Guardians of the Galaxy (2021)

[WolfofWords]

I recently was able to purchase and slowly play through the Guardians of the Galaxy video game which is a sentence that I did not think I would ever write or say when I was a little kid. The team’s appearance in the MCU has opened a lot of doors for the comic book material to get adapted. The MCU took some liberties with the source material which I have no problems with as it created a new and emotional story. I feel like it still stayed true to the source material in spirit. This video game certainly takes more than a little from the MCU but it leans more toward following the story of the comic books. I actually kind of misspoke at the beginning of this paragraph. I actually played the game through twice. There is a reason for that but we’ll get to that.

The game takes place not long after the full formation of the Guardians of the Galaxy. The membership includes Peter Quill aka Starlord, Gamora Zen-Whoberi, Drax, Rocket, and Groot. This is the main team in the MCU but has often been the lineup in comics as well. Peter, Rocket, and Groot have been together longer and they met when Rocket and Groot were hired to track Peter as a bounty for the Ravagers. Instead, the three became friends and decided to work together. They recruited Drax the Destroyer on the day that he was released from prison. The team was manipulated (in a good way) to hire Gamora by Mantis. The player controls Starlord with the ability to give orders to the others in and out of battle.

The game begins with Peter having a dream about his birthday back on Earth with his single mother. He is laying in bed and listening to the band Starlord whose name he will eventually borrow as his codename. Peter is woken up so that the team’s mission can begin. They are heading into the Kree quarantine zone to track and capture a monster. The quarantine zone was the site of a ship graveyard containing ships from the war between Thanos’ forces and the Resistance. The plan, as thought up by Drax, is to sell this monster to Lady Hellbender who collects exotic monsters. The team trespasses inside the forcefield and sets up sound devices to lure the monster. Along the way, Rocket and Starlord encounter a familiar yellow gem and accidentally release a being with strange geometry from it. They are spooked but proceed with their plan. At the last minute, their monster is eaten by this strange being they released.



As they leave the quarantine zone, their ship is disabled and they are arrested by Nova Corps forces. Thankfully, Peter once served with their commanding officer, Ko-Rel, when they were both in the Resistance twelve years prior. Before Peter can try and smooth talk his old friend/comrade/lover, he is instead met by a trainee, Nikki, who will be taking them to detention instead. When an explosion occurs in the hangar, Peter jumps into action to save her from falling to her death. The two are separated from everyone else and Nikki escorts her prisoner through burning sections of the ship. The two manage to bond over their shared misfit status. The two meet back up with Ko-Rel which is when Peter finds out that Nikki is Ko-Rel’s twelve-year-old daughter. Peter is able to negotiate the release of the Guardians if they pay a hefty fine in three days.

Back on the ship, the Guardians are angry that Peter was unable to get them fully out of trouble and argue over what to do. This is where I will explain why I played the game through twice.

One of the really cool parts of this game is that Peter is faced with several decisions and dialogue options throughout the game. Most of them just add flavor to what is happening. A lot of them also affect the morale of the team. For example, several times in one level, Drax wants to solve a puzzle by throwing Rocket. Peter can step in and defend Rocket’s dignity or he can allow Rocket to get thrown which actually solves at least one of the puzzles. I never tried throwing Rocket again because he got so very angry the first time. Some of the decisions make the game easier or harder later on. But this part of the story is a decision that causes a major split in the plot.

While they are arguing, the Guardians decide to stick with their earlier plan to sell a monster to Lady Hellbender. However, since they have very little time, it is proposed that they sell her Groot and then break him out after they get paid. Rocket, who is protective of Groot, offers to get sold instead. Groot is visually more believable as a monster but Rocket’s anger issues make him a scarier candidate. Both may be one-of-a-kind creatures. The team votes and they head to Lady Hellbender’s planet where they crash and have to make their way on foot. This helps lead to Starlord being exposed to enough danger to trigger an evolution of his element guns, giving him the ability to fire freeze rays. They arrive at Lady Hellbender’s fortress to find that she has an army of monsters and all the ships needed to transport them. When you meet the Lady, she instantly starts flirting with a somewhat oblivious Drax. With some coaxing, Drax can exploit this chemistry to get a better price.



If you chose to sell Groot, the Lady is wowed by the appearance of a Flora Colossus, noting that this may or may not be the last of its kind. She gratefully accepts Groot and pays the Guardians. With powerful storms currently ravaging the planet, she invites the Guardians to stay and drink with her army. After the party, the Guardians (minus Groot) must sneak past all of the passed-out guards to access the monster pens. They locate Groot but it is revealed that Lady Hellbender has figured out their plan. She pits the Guardians against her prized monster Dweller-in-Darkness and you are forced to defeat it in a boss battle. After that is completed, the Guardians flee back to their ship with enough money to pay the fine.



If you chose to sell Rocket, the Lady is amused at the cute little creature with the foul mouth. As she teases Rocket, he gets more and more angry. The final straw is that she does not offer a lot of money for Rocket. He finally attacks the Lady in a rage, declaring that the plan was not working. The group instead escapes through the fortress’ sewer system to assault Lady Hellbender’s vault where they get the money they need. They have to fight their way there and fight their way out. They still have to fight Dweller-in-Darkness to get back to their ship.

With the funds they need, Peter tries to contact Ko-Rel’s ship but the signal is messed up. Instead of any officer answering, Nikki appears on screen and what makes it through is strange and creepy. Peter urges the team to pilot their way to Ko-Rel’s ship which is docked at a Nova Corps station. The team arrives at the station but they are not greeted by any Nova Corps forces. In fact, the station appears abandoned at first. On top of that, the station seems to be malfunctioning. The Guardians eventually find that there is a strange civil war happening on the ship. A strange Kree cult is murdering anybody who will not join them. Ko-Rel’s ship leaves before they can get to it and the Guardians barely escape from the station intact.

Rocket is angry at Peter for endangering them for no profit and involving them in a battle that has nothing to do with them. Peter wants to continue to try and figure out what is happening to Ko-Rel and Nikki and wants to help the Nova Corps out. In the meantime, the team heads to Knowhere, a giant space station built into a dead celestial’s head. The idea is for them to locate parts to disable the device that Ko-Rel had attached to their ship in order to enforce payment of the fine. What ends up happening is Rocket and Groot quit the team and wander off on their own. Peter, Gamora, and Drax head to the station’s security chief (Cosmo) to report what they know in hopes that he can help them. The trio runs into the quirky Mantis who takes a brief interest in Drax. Two of Lady Hellbender’s hired thugs attack the remaining Guardians which leads to them getting arrested. Rocket and Groot are also arrested for trespassing. In prison, Peter flashes back once again to his 13th birthday and it is revealed that this is the day that the Chitauri, sent by Thanos, captured Peter for ransom and killed his mother.



Cosmo, who has known Peter for a long time, tasks the Guardians with traveling through a space/time vortex to find Ko-Rel’s ship. He has been getting strange readings and reports of a dangerous cult and knows that this must be related. He promises to help the Guardians with their problems with the law. The team finds themselves in Ko-Rel’s ship but it is in complete disarray. Parts of it are abandoned and repurposed. The ship is also crawling with cult members who want to take out the Guardians. It is at this point that Peter reveals to the team that he has done the math and believes Nikki to be his daughter. She was born around the same time he was last with Ko-Rel and she is only half Kree. The others tease him as he struggles to come to grips with the idea of being a father.



When they find Nikki, they discover that she has become what the cult is calling The Matriarch and is basically their living goddess. She is being advised and manipulated by Grand Unifier Raker, a priest of an ancient religion. The Matriarch offers each of the Guardians The Promise. The Promise is different for each entity but it is basically an offer to give them whatever they want. For Peter, the offer is to get his mother back and return to a simple life on Earth where the Guardians can join him too. Peter is eventually able to see through the illusion and shoots the false version of his mother dead to break free.



The others also break free leading to a mad dash to escape. As they escape, they learn what is going on. The cult is able to use The Promise to collect faith energy from all over the Galaxy as the cult spreads. The being inhabiting Nikki and making her into The Matriarch is the same one that Peter and Rocket released back in the quarantine zone. Ko-Rel led a mission into the quarantine zone after letting the Guardians go. Nikki witnessed her mother die and succumbed to The Promise herself, allowing herself to be possessed.

The Guardians attempt to contact the Kree Worldmind who lead the Nova Corps to help them put an end to the cult. The Worldmind rejects the pleas for help, believing that the cult’s victory is inevitable. They do allow the Guardians to pay their fine, though. While trying to decide what to do next, everybody falls asleep and wakes up locked in their quarters. It turns out that Drax has accepted The Promise and is piloting the ship back to the cult. The Guardians are able to break out of their rooms and they discover that Drax has mistakenly landed them on a planet where pacifist monks dwell and help those who are lost. This is where Gamora was put back together after leaving Thanos. Mantis appears and reveals that she implanted a suggestion into Drax’s mind should he accept The Promise to take the team to that planet instead. She reveals that a lot of her quirkiness comes from her ability to see and experience multiple timelines. She leads them down into a sacred cave to cure Drax of The Promise.

In the cave, the Guardians are faced with ghosts of their recent adventures as the cave conjures up whatever threat a person can think of. Eventually, they discover Adam Warlock who has become a hermit, living deep in the cave. He reveals that he was the cult’s original god and the entity controlling The Promise is a dark shadow of himself called Magus that he rejected and sealed inside of the Soul Infinity Gem. Warlock joins the Guardians in going inside Drax’s mind and freeing him from The Promise, a world where Drax’s family was never murdered by Thanos. Warlock agrees to assist the Guardians in taking down the cult once and for all.

With the cult taking over any sentient mind in the Galaxy, the Guardians try to figure out who they can call for backup. Unfortunately, the only halfway rational choice left is to call on Lady Hellbender’s monster army. The monsters are not susceptible to The Promise. In order to impress the Lady and get back in her good graces, they decide to finally go with one of Drax’s earlier plans. They travel to a distant planet to capture the legendary dragon Fin Fang Foom. Against all odds they are able to succeed. Mantis is able to talk Lady Hellbender out of her revenge on the Guardians and accepts Fin Fang Foom as her new companion who she rides into battle.



The final battle begins with the assault of Lady Hellbender’s monster army which allows the Guardians to slip inside. The timely arrival of Cosmo also helps turn the tide. They fight through the cult’s headquarters as the battle rages around them. During the battle, they must find a kidnapped Adam Warlock and are able to get him to rejoin the team. They confront Nikki but she is deep in The Promise, confident that she can bring her mother back to life. Raker attacks the Guardians but Peter is able to infiltrate Nikki’s Promise. Nikki’s ideal life is one where Ko-Rel is alive and married to Peter with Nikki as their daughter. As Peter tries to figure out how to snap Nikki out of it, the ghost of Ko-Rel appears and tells him that neither she nor Peter are Nikki’s parents. Nikki is a war orphan. Despite this, Peter is able to connect with Nikki on a personal level as two people who witnessed the deaths of their mothers.



Nikki is able to break free from The Promise and is bathed in pure cosmic energy. A desperate Raker attacks but the Guardians are able to kill him with Nikki’s help. Nikki is now superpowered with the Nova Force with flight and energy projection. Adam Warlock reabsorbs Magus into himself and ends the threat and everybody in the cult wakes up from The Promise. The Guardians are heroes and they leave the planet with Nikki. However, Adam Warlock is fully possessed by Magus and resolves to destroy the Guardians for foiling his plot. The Guardians fight back with the help of Nikki and Mantis. Peter risks his life to contain Magus with the Soul Gem once again. Warlock places the gem back on his forehead and promises to contact the Guardians should he experience any more problems. He leaves the Guardians to figure out how they are going to accommodate their new member, Nikki.

The game has a lot of heart. The dialogue is such that it is both funny and endearing. The choices you make matter. The connection between Nikki and Peter feels real. They may not be biological family but the Guardians are a found family. The scene where Peter tries to break a nihilistic Nikki from her Promise made me feel so many emotions. The poor kid has been through so much that it is hard to face the truth that sometimes, there is no undo button on life. Throughout the game, the members of the Guardians slowly start to warm up to each other. They all face some of their worst fears for each other and bond as a team.

As a way to end, here are a few little odds and ends:

The game has so many cool easter eggs. Several objects tied to the main five characters’ pasts can be found throughout the game which opens up special dialogue. This is where we learn more in-depth backstories for each.
The soundtrack is predictably awesome. Peter has brought many classic rock tunes from Earth to help psych up himself and his team. Joan Jett, KISS, Blondie, Def Leppard, and Bonnie Tyler are just a few choice selections.
You can be Rickrolled by the game.
One of my favorite gameplay mechanics is the huddle. In the middle of a battle, the Guardians huddle around Starlord and you pick the best dialogue option to push them towards victory. If successful, everybody is more powerful for a limited time.