussed it I can understand some confusion by what I mean. Basically you can explore a good amount, but it’s often a one way trip. Meaning once you leave a world that’s pretty much it so if you missed something then it’s probably gone. If this game gets a sequel and God & Square Enix willing it does they should really go in with exploration more so than they did here. Think of Kingdom Hearts where you can go to and re-visit worlds as you please that’d be awesome. Maybe even some side quests to help further round out the world building. When the game began development in 2017 there was plans for a multiplayer mechanic which was eventually cancelled. I think Edios should give it another go if they have the resources. A multiplayer run with this game would be a neat experience that would feel right and I’m usually not a fan of it.

Rely on strategy and use the abilities of your fellow Guardians to defeat the enemies.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is a stunning surprise from Eidos-Montreal & Square Enix. New and old fans of Guardians will feel right at home with the abundance of lore, character depth, exploration, and storytelling present. While developer Eidos have said they have no plans for DLC it should be reconsidered again citing Square Enix gives the greenlight for further resources. This is just my opinion, but to me it appears that a sequel for this game is a safe bet. A lot of layers have been left open for one and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy has all the potential in the world to be Square Enix’s own signature Marvel title akin to Sony’s Playstation Spider-Man game series. It’s a passionate love letter to fans with a good amount of surprise, a fun script, and all the humor you’d come to expect from the Guardians of the Galaxy series.