Marvel's Avengers Review Roundup: What Do Critics Think Of Earth's Mightiest Heroes?

Marvel's Avengers dropped yesterday September 4, for PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One. And while many reviews remain unscored, early impressions are being published online. We've rounded up a handful of in-progress reviews, as well as a few finished ones, complete with scores, to give you an idea of what critics think of Crystal Dynamics' take on Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The game's reception thus far seems to be primarily positive, though not overwhelmingly so.

Anyone who preordered the PlayStation Store Exclusive Digital Edition ($70) or Deluxe Edition ($80) was given 72-hour early access to Marvel's Avengers. And those who have been playing early can attest to the wealth of content Crystal Dynamics has packed into the game. From optional HARM Challenge Rooms to its campaign and side objectives to the gear you can collect, there's plenty of stuff for gamers and game critics to sift through to fully understand what Marvel's Avengers has to offer. As a bonus, the next-gen versions will be free upgrades when they release, assuming you stay on the same company's platform. These versions don't yet have confirmed release dates.

In our own Marvel's Avengers Early Review Impressions, editor Phil Hornshaw said he was enjoying it after about seven hours of playtime and called Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel) "the heart and soul" of the game. She is a major focus of the story. You can check below for more of Hornshaw's thoughts, as well as what other critics think of Marvel's Avengers.

• Game: Marvel's Avengers
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, Xbox One
• Developer: Crystal Dynamics
• Release date: September 4
• Price: $60

GameSpot -- Unscored (Early Review Impressions)

"I still have a long way to go in Marvel's Avengers to get the full experience. I'm sitting on several character-specific questlines to complete, plus a bunch of missions that can be played in multiplayer (something I haven't touched yet), and I haven't put in the time just yet to really dive deep into the gear system. I'm especially interested to see how Marvel's Avengers focuses on those aspects after the story content is exhausted and it starts to roll out its biggest challenges, like its raid encounter.

So far, though, I'm really enjoying what Crystal Dynamics is doing with these characters and with the Avengers story the developer is able to tell. It's the heavily video-gamey portions that are dragging me down, and I'm hoping Marvel's Avengers will grow into them as I continue my adventures." -- Phil Hornshaw [Full Review]

Digital Trends -- 3/5

"Marvel's Avengers is a game that 90% of the time is just fine, and 10% of the time will transport you into the world of these heroes like no other game. It's a relief that outside of the tutorial, it never dips into actual bad territory, but the mundaneness of the game doesn't feel appropriate for the Earth's mightiest heroes, especially from a studio with such a pedigree for top-tier titles like the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy." -- Tom Caswell [Full Review]

IGN -- Unscored (Review In Progress)

"With the campaign done, I'm now turning my eyes more seriously toward the multiplayer “Avengers Initiative” content. The single-player story is enjoyable enough that I can at least recommend it on its own merits, but every time I jump into a cookie-cutter multiplayer mission it feels like a pointless grind that I'm not convinced will keep me enthusiastically playing far past the credits. Still, there are loads of missions left for me to complete, including an “Iconic” mission chain for each hero that promises some more nuggets of story." -- Tom Marks [Full Review]

Screen Rant -- 3/5

"If players are just interested in the story of Marvel's Avengersand like what they've seen in the commercials and prereleases streams, the game provides just that. There isn't much more than that, unfortunately, and the multiplayer side of things doesn't seem to offer that much more in terms of variety or novel experiences. As a standalone Marvel experience, this gets the job done, but it certainly wasn't worth the years of buildup or the epic placement it has as one of the top AAA games of 2020. It's less of an Avengers: Endgame and more of an Ant-Man and the Wasp, a perfectly serviceable comic adventure that will draw players in when there's a new story available, but probably not before." -- Alex Santa Maria [Full Review]

The Washington Post -- Unscored (Review In Progress)

"As far as technical concerns go, there were a few graphical bugs, and one moment where I was unable to progress the story. A simple restart made the proper story mission pop up. And the game runs well on the PlayStation 4, with little slowdown and no crashes. So far, Marvel's Avengers is shaping up to be well worth the cover charge. That's a redemption arc I didn't see coming." -- Gene Park [Full Review]