The AAA video game industry has an ambiguous relationship with single-player story-driven games. One moment, they’re telling us we don’t want them, which is how questionable live service games like Marvel’s Avengers get made.

The next, though, they knock it out of the park by releasing true labors of love like Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. A triumph of game design that harks back to when games were primarily made as storytelling vessels, this Marvel title proves that good old-fashioned video games can still be made and be great.

Guardians’ narrative takes place a little after the ragtag group of misfits was formed. Led by the retro music lover Peter Quill, the team is in a place where their notoriety isn’t exactly where they’d like it to be as the Nova Corps has them one misstep way from placing them under arrest.

And that’s exactly what happens when a questionable mission goes awry, as one would expect. The Guardians’ lack of teamwork and clear mismatch of personality lands them in hot water with the Marvel universe’s space police which slaps them with a hefty fine.

While on their quest to keep themselves out of the sights of the Novas, the Guardians have to learn to work together by understanding what it means to have mutual respect for each other even if they don’t quite always get along.

The overarching story of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy irrefutably takes a page out of its MCU counterpart’s book and it works like a charm. In the movies, these unlikely galactic heroes are at their best when they narrowly manage to band together despite their differences.

The same formula permeates throughout the Square-Enix title and in some instances, it does an even better job than the Marvel-produced films. One of the best examples is the relationship between Peter and Gamora.

Instead of bringing them together as star-crossed lovers, it chooses to focus on their developing friendship. This pays even more respect to the Galaxy’s Deadliest Assassin as she feels like a much more empowered Marvel superhero in the game compared to her MCU version.

I also found Rocket much more fleshed out and nuanced in the game. He’s still the smart-mouthed weapons expert we know and love, only this time we have more opportunities to explore his background and relationships with the rest of the team. Drax is also arguably an even funnier version of the one fleshed out by Dave Bautista.

His deadpan reactions and unapologetic cluelessness are at the center of the game’s best jokes. Finally, Groot is Groot, just more than ever. The ensemble is completed by a solidly voice-acted Peter Quill who we also get to explore a bit more in-depth in terms of his teenage years on Earth. 

Overall, the story aspect of this story-based Guardians game is a masterfully crafted rollercoaster ride that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish.

Equally as engaging and fun was the overall gameplay, with only a few minor blemishes, I would classify as nitpicks rather than straight-up flaws. Guardians of the Galaxy has two modes of play that interchange over the course of its 17-20 hour journey, both of which involve the use of your team’s unique skills and traits.

Outside of its reasonably paced cutscenes, the game features light environmental puzzle-solving where Peter has to guide the right Guardian to open up a path for the team to progress forward.

When the job requires a sharp blade and some acrobatic skills, Gamora is the right choice. Drax can carry and pull heavy objects to create leverage when it’s time to bring in the muscle. Rocket can sneak into tight spaces and hack into interfaces. Groot can be called upon to use his mighty vines to build bridges.

Finally, Quill can destroy certain parts of the terrain to open up pathways and use elemental shots with his blasters to create, for instance, platforms. There are instances where you’ll need to call upon more than one Guardian to make use of their powers to help the team push through.

While not the hardest of puzzles, this aspect of gameplay adds a nice, calm level of variety to the overall game. They rarely veer into frustrating territory, apart from a few sporadic instances. For instance, the terrain elements Quill can blast aren’t always immediately evident unless you are using his helmet’s scanning properties.

The real meat and potatoes of Guardians’ gameplay lie in its combat sequences, where you can again combine the team’s unique abilities to dispatch foes of varying shapes and sizes.

You primarily control Quill while using commands to instruct the rest of the crew to do their thing. Groot’s skills primarily focus on crowd control and setting up foes for devastating combos.

Drax can attack single targets to mainly attack their stagger bar that, once depleted, stuns them and makes them susceptible to more damage. Rocket uses a smorgasbord of gizmos, gadgets, and explosives to strike multiple enemies and deliver some more crowd control.

Finally, Gamora is the big damage dealer of the team whose skills enable her to strike enemies lethally. Using each character’s attacks and abilities strategically allows you to support Peter Quill, who’s an all-rounder type.

He can damage enemies from afar with his blasters, which later receive elemental upgrades that can add more options for managing crowds and taking out foes faster. For instance, early in the game, you receive the ice element, which gives you the ability to freeze enemies after several shots.

There are four of these in total, which unlock as you progress through the story. Quill can also deal melee damage by swinging his fists or delivering his signature football kick from the opening sequence of the first movie. Thanks to his rocket boots, you also have access to a dodge and a hovering ability.

All of these elements combined sound like they would an overwhelming amount of skills to keep tabs on, but the game does a great job of introducing them as you go. I barely ever felt that I didn’t know how to deal with the foes around me, even when the game introduced another layer in the form of elemental weaknesses via Quill’s scanning ability.

Overall, combat feels exhilarating and well-designed, with enough options that allow you to dispatch foes in many creative ways.