Is it worth playing Marvel’s Avengers in 2025?

Marvel's Avengers had the potential to be the biggest video game ever made featuring fan-favorite heroes like Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, the Incredible Hulk, and more. However, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics dropped the ball hard with the title. Having said that, there are still a few reasons to keep playing it despite it being delisted a few years back.

The developers announced the project in 2017. Three years later, the game was released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC with a native next-gen version a year later. However, it was still fighting an uphill battle.

Disclaimer: This article contains the writer's subjective opinions about the game.

---

Marvel's Avengers is everything wrong with modern live-service games

This project is a prime example of ruining one of the most bankable IPs (Image via Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix)

After the success of Marvel's Spider-Man in 2018 from Insomniac Games, the gaming community was looking forward to seeing a similar quality of storytelling, gameplay, and more from Marvel's Avengers. Unfortunately, the title had everything the fans didn't want, from janky gameplay to bland character designs, microtransactions, repetitive gameplay, and a boring storyline.

While the premise involves the rise of the Inhumans, the story starts strong as the prologue shifts between the core Avengers, showcasing their unique abilities and combat.

However, the narrative begins to drag its feet as it focuses on Kamala Khan, better known as Ms Marvel, as she embarks on a quest to reassemble Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The heroes are nothing more than a relic of the past, and players must make do with their limited resources.

The combat and gameplay may be the only redeeming factors, but they are also among the worst. Each hero doesn't feel like a reskin of another until clones such as Kate Bishop and Jane Foster are added to the roster, and fighting endless waves of AIM bots will feel repetitive rather quickly.

Skill trees and gear are a major part of a hero's leveling system, which can become a nuisance for sorting certain pieces and discarding individual items from the inventory.

---

The live-service structure is a plague in gaming

The Avengers' greatest threat is microtransactions and a lackluster story (Image via Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix)

The Reassemble campaign length is decent, and it greatly depends on a player visiting other regions to accomplish various missions.

The developers promised the player base free post-launch content in the form of operations, short-form story missions featuring new playable characters like Kate Bishop and Clint Barton, and a massive expansion. Before the plug was pulled, the Avengers only had two operations and the War for Wakanda expansion to remember it by.

The promise of adding new playable Avengers would have been a nice treat, but with limited manpower, the developers have barely enough time to polish each new addition.

Some characters began to feel like cheap copies of established heroes by recycling most of their combat animations. The Winter Soldier shares the same running and intrinsic animation as Captain America, minus the vibranium shield to bash enemies.

Cosmetics is another feature that raised a few eyebrows. Unlike Marvel's Spider-Man, where players can craft suits with in-game resources, players must spend a few dollars to purchase costumes inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While players can earn credits in-game, it is a tedious process to accomplish each hero's battle pass.

After Marvel's Avengers was delisted, the developers decided to give all skins free of charge.

The project was designed to be played long-term with friends; however, it didn't stand a chance, especially with the lack of support from the gaming community. The success of the live-action films couldn't save this project, and with a rapid decline in active daily players, Square Enix decided it was time to throw in the towel.

---

Verdict

Marvel's Avengers failed to be what the developers intended, but it is not unplayable (Image via Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix)

Marvel's Avengers could have been a great game if the developers avoided everything wrong with the game industry. Remove all the live-service influence, focusing on online multiplayer and microtransactions; this project could have thrived like Marvel's Spider-Man. It is unfortunate that an IP as big as Earth's Mightiest Heroes had to fall under this ridiculous structure.

While the game is no longer available for purchase, used physical copies are dirt cheap, and the developers ended on a high note by polishing all performance issues. Fans can still replay the story campaigns by themselves, which is probably the best way to play and cycle through a large selection of cosmetic items.

Marvel's Avengers can be a good pastime in 2025.