It’s been almost two months since the launch ofMarvel’s Avengers, the comic book action-RPG from Crystal Dynamics. When the title was revealed last year, its first trailer left a lot of players guessing at what kind of game it would be. While the trailer showed part ofMarvel’s Avengers’opening mission, there wasn’t much information to go on.
It wasn’t until weeks later that the game was revealed to be a multiplayer looter-brawler using the games-as-service design philosophy. This announcement set some alarm bells ringing with fans and critics. Whileloot-based “service” gamescan be incredibly successful, they require a delicate balance of effort and reward. If a developer fails to find that balance, then the game can flop hard, which is exactly what happened to BioWare’sAnthem.
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The Invisible Loot Problem
Marvel’s Avengershas frequently been compared to 2019’sAnthem, both before and after its release. But it isn’t certain if these comparisons are fair.Anthemis widely considered a severely flawed title and a serious misstep from RPG veterans BioWare. It’s true thatMarvel’s Avengerswas more popular with critics, receiving an average Metacritic score of 68 compared toAnthem’s 59, but it does suffer from a lot of the same problems.
One of these problems is the idea of invisible loot. For a lot of players, being able to show off high-tier equipment is half the point in amultiplayer looter-shooter. BothMarvel’s AvengersandAnthemremoved this aspect of the game completely, keeping all stat-boosting loot invisible, and relegating cosmetic items to an entirely separate item category.
Compare this to the system inDestiny 2, Bungie’s massively-popular looter-shooter, and there’s quite a difference. InDestiny,all loot has an effect on how the character looks, unless the player specifically chooses to hide it. This means that those players who’ve worked to earn the top-tier gear get a chance to show it off, without having to explain to everyone what their character is carrying.
A Lack of Diversity
Another complaint that was leveled atAnthemconcerned its endgame. Many players felt that once the main campaign was complete the game quickly became repetitive, as the focus moved to grinding the same levels over and over for loot. This same complaint was also directed atMarvel’s Avengers.
At the moment, theendgame ofMarvel’s Avengersconsists of endlessly repeating levels and enemies, with little variation. Bringing in the example ofDestiny 2again, as a looter-shooter that got the balance right, we see that things are very different. If anything,Destiny 2has the opposite problem toAnthemandMarvel’s Avengers. In fact, it’s been criticized in the past for having too much to do in the endgame. There are so many activities, dungeons, raids, and sources of loot, that some players have complained of being overwhelmed by it.
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What Does This Mean for Marvel’s Avengers
It’s important to realize that just becauseMarvel’s Avengersshares some of the flawsofAnthem, it doesn’t mean that it’s doomed to the same fate. Both games were plagued by technical issues at launch, but Crystal Dynamics has been hard at work pushing out patches to correct these flaws. These patches have also addressed other concerns, including buffs to exotic drops and even new abilities for characters.
WhileAnthemfailed to keep up with its ambitiouspost-launch roadmap,Marvel’s Avengersseems to be broadly on track so far. Provided that the new content continues arriving in a timely fashion, adding to the endgame as more and more players reach it, thenMarvel’s Avengersstands a good chance of avoiding the same fate asAnthem.
Marvel’s Avengersis out now on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions currently in development.
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