Marvel’s Avengers

Heroes taking up space in my backlog
Yep, this game was a title that had been sitting there on this list for almost 2 years. I purchased it when it became super cheap in late 2023 which also means support for the game stopped then and it was also removed from digital stores. So, if you have it in your library but you were hesitant to play it, this review might help you make that decision. I am happy to be done with the title (not fully, though) and it's too bad the game was not further refined by its developer.
Square Enix
I hate that it was more important to develop this instead of giving us a proper 3rd Deus Ex game to make it a trilogy and finish Jensen's story once and for all. At least Crystal Dynamics could finish the last Tomb Raider game (albeit only in a support role) before moving on to this. Also, while the current game is somewhat OK content-wise, there was a time (not long after release) when people complained about said content and I remember the developer introducing XP-boost items for purchase (for real-world money!) which allowed players to level-up faster. Given the backlash the system was removed a month later.
Story
This one is quite interesting. We use Kamala Khan initially to attend A-Day, something reserved for the Avengers considering all the good they did to mankind. We are aboard Chimera, the helicarrier, when there is a terrorist attack and since San Francisco is destroyed, our favourite team of superheroes is blamed for it. The group then disbands and in comes AIM, a criminal organisation (think of it as the new Hydra). Then we fast-forward to 5 years later when Kamala finds evidence actually confirming the superheroes are not to be blamed for the catastrophe that occurred before.
Now, AIM sets out to remove people with special abilities and since Kamala is one of them (an Inhuman) she decides to look for the Avengers team and reassemble them. It's actually pretty great finding each member and repairing the Chimera so that you can have your own base of operations. As more and more heroes start appearing in our hideout, more sections open up. You quickly realise the game has quite some content and it's fun conversing with each hero. Kamala, as a fangirl, is quite nice (and naive given her age) and if you play the game after the Ms Marvel series (Disney+) it is actually even better (definitely not after the mediocre Inhumans!).
The number of missions can be overwhelming. There is a button that allows you to continue with the campaign in case you get lost. Since this is a The Definitive Edition it includes all 4 campaigns but don't you dare click on "Play Now" in the main menu! Go to "Operations" and start with "Part 1" otherwise you get a nice summary as to what happened "so far" (as in you will get a complete story-spoiling experience). They definitely did not hire the smartest guy designing the menu.
I also had to figure out how to start part 2. You can't do it from the Chimera (your HQ) but this is exactly where the game takes you once you click on "Part 2" in the main menu under "Operations". The colour filter over your War Table slightly changes and this is how you know the new story missions will appear (somewhere on the globe in front of you). You can play as Kate Bishop looking for the other Hawkeye, go to the future in part 3 (the wastelands look amazing) and there is even a separate campaign for Wakanda (part 4).
Lots of cutscenes, great voice acting (Troy Baker) during which all your heroes are shown in the outfit of your choice. The entire game can be played cooperatively so in case you do not have buddies just let the A.I. control your 3 companions. Given the HQ we have (and the additional outposts we find later) and the overall roster of characters I felt there was a lot of focus on pleasing those picking up the game after Phase 3.
Gameplay
Boy is it fantastic! Flying with Iron Man and using your repulsor, jumping around with Hulk and smashing things... lots of iconic weapons, moves and takedowns from the movies are all here. This edition has tons of outfits already available for each hero (some are specifically from the Marvel movies as their name implies) and also a bit of a learning curve. Just because you control Hulk you still need to learn how to parry or dodge. Instead of health you have willpower and what is normally referred to as stamina elsewhere, here it is called intrinsic energy. Since each level is action-packed, prepare for lots of outside locations and those indoors have a high ceiling height for the sake of convenience.
AIM mostly sends robots against us and then there are, of course, boss battles with some well-known superheroes. Still, mostly it's just robots. It is actually quite fun when you think you saw the biggest then you face a much bigger one. I can understand some people consider this boring especially when you see the same enemies but essentially with new damage type (poison, freezing, fire, etc.) so it isn't really a new foe you are about to face.
ARPG here I come
Really? I was very surprised to see this. From enemies and the chests we find on each level, gear is dropped. We have 4 slots for them and they are used to increase our power level. From the War Table you can see the minimum required Power Level for each mission. Then we have 3 slots for artifacts (one is upgradable with special resources) then also comic books giving us a permanent boost. We also have emotes (I assume for coop play) and while the animation looks great I found them completely unnecessary.
Beside increasing your power level you also level up. Skill points can be used to improve upon your light and heavy attacks and the 3 special moves each hero has. The highest level I had was 15 but once I got my hands on a new character, I decided to use that one for a while. You find units on each level and also fragments. The former can be used to purchase additional outfits, emotes and nameplates while the latter is for buying gear from vendors.
But you also have assignments (challenges) you can get on a daily basis (from different factions) and you can find patterns that a special machine can convert into a new outfit. If you complete villain sectors you can also find DNA keys that open special chests. There is so much to do!!! You already see some missions require a power level over 100... you know that will take a lot of grind to get there.
End game content
Drop zones, villain sectors, daily assignments, hero mission chains (the objective menu is waaaaay too overwhelming and tracking up to 5 items does not help much), virtual trainings for each character etc. There is a lot and I mean a LOT to see in this game. Do you remember the Quinjet? It takes our heroes to their destination and we hear Jarvis tell us info all the time. I feel like content-wise the game is simply too big and at least 30% of the achievements requires a lot of grind (you probably need 100+ hours to see everything the game has to offer and get all 'cheevos).
Crashes, crashes and some more crashes
Fire after explosion had a weird graphical glitch for me. Kate's campaign constantly crashes when I commence the last mission so that is something I couldn't finish. The game crashes in every 2-3 hours stating insufficient resources. Lowering the graphics details does not help. People in the forums do tell you what older NVIDIA driver you should reinstall but then you would ditch every other video game that require a newer version. It's a shame the title was abandoned and no more fixes will be released.
Astra inclinant, sed non obligant
You have the option of picking this one up... make your own choice and shape the destinies of your heroes. Personally, I'm taking a break and I have yet to see Jane Thor and Winter Soldier in my roster. Which, by the way, has a strange number (11) since Spider Man is PS exclusive.

This game deserved so much hate when it first launched.
Now that support for the game ended and the live service model is gone i view this game a lot more positively. The grind is gone, the micro transactions are gone, everything i hated about this game is gone.
Whats left is a Marvel game with a decent story with fun game-play. All the expansions are unlocked, all the heroes are unlocked. Admittedly the missions are repetitive, but its fun enough to just hop into a few missions and smash everything as Hulk or Thor.
Had the game launched like its current state it wouldn't have had nearly as much drama.

To play this game : you have to install the correct GPU driver, I switch between the latest version for latest game and for this game i use this version : 546.33-desktop-win10-win11-64bit-international-dch-whql. It perfectly work and there is no issue by switching between two driver constantly !
use Nvidia app for easy update, also you can put the 546.33 driver on your desktop to rollback your GPU driver easilly
(Sorry for the english I am french)
Pour jouer à ce jeu : vous devez installer le bon pilote de GPU, je passe de la dernière version pour les derniers jeux et pour ce jeu j’utilise cette version : 546.33-desktop-win10-win11-64bit-international-dch-whql. Ca fonctionne parfaitement et il n’y a pas de problème à passer constamment entre deux pilotes !
utilisez l’application Nvidia pour une mise à jour facile, vous pouvez également mettre le pilote 546.33 sur votre bureau pour restaurer facilement le pilote de votre GPU etc...

I don't know many people saying this is a flop but honestly i find it really amazing. I really loved the combat in this game really enjoyed it. If you are a Superhero fan especially Marvel, this is a game for you. Now that the game developers has made every cosmetics emotes etc free you can try this game atleast once.

Its most Fun i have had for £4.59 in very long time. Its cool game to switch brain off and just smash things.
Its great shame that this was Fumbled so hard. There is inkling of Cool game there. Now with everything being available, and " free" its strong recommend from me.

TLDR: A tragic game to play with mounds of untapped potential, Marvel's The Avengers is still worthy of your time given its awesome production values, fun roster of heroes, and fan service.
Pros:
- Absurdly good-looking game with top tier presentation values
- MOSTLY fun combat/gameplay. Combat has a surprising amount of depth
- Characters are treated well with great fan service. I was skeptical of some of the newer heroes, but they were presented in a way that made it easy to root for them
- Plenty of content for the cheap price of admission
Cons:
- The game is clearly unfinished as developers were forced to stop before their visions came to fruition; it's sad
- Some visual bugs that will never be patched detract from the experience
- The late game becomes a bit of a grind with repetitive side missions
- Many upgrades require an obscene amount of grinding; which is particularly frustrating in a 'dead game'

I In no way think this game is good. It's larger gameplay is repetitive and extremely bad. All the superhero's have the same movement speed to a normal woman can run as fast as iron man can fly and the gameplay consists of buletsponge after bullet sponge. I won't even bring up the monetisation or the live service aspects.
But I still believe that this game has genuine heart in it. It's obvious that the creators are fans of Marvel and the story was actualy pretty fire and had some genuine amazing moments. There were also quite a bit of well written banter between members and a few jokes I laughed at. It's no star but I don't beleave it deserves a 66% review score.
I also believe that its death was as noble as they come. It didn't get dragged along the floor like Apex legends. Nor did it get abandoned like Team fortress 2 (no there is not going to be another update and if I have to eat my words I will do so happily). The creators recognised that it wasn't good and said "ok" and that is AMAZING. They handed out all the Purchasable items, de-listed the game and kept the non-live service part online.
The concord Devs should have taken notes
P.S They made a game very similar to this called Marvels Guardians of the galaxy and it is supurb in every sense of the word. I would consider it to be the second best Marvel game on market today only because of Spider-man PS4. If you want to play a stellar Marvel game and you've already 100%'d Spider-man you should totally get Guardians. It's all the positives of this and non of the negatives