With a drawn out production cycle and building anticipating preceding the release of Marvel's Avengers a whole lot of hype built up over the game and what it would do before it ever came out. When the time finally came for fans to play it, many were thrilled to find that their major expectations were met. The game proves a lighthearted beat 'em up that gives fans the chance to fill the boots of their favorite heroes as they progress through levels and advance their abilities in the Marvel Universe.

More content awaits the game through DLC, and it's safe so say the game will only get better from here. Still, there are a few nagging problems or subtle changes the game could make that would massively improve the experience.

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Flight Speed

Much of the fun of Marvel's Avengers comes in the freedom to inhabit the world of Marvel through the heroes that so vividly stoke the imagination of fans. People want to feel like superheroes, and even when the roots of the genre predated video games, the desire to fulfill that fantasy was present. Video games allow for an unprecedented degree of role playing and immersion, so it comes as a major disappointment that one of the most exciting abilities in the game feels so lackluster. Flight just isn't that exciting.

For Iron Man in particular, feeling the power of blasting off and rocketing through the air should be a basis requirement, but the game doesn't really allow for that. A "sprint" mode while flying is a half measure toward that goal, with Iron Man laying horizontally as he flies forward slightly faster, but he just doesn't go fast enough, and the impact of the acceleration is minimal. Clunky controls make aiming or transitioning in and out of flight frustrating, and it hinders the experience of playing flight-based characters like Thor and Iron Man in comparison to the alternatives.

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More References

PS4 Spider-Man Advanced Suit

The Marvel Cinematic Universe set up a successful formula and an aesthetic template for other adaptations to follow, and a major part of that comes in bits of world-building that helps the surroundings feel fleshed out and renders the world tangible. The MCU showed how such references can be non-committal, slipped in as fan service to stoke the imagination while feeling complete freedom to retread or dial back such claims when they're expanded on later.

Yet the world of Marvel's Avengers feels surprisingly small, with very few shoutouts or noticeable names cropping up. Familiar reporters and news networks are there for color, but actual references to other heroes, villains and supporting cast could go a long way. The addition of Spider-Man in later DLC comes as a major point of fan excitement (at least for PlayStation players), so it seems surprising that such important pieces of the game would take place in New York without discussing his response to the national crisis.

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Earlier Outfits

Character customization allows players to craft their own unique experience out of gameplay, immersing them in the world and making it feel like their own. Aesthetic choices are some of the easiest changes to make for game designers, influencing very little mechanically and simple enough to swap in and out of for gameplay and cut scenes. Perhaps best of all is that it does not affect the balance of the game, as powers and combat all function the same when different outfits are just there for visual benefit.

However, Marvel's Avengers plays coy with offering players the opportunity to earn alternative costumes and designs for their characters, dangling much of it as a reward for post-campaign fun. But it costs essentially nothing to give players at least a few different costumes early on so they aren't fighting with the exact same characters as every other player during the campaign. Making those options available earlier, if not expanding the amount of variety totally, would have allowed for a much more engaging experience for many players who may not be interested in pouring the hours of time into the game necessary just to look a little different.

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Onscreen Brawls

A recurrent feature of the Marvel brand is that the heroes fight amongst themselves almost as much as they do with villains, and Marvel's Avengers includes this when the player is in the thick of the campaign. During a desperate time in the story when tensions are high and the heroes have every reason to be at each other's throats, the tension cracks. It breaks out into a fight between Hulk and Iron Man, but one that players don't get to witness.

Totally apart from gameplay, mechanics or the experience as a whole, it just would have been an enjoyable moment to sit back and enjoy a cut scene featuring a really cool fight. Not every aspect to a game needs to integrate the player's actions, and particularly in the midst of the campaign, many players are there to enjoy the story that's taking place. Pushing a fight off-screen feels like a tease, and it leaves an unsatisfactory feeling after it's resolution as if nothing really happened.

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Synergy

Comparisons to the Marvel Ultimate Alliance games were inevitable as soon as Marvel's Avengers were announced, and a notable feature the former series had that would have been nice in the latest superheroic romp is synergy attacks. Characters fighting alongside each other is the central premise to what makes an Avengers story interesting, and the more the game could integrate the characters in combat together the better.

Unfortunately, it feels more like the teams just exchange some dialogue while fighting side-by-side. Rather than add in whole new mechanics or command features, it would have been a fine middle ground to emulate Marvel Ultimate Alliance and use synergy attacks where heroes can use special moves in tandem to eradicate their foes. Iron Man reflecting repulsors off Captain America's shield or Hulk performing a fastball special with Ms. Marvel would have created unique and memorable moments in combat. There may be room in future installments, but as of now it can be considered a missed opportunity.

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