By: Bryce L. Jackson

Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics enter the long term storytelling looter-shooter live service RPG (what a gaming word salad) market with beloved comic book characters in Marvel’s Avengers. The game wants to hook fans into the loot grind gameplay while telling a Marvel comic story that they really care for. The story that they’ve put together works for me as someone that isn’t a page-turning original comic book fan but has learned enough about the expansive roster of Marvel characters. The aforementioned long term storytelling has been dubbed the Avengers Initiative that will re-assemble the Avengers after the events of the campaign.

So the question of if we will or will not see the Avengers fully Assemble? That lies in how many other players like me that have reservations and opt to delay buying in only for the story. And of those that buy-in from day one, will they have content that will keep them playing the War Zones and other repeatable game modes that will keep the game alive? Early impressions say that the endgame grind is entertaining and there are additional ways to gain loot rewards from completing specific objectives. Crystal Dynamics have also shown in previous War Table streams that they intend to release fresh content consistently. One such way is to schedule releases of more Avengers with time. They have already announced Spider-Man (PS4) exclusive, Hawkeye and Kate Bishop. It also can be inferred that Black Panther may soon join that roster since they led off the final War Table before launch with a tribute to actor Chadwick Boseman and had a stylized Black Panther logo in the game’s aesthetic. So it's all on if fans respond positively to the game.

I’m skeptical about the game’s long term player interest. This game is The Division/Destiny power level grind that is a serious time sink that some players may not have enough time for. They may not want to take that time to max level grind and fully understand nuanced min/max gear builds. The hope is that enough players will be entertained with the multiplayer and have their friend groups or solo players that are willing to level and gear grind and keep the game going. For the sake of the writers and the story they’re setting up, I hope enough consistent concurrent players because I’m very interested in the story.

This is pretty much my introduction to the Kamala Khan character and in this story and I find her personality and her well-meaning intentions charming. I enjoyed learning about her and I was entertained with how her presence amongst the seasoned Avengers completely disrupted everything and gives new energy to the characters we’ve come to know. Her youthful awkwardness around her idols, her complex emotions of becoming an Inhuman that cover every corner of the spectrum, even her dumb teenager bad moves that are written for teenagers, weren’t upsetting for me. Sans some comic book-y conflict resolution, the story works for me and I want to see this game stick.

Unfortunately, the issues with the live service gaming model for the game have me worried. I’ve decided that I don’t want to invest in that type of game, at minimum, until well into the next console generation. I’m also invested in Destiny and juggling those types of long hour investment games is a lot of time grinding. I'm also not great with scouring every corner of the game unlocking lore, weapons, and armor as a solo player in that game as it is. So another game in the same genre after recently dropping The Division 2 further complicates how I view this game.

The hope lies in Square Enix having the patience to allow Crystal Dynamics to tell the story they intend. They have have a history with being patient with that game type because of Final Fantasy XIV and everything that game has gone through. The story has set up for bigger universe-threatening entities also being introduced. I want to be able to see an MCU type of evolving story for these characters in videogame form and how the stories evolve. And don’t stray from having the nucleus of the storytelling from Kamala Khan’s perspective!