Marvel’s Avengers officially opened up the beta for PS4 players this weekend, followed with closed beta’s for XBOX and PC.
Players get the opportunity to play through some of the main missions, whilst teaming up with up to 4 four players using Black Widow, Iron Man, Hulk and Ms Marvel on a number of different missions.
Playing through we get to upgrade those 4 characters to level 15 and 45 power max. Of course, there’s a lot locked simply due to the fact this isn’t the full game, but for the first few hours, it damn near felt like it was. You can tell the game is going to be so much better after launch.
The showcase of a few different suits for the 4 playable characters, emotes, cards etc shows just how much effort they’ve put into the game. Some of the suits for Iron Man were incredible. Especially the one they give you the option to purchase from the marketplace at the start.
There is an open beta next weekend as well for all platforms, but I think for us, this beta was enough to play. Considering we’ve easily racked up 15 hours on the beta this weekend alone. We’re ready for the full launch.
Like any beta, this one did come with a few bugs, glitches and framerate drops. The biggest bug we found was a mission where you had to defeat the enemies, after taking them all out the door would not unlock, we had to restart but thankfully it was the first objective.
The frame rate drops tend to be if everything is just on-screen, all companions and a lot of enemies. It does quickly resolve itself once you’ve managed to battle on through it.
Square Enix has stated the game will be a multi-year game and resembles games such as Destiny, The Division etc. This game feels like a mix between DC Universe Online and Destiny.
The game will feature microtransactions, but if the game plans to be supported for a few years then I’m certainly happy with that. Each DLC will be free, which is another plus. However, skins, emotes, cards etc will need to be purchased through the game’s marketplace.
I kind of hope they release a battle pass similar to Fortnite to gain a lot of different skins and stuff cheaper than buying everything individually. I know here I’m praising them to do this, but if the game plans to be multi-year then it needs to find a way to stay financed after the initial release stage.
The beta was an exceptional experience, and we seriously can’t wait for the final release.
For the review, we have set aside some questions we’ve been asked to conduct our review in a more personalised manner from both of us.
What was the best thing you liked about the beta?
Daniel – “If I had to choose one thing I liked most, it was the very beginning. Gaining the ability to try out each core character, even if the spells were brief. Square Enix gifting us with just a pinch of what to expect with the main story was fantastic, and got me much more excited for the game.”
Phil – “There was so much I enjoyed about the beta. From using Iron Man to surprisingly using Black Widow’s ultimate, but when it comes down to it, the thing I liked most was just rampaging with The Hulk. His movement, fighting, and his player model is fantastic.”
Was there anything you didn’t like?
Daniel – “There wasn’t much because of course, this is just the beta. If I had to choose just one thing I didn’t like, it would be the choice of 4 characters to play with. I feel like myself and others would have preferred Thor to be in there. But that’s not something I hated or really disliked badly, I just would have preferred Thor.”
Phil – “I’m going to have to agree with Daniel. While it was a beta so it’s understandable but having Thor be able to be playable in the first part then completely taken out of the beta was a disappointment.”
Did you pre-order the game before the beta? If not, have you now pre-ordered it or plan to?
Daniel – “I planned to pre-order regardless of the beta, and I will be deciding by the end of the month which place to go to for the game.”
Phil – “Once again, I’m with Daniel on this one, It was always going to be pre-order but I’m definitely pre-ordering it as soon as I get the chance.”
Did the beta meet, exceed or fall below your expectations?
Daniel – “It massively exceeded mine, I was expecting just one or two missions you’d play through over and over again. I wasn’t expecting the mass amount of content.”
Phil – “I knew the beta would have a few missions, but we got over 10 or so tiny missions and it was just incredible the amount of stuff they showcased.”
If you could have had one more Marvel character in the beta, ANY character, who would it be and why?
Daniel – “Vision. He was spotted in the data mines of potential playable characters in the future. I just think the way the game plays, Vision would be great.”
Phil – “Hawkeye, I know he’ll be a day 1 addition to the game but the amount of hype it would have gained to have him in the beta would have been cool, even if it was just in the training simulator challenges.”
The beta is in the genre of a “looter-shooter”, are you happy with this route or do you wish it had gone down another?
Daniel – “It does give me a slight worry, but nothing major. The only reason I say that is because games like The Division and Destiny, they get boring really quickly. The bosses can take forever, and the rewards can be minimal. I’m happy with the route Square Enix has taken.”
Phil – “I’m completely fine with the direction Square Enix are taken with it. I’m here for the long ride. They’ve said it will be a couple year campaign-style game.”
Will you be playing the full open beta next weekend?
Daniel – “Most likely not, I feel like I’ve pumped a lot of hours into this weekends beta. I’m now ready for the full release, and see no point repeating the same things next weekend.”
Phil – “I’ve put 2 days worth of playtime into this beta alone. If it’s the same beta with no new missions, I’ll skip and wait for full release but if there is a new mission or two, I’ll play it.”
What was your favourite character during the beta and why?
Daniel – “Iron Man. I’m a huge Iron Man fan, always have been. So, of course, my first priority was to play as him and got used to his kit pretty quickly. The flying is a nice touch, and the blasters, rockets and lasers.”
Phil – “The Hulk, From what I saw in the A-Day demo last year, it felt like they really truly worked on The Hulk, as well as Bruce himself. But The Hulk is just amazing to run wild with.”
Finally, do you think the game is ready for full launch?
Daniel – “I think so. I think it doesn’t matter, a game this large is always going to have issues that need to be ironed out. We spotted a couple of glitches and frame drops, but nothing game-breaking except the mission bug where the door never opened. Besides that, I think it’s ready.”
Phil – “Yes, 100% ready. We did spot a couple of glitches which were funny and frame rate drops but it’s a beta, this stuff is to be expected.”
Rating 4.5/5
What are your thoughts on the beta? Did you enjoy it? Did you dislike it? Let us know down in the comment section below.
*We played the Avengers Beta on PS4 pros.*
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These ratings are based on what we played in the beta, and will not represent the full game.
