Marvel Super Hero Squad Online
Gameplay - 8.5
Presentation - 7.5
Story/Creativity - 7
Lifespan - 7.5
7.6
Despite questioning itself under the name of "free to play", this game is still a good experience to have if you have an open mind. Straight forward gameplay, variety of choices, and effective missions in a way, this game knows its identity. Give this game a chance, you may have as much fun as I did. However, if you were like me, I quickly disregarded the paying methods, which is and will be a drawback for the developers looking for a committed amount of money given from the players.
Marvel Super Hero Squad Online Community Page
Marvel Super Hero Squad Online is an MMO game by Gazillion Entertainment. It is a kid-friendly, kid oriented version of the Marvel universe. All Marvel characters are present, without any dark input like in the comics or movies. This may put a disappointment to older Marvel fans, who may look for a more core experience. Despite lacking this, Marvel Super Hero Squad Online wasn’t intended to do so, and does a good job of what it is really after: Kids and potentially anyone looking for a casual, yet fun time.
The story and creativity is where this could potentially lack on. There really isn’t a story to engage to, as this is a game of jumping in and doing what is offered rather given. By all means, you can play missions, arcade, and card games and gain coins. Coins are what can be used to purchase missions, heroes, and so on and so forth. This can be an issue, as will be explained towards the game play and lifespan section as I will explain later. Overall, there isn’t much of story, or any type of story at all, but it doesn’t aim to be a deep experience or having a campaign in the first place.
The presentation is straight forward. As explained earlier, this game is directed to a more friendly audience, whether it would be specifically kids, or anyone in general who would give the game a shot. None of the images presented are at all misleading, as you should know what to expect out of this game as a whole: A straight forward casual experience and having a good time while at it. While this may be aimed at the younger audience more, I personally and thoroughly enjoyed my way into this game, from the first impression onwards. You are presented with an easy menu, tutorial, and simple controls, whether you want to point and click or use the keyboard. The game presented in front of me is what I would usually expect, and then some more positives along the way.
Speaking of positives, the gameplay is where this shines. There are surprisingly a good amount of content to be played and tried. You can partake in missions, play around with the arcade, play the card game, and a little more. The missions are usually split into three stages, the third usually being the boss or simply the end of the road. You can choose to play solo on your own, or even with three other heroes, which is where the game starts driving in motion. The battles are straight forward, yet enjoyable, especially with other heroes alongside you, should you choose to team up that is.You have a small variety of items on the field as well, from defeating enemies or simply finding them.
Stars help you gain power to use a special, including the powerful “Hero up!” technique, as fruit are items as healing potions and such. Straightforward as it is, this is surprisingly effective. You will find yourself being decisive to unleash your special powers from the stars in certain key moments, or allowing others to collect fruit or should you yourself, whoever may have the better or least chance of fainting. The involvement in the gameplay is where this game shines at, and I enjoyed it.
You can level up your hero and rank completed missions, ranging from different medals. The higher the medal, the better job you did, earning more xp, silver coins, and tickets. These can be used to purchase more characters in the shop, also able to purchase more missions as well. While this is a good key to the games lifespan, enjoyability and simply replay value, this can also be the “killer” towards it. What I mean is, this game unfortunately offers way too many items that has to be purchased rather than having it unlocked later on or being free in the first place. On top of that, silver coins are easy to pass by for a reason. Gold coins, the more valued coins, are coins that are encouraged to obtain in order to get certain or even exclusive heroes. Gold coins are available through purchasing them with real money, and through the Jr.S.H.E.I.L.D Agent subscription.
The subscription can go as high as 79.95 dollars for twelve months at the time I am typing this. This is a big factor if someone is actually willing to play this game in a long term future. By factor, I mean avoiding to pay up and potentially putting the game down rather than giving a thought. While there really isn’t any way to go around this, it still leaves a burden of negatives to this game, especially as some gamers would sigh “Free to play, pay to win.”
