So, you’ve played both of the Playstation Spiderman games to death and Marvel’s Avengers isn’t quite scratching that superhero itch, huh? Well lucky for you, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is on the way, and so far it looks like a great single-player superhero romp with the Guardian’s classic flair.
Darryl Purdy, the game’s Cinematics and Animation Director, brought us some brand new footage of the game in a recent blogpost featuring the titular Guardians negotiating with Lady Hellbender, a collector of exotic creatures from across the galaxy. Hellbender is a fairly recent addition to the Marvel Universe, first appearing in 2015’s Totally Awesome Hulk before making a name for herself as the galaxy’s greatest monster hunter. Her addition in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is proof that developers Square Enix are taking the time to fully utilize marvel comic’s weird and wild cast of characters to build their new original story. Purdy states:
Shooting a complex original story, with a large ensemble cast and close to 6 hours of interactive cinematics was no small feat. Most scenes have at least the 5 Guardians, and in many cases, other characters from the Marvel universe.
As for who these other characters will turn out to be, fans will have to wait for more information on the game to release.
Another interesting element of this footage is the branching path offered to the player during negotiations. The player, as Starlord, is given the opportunity to choose between taking charge in the conversation or letting Drax try to flirt with Hellbender, which results in some very awkward, oh-so-Drax compliments like “your weapon is big” and “you look smaller than I’d imagined.” Purdy explains that choices like these will lead to radically different paths through the chapters of the game. As an example, he explains some more about just what the Guardians are doing chatting with Lady Hellbender (Getting into some light spoiler territory, so turn back now if you want to head into Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy completely fresh).
The Guardians will be selling either Rocket or Groot to Hellbender as a scam to earn plenty of credits quick and pay off their fine to the Nova Corps. “Players have the choice to sell Rocket or Groot, and this decision will create different paths in this chapter,” says Purdy. What these paths lead to is anyone’s guess, but its’ unlikely that whoever you sell will be helping much during their own rescue.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy releases October 26th, 2021 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Switch (cloud version). You can watch the Lady Hellbender cutscene below.