STACK #191 Sep 2020

GAMING FEATURE

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A-DAY OUT WITH MARVEL’S AVENGERS Epic third-person action-adventure game Marvel’s Avengers is out this month, letting us play as several legendary superheroes in an original story that kicks off on ‘A-Day’. This is the grand unveiling of a San Francisco-based Avengers HQ; however, a terrorist attack darkens the celebrations and leads to the disbanding of the Avengers.We recently got our hands on a preview – here’s our report.

Words Alex Deutrom

O ur gameplay preview dropped us right into the middle of events that led to the A-Day disaster. This is the preview that we initially saw at E3 back in 2019, where players variously play as five founding member Avengers. It all kicks off with the god of thunder, Thor, learning how to throw and call his mighty hammer Mjolnir, as well as basic combat. Next up is Iron Man, where the differences in how each character works begins to become more apparent. Play then moves through Hulk, Black Widow and Captain America, all of whom have their own combos and special moves. Hulk smash!

S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. From here you elect which missions to tackle via the War Table, or alternatively you can go for a wander and explore the helicarrier. Trust us, there are Easter eggs galore here. We also experienced two frenetic boss fights – one as Black Widow against Taskmaster on the Golden Gate Bridge, and another as Hulk against the Abomination. These not only show off the specific character moves, but also the need to strategise to bring down foes as efficiently as possible. If you’re after multiplayer, war missions can be played cooperatively with friends. Hulk, Ms Marvel, Black Widow and Iron Man

Thor’s combat is very similar to that of Kratos from God of War , and nobody could tire of throwing Mjolnir and seeing it pin an enemy down. Of course, when not using Mjolnir in combat, less damage is dealt. Captain America, meanwhile, is a little like Batman in the Arkham series of games, although he’s a touch more defensive due to his shield. One of the Captain’s ultimate abilities – and coolest moves to watch – is throwing that famous shield and watching it bounce off all enemies in the room. Once we’d conquered the opening demo mission, handpicked assignments opened up with Kamala Khan (Ms Marvel) and Hulk. We’re then introduced to our base of operations, a

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