Marvel's Avengers review: Hail the conquering heroes

The thirst for superheroes in any way, shape and form — comic books, screens big and small — continues with the new game Marvel's Avengers.

Ms. Marvel, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Black Widow and Captain America each have the same control scheme with support heroics, assault heroics and ultimate heroics. They also have ranged strikes, a dodge and light and heavy attacks, but while the uniformity of the controls means that players will know how to move around and attack no matter who they use, the differences lies in the details of their abilities.
The Hulk is the quintessential tank who absorbs damage and draws adversaries' attention. His Rage ability raises his attack while also healing him. It's a character that's built for aggression. Meanwhile, Iron Man specializes in ranged combat. Although every hero can attack from afar, Tony Stark is by far the most efficient and capable at taking down drones and turrets from a distance. His ability to fly also makes him great at scouting and moving around the battlefield.
The developers did a remarkable job at making each hero unique with powers that are useful in a team setting. Ms. Marvel is a healer who jumps into the fray with her Polymorph abilities to smash enemies around her. On the other hand, Captain America with his Rally Cry boosts his team's attack power against enemies he marked. Thor is an interesting mix of tank and damage dealing with his ability to hold quick enemies down with his hammer. Lastly, Black Widow acts as a rogue with her quick attacks and the Veil of Shadows support ability lets the team escape hairy situations or open up foes to strong attacks.
The other notable part of the game is the story, which casts Kamala Khan (aka Ms. Marvel) in the lead role. She's a trailblazer as the first Muslim character to lead a Marvel comic, and her introduction as the game's protagonist opens her character to a new audience. Her belief in the heroes and the growth of her character gives Marvel's Avengers its soul.
She brings the team together and helps find the truth behind the events of A-Day. The campaign itself tends to wander in places, and the game recycles maps. The mission design is rather simplistic and repetitive, but are more of a showcase for each character. That all comes to a head as the Avengers assemble to take on Advanced Idea Mechanics, the company that takes over Stark's assets, and its leader MODOK, a supervillain who has the power to control machines.
With Marvel's Avengers, players can upgrade heroes a huge amount as they progress the skill trees. On the other end, they can fine tune their hero by hunting for better equipment by playing through the same missions over and over again. It's redundant but the fact that players have six characters to master will keep them busy until at least the next content drop.
Overall, Marvel's Avengers will satisfy fans and sate their appetite for more Marvel content while they wait for the film and shows to get back on track.