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This week saw the long-awaited reveal of Spider-Man for Marvel’s Avengers, and I’m kicking myself for getting my hopes up. Crystal Dynamics has been dealt a bad hand with its live service superhero adventure, failing to garner an audience while Square Enix is happy to throw the studio under the bus for its efforts, labeling it as the wrong fit for the game. So why did you assign Crystal to it in the first place then?
It’s all been a bit weird, but one of the potential saving graces was the arrival of Spider-Man, but as our own Stacey Henley has already said, it’s far too late for him to swing in and save the day. Black Panther was viewed with a similar level of reverence, many believing his expansion would mark a new beginning for Marvel’s Avengers, abandoning its tired grind in favour of a solo campaign that capitalised on everything that made parts of the base game so compelling.
It turns out that after the narrative closed its doors, Black Panther was folded into the main roster and was equally as dull as the daily grind whittled down to beating up robots in exchange for dull resources and even duller cosmetics. Unless you were a hardcore superhero fan willing to put up with the monotony, there was very little here to keep you invested. So players walked away, pleased with the expansion but fully aware that this live service didn’t offer nearly enough. Who can blame them? They were right.
Spider-Man isn’t even being given the expansion treatment, but instead being thrown into a hero event later this month with a handful of missions that will introduce his character into the wider crew. He’s a PlayStation exclusive, further trunctuating his appeal because Sony has an obsession with holding the webhead close to its corporate chest. Fair enough, but this exclusivity only lowers Marvel’s Avengers already slim chances at making a comeback - especially as Xbox’s Game Pass seemed like the best bet for that. His arrival will come and go, treated with a small amount of fanfare before fading into obscurity.
I don’t think this inevitable fate is the fault of Crystal Dynamics - the execution of Marvel’s Avengers has been flawed from the start. Upon its reveal the entire cast was demonised for looking like Primark renditions of the MCU, worthwhile performances and the introduction of distinct characters like Kamala Khan doing little to alleviate these comparisons. Her vocal performance wasn’t too hot either, which didn’t help in endearing players to the campaign. Critics were relatively positive about the base game, but once the endgame came into view things immediately turned sour. There was nothing to do except jump into repetitive missions and beat up robots until you had enough currency to purchase stuff that wasn’t worth the busywork anyway. It wasn’t fun, and a dodgy content pipeline only made things worse.
Spider-Man can’t fix something that is fundamentally flawed, especially when his own personality pales in comparison to all other examples we’ve seen in recent years. Yuri Lowenthal and Tom Holland are excellent renditions of the wall crawler, while this one’s shrill voice and weirdly boyish disposition makes him feel like a hero that doesn’t really belong. The performance isn’t bad by any means, but like much of the cast, those ingrained in popular culture will make comparisons whether they want to or not. It’s impossible to do anything else.
The reveal trailer could have been a bombastic display of his abilities, peeking into how his backstory will weave into this version of the superhero universe. Instead he’s fighting a bunch of generic goons in a car park, when all of the Avengers inexplicably show up to lend a hand because they have nothing better to do apparently. It just felt generic in a way that so much of the game does, failing to capitalise on the personality that makes Insomniac’s efforts or the MCU so appealing.
Comics are about cracking wise and emotionally resonant stories that delve into the struggles of saving the world while staying close to the ones you love. Marvel’s Avengers forgets all that and forces these characters into a model they just aren’t built for, so each misstep stands out as a glaring issue that will keep pushing people away. I wish this wasn’t the case, but this game continues to dig a grave so deep that it will eventually hit bedrock, and once you reach that point of no return you either go free-to-play or throw in the towel for good. Square Enix has already written the project off as a financial failure, so the cynic in me believes that Spider-Man is being introduced to settle an existing contractual agreement as opposed to being a meaningful addition to the game.
It’s a means to an end that will inevitably lead nowhere. People aren’t talking about Marvel’s Avengers, and whenever they do it’s done with a tone of deliberate mockery or hesitant sympathy. Crystal Dynamics are trying to piece together the remains of a project that feels doomed to fail, new additions doing little to alleviate a doomed trajectory. Part of me is praying that it can turn things around, but the realist in me is waiting for the sand in the hourglass to run out for good so the studio can commence work on something it’s passionate about - maybe even a Tomb Raider with dinosaurs?
I love Spider-Man, but so many versions of the character in such a short space of time means one would eventually short, and it was always going to be the character who doesn’t have the universe or narrative creativity to support his very existence. Marvel’s Avengers, with the exception of a few excellent moments, just isn’t that compelling. It’s a chore, showcasing how live service games can go terribly wrong when you fail to have the foresight to consider how they will be supported and received over a number of years. Maybe I’m wrong and he’ll knock it out of the park, but all signs point to the opposite being true.