Without much hesitation, it would be fair to call Marvel’s Avengers one of the most hotly anticipated superhero games of all time. The beta was the most downloaded in PSN history and the sales expectations for the final game are unsurprisingly very high with an already installed base of Marvel fans coming from the movies and the comic books.

The game is made up of its single-player campaign and The Division and Destiny-like multiplayer co-op action. As a result, the expectations for a game of this type are very high and not just whether the story mode will be any good but how much longevity the multiplayer aspect will have when compared to similar games.

10 Worst: It’s Not An Avengers Game

The opening scene in the Marvel’s Avengers beta featured a tutorial-style action sequence on the Golden Gate Bridge that allowed gamers to get a good feel for each of The Avengers and how they play. However, in the full game, the opening scene is quite different and begins with Kamala Khan the future Ms. Marvel.

Although Square Enix has always been honest about Khan being the main character, the beta gave the impression that players will get to spend a lot of time playing as the main stars in the team. While the superheroes’ availability does open up later in the campaign, this game should have been called “Ms. Marvel Featuring The Avengers.”

9 Best: Kamala Khan

Thankfully, Kamala Khan is a great character in her own right and does a great job of acting as the player’s introduction to the mysterious world of The Avengers from a fan’s perspective. She’s also very likable and has interesting superpowers of her own and great dialogue with the other heroes that she looks up to.

In many ways, the game plays quite similarly to Marvel’s Spider-Man with her long limbs giving Khan swinging powers that allow her to reach other platforms and use them in combat. Furthermore, she’s enthusiastic and engaging as a character and a nice departure from moody and brooding protagonists that players have become accustomed to over the years.

8 Worst: The Linear Plot

The simplistic nature of Marvel’s Avengers also gives way to a fairly standard superhero plot that most fans of the movies and the comics will find fairly predictable. While it’s true that the character interactions, nice animations, and a good lead help alleviate some of this, it’s still an issue, especially when compared to Marvel’s Spider-Man.

It’s also quite disappointing for fans of the Deus Ex series that may have been expecting a more complex plot with a story and world built around the player’s choices. Marvel’s Avengers is a purely linear experience from start to finish. However, the characters themselves are very engaging and Crystal Dynamics has done a great job of humanizing Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

7 Best: Great Production Values

If there’s one thing that fans of the movies set in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe will appreciate in this game is its production values. Marvel’s Avengers is designed to appeal to fans of the movies and the graphics and cinematic attacks from the heroes definitely look the part.

Furthermore, the soundtrack is excellent and the game’s sound design is top-notch with impactful moves from heroes like The Hulk and Thor really doing a great job of giving the player a sense of power.

6 Worst: The Repetitive Combat

For all its big movie-like production values and cutscenes, Marvel’s Avengers is a fairly simplistic beat-em-up at its heart. The fights and the moves all look great for movie fans but ultimately it’s a pretty shallow experience.

Furthermore, the interchangeable superhero experience has already been done better in Marvel’s Ultimate Alliance 3 on the Nintendo Switch despite the obviously massive difference in the budget. It also lacks the depth and the massive choice of characters that the Ultimate Alliance series offers.

5 Best: Each Hero Feels Unique

Even though Marvels Avengers is essentially a Kamala Khan origins story there are still moments where players will frequently get to play as other superheroes in the game like Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, and The Hulk.

Thankfully, each hero feels unique and definitely plays to the strengths of the characters that fans of Marvel will know and love. The Hulk feels like an unstoppable force of power, Captain America is fast and uses his shield creatively in battle, Iron Man’s flight mechanics are a lot of fun to use, Black Widow echoes Lara Croft in many ways, and Thor feels like he could give Kratos a run for his money.

4 Worst: The Co-Op Warzones

The game’s co-operative missions are played out in the War Zones. These allow players to matchmake with other gamers to fight and explore free roam areas that are more open than the linear single-player aspect of the main campaign.

However, many gamers may find that they’d prefer to tackle the War Zones as a single-player only experience. This is because, other players can often ruin one’s experience when all they want to do is explore, rescue civilians, and more before triggering the main objective.

3 Best: A Game For The Fans

For all the minor criticisms, Marvel’s Avengers has clearly been crafted with a lot of love and attention to detail. There’s clearly a love for all things Marvel and the developers at Crystal Dynamics are obviously fans of the comics and the movies.

As a result, there’s a lot of Easter Eggs and references to the comics as well as taking a lot of visual inspiration from the movies to appeal to more casual fans of Marvel’s fantastic universe.

2 Worst: Repetitive Enemies

As mentioned, Marvel’s Avengers is a brawler at its heart which is great for the pick-up and play and the drop-in-drop-out mechanics that this game was designed to be built around. Unfortunately, that does mean that players will be fighting off waves and waves of identical-looking synthetic enemies.

It’s not unusual for a fighting game like this to use repetitive enemy design as it’s seen in other brawlers. However, in a game that disguised as being an epic action-adventure the repetitive nature of its enemies and the lack of super villains to fight begins to rear its ugly head.

1 Best: Lots Of Customization And Upgrades

Even though Marvel’s Avengers is ultimately a big-budget brawler there’s still a lot of customization on offer for players to make their heroes feel and play in a way that’s unique to one’s playing style. For example, Ms. Marvel who is already well-balanced can take on the role of healing support or even a powerful tank with RPG-like upgrades.

Furthermore, players can also tailor their superhero’s looks and visuals in combat. These enhancements and collectibles are purely cosmetic but as shown with games like Fortnite modern gamers really do like to change the looks of their characters with different skins, costumes, etc.

NEXT: Marvel’s Avengers: The Road Back Collectibles Guide