Month: August 2020

Enlarge / Avengers, assemble. (All images from this article were captured from real PS4 Pro gameplay, so this is how the Avengers look in their new 2020 video game.) (credit: Crystal Dynamics / Square Enix)

After over a year of rumors, teases, and reveals, we have finally played the upcoming Avengers video game, slated to launch on PS4, Xbox One, and Windows PC on September 4. It's arguably the biggest Avengers-themed game ever made, in part thanks to a massive effort by developers Crystal Dynamics (makers of the modern Tomb Raider trilogy). Many of you will soon get to play the same content when the game's beta test opens Friday, August 7, exclusively for PS4 players who preordered the game. (By month's end, all three platforms will have open beta periods, no purchase required; more on that below.)

We've been careful about covering this superhero game, in part because its performance looked suspect during E3 2019 and because we couldn't tell how its Destiny-inspired looter-shooter system would translate to the beat-'em-up genre. This beta's selection of missions and story sequences has firmed up our suspicions on what to expect in the final game—and the news isn't great.

Feeling weak in a world of heroes

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  The campaign content in the beta focuses on Hulk and Ms. Marvel. You can see a much improved facial rendering pass compared to previously revealed footage.

The beta opens with an all-star superhero brawl in San Francisco, primarily atop the Golden Gate Bridge, and it may look familiar, as this previously premiered at last year's E3. It's a show-of-force intro, with players jumping from one familiar superhero to the next: Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow. Each comes with a mix of melee, ranged, counter, and special attacks, and each can put the serious smackdown on large crowds of generic robo-soldier foes. Pummel, run, jump, and repeat.