Guardians of the Galaxy is a linear action-adventure, not Mass Effect

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is the next game from Deus Ex: Human Revolution developer Eidos Montreal, so that and both the player choices and the Mass Effect-style conversation system shown in the trailer led fans to hope the game would be an RPG – apparently that’s not the case, Guardians of the Galaxy is a linear action-adventure.

Guardians of the Galaxy was revealed at E3 2024 in June and was given a release date of October, and it certainly looks to be a fun game. However, the choice-based dialogue system and the space exploration seemed to suggest that Guardians of the Galaxy was a Mass Effect-style RPG – that’s apparently not the case.

Speaking with RPG Site, senior creative director Jean-François Dugas confirmed that Guardians of the Galaxy had “some RPG elements”, but “it is still an action-adventure first and foremost”. The story does indeed have some moments of player choice – from some scenes getting a “different flavour” to a whole new scenario playing out for the bigger choices.

However, the story will have a rubber-band effect – ironically similar to a Telltale adventure game – so the story will mostly play out the same for all players. “Its linearity will allow all players to go on the same epic adventure” says Dugas, although “choices made during the journey will make players experience certain parts differently.” Guardians of the Galaxy will also track the player’s choices, too. “It is fair then to think about possible payoffs even after the credits rolled!”

While there will be plenty of upgrades to unlock for Star-Lord to customise the character how the player wants to play Peter Quill, the story and game itself is overall a linear action-adventure – which is no bad thing, but not what some players may have been expecting. There won’t be any microtransactions, at the very least.

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