Review: Guardians of the Galaxy: TUW

With Guardians of the Galaxy being only a few short weeks away, Disney and Marvel have launched any original story in the form of a mobile game. Launched yesterday, Guardians of the Galaxy: The Universal Weapon, is a simple strategic arena game with all your favorite characters from the GotG universe. Done in a very Star Wars: The Clone Wars-esque style, the artwork is bright, vibrant, and suits the off-the-wall style that should be GotG. Cut-scenes are done in comic book style and help introduce each character as you unlock them. The animation is fluid and very fun to watch as you direct your little GotG  fighters around the arena.

Gameplay is just that, an arean style battle. You choose your team, starting with Star Lord (who is a ranged fighter). As more and more enemies appear, the battles get harder, and you need to recruit more players. Thus, you unlock Drax next, who, as you could guess, is a close-combat fighter. Followed by Gamora, then Groot (the healer), and finally Rocket Racoon. Basically, your characters enter an area, you tap where you want them to go, then tap them again, drag to the villian, and they start attacking. Pretty simple and straight forward. You do have to purchase the characters with crystals that you obtain by completeing levels in the game.

The character roster so far.

In the actual story mode you can only play the heroes, each with their own abilities, power-ups, and weapons. In the arena you can play any character.You can build up your character any way you like, but you must spend money in order to buy the items. The great thing about the game is after the initial purchase (yes, it cost $4.99) you never have to spend any more money in the game to progress. It is self-contained and can even play while not connected to a mobile network. I found myself playing every free moment I had in order to get further in the game, which looks to be pretty big and has many more surprises left before the movie comes out. 

Overall I think Guardians of the Galaxy: The Universal Weapon is highly entertaining and an addictive game. Fast, fun, and with a great sense of humor, the game moves quickly and allows for customization and varied game play. In a world filled with massive amounts of mobile games this one definitely stands out as one of the best in the universe.

Profile: Star Lord

Name: Peter Quill a.k.a. Star-Lord
First Appearance: Marvel Preview #4

Peter Quill, alias Star-Lord, was born during an unusual astronomical phenomenon when the planets aligned. Seeing no resemblance, the man who believed he was Quill's father angrily accused his wife Meredith of infidelity and attempted to kill the infant, but then died of a sudden heart attack. Quill was then raised by his single mother, Meredith. After returning home from being bullied one day, Quills’ mother saw a bright light and two aliens emerged. Vowing to end the 'Spartoi bloodline', they killed Meredith. After Quill saw the aliens and his dead mother, he panicked and ran. As the aliens pursued, he grabbed a shotgun and managed to kill them with it. He then found a mysterious device in a closet and fled the house right before an alien ship destroyed it.

Quill was placed in an orphanage but escaped and eventually became a trainee NASA astronaut. An alien entity called the Master of the Sun eventually visited the space station that Quill and other astronauts were currently inhabiting, and offered the mantle of Star Lord (an interplanetary policeman) to a worthy candidate, Quill volunteered, but was rejected in favor of a colleague he once treated badly.

Quill was outraged, and NASA ordered his return to Earth and discharge for his conduct. Peter, however, stole a scoutship, and on returning to the space station, took his colleague's place. Quill was then chosen to become Star-Lord, with the Master of the Sun first creating an illusion in which he was able to find and kill the aliens that murdered his mother to free him of his past. Equipped with a sentient vessel called "Ship", Quill commenced his role as Star-Lord.

It was later revealed that Peter Quill's father is Jason of Spartax, the second son of the galactic Emperor who acted as Star-Lord before him.

Star-Lord encountered the former Herald of Galactus, the Fallen One, and was almost killed defeating the entity (Star-Lord's vessel "Ship" was destroyed in the conflict). The pair were subsequently imprisoned in the intergalactic prison the Kyln. Star-Lord was freed by the hero Nova during the Annihilation and aided in the war against villain Annihilus. He later acted as military adviser to the Kree general Ronan the Accuser against the invading alien race the Phalanx. When the Kree homeworld of Hala was conquered by the Phalanx, he led a band of rebels against the invaders until the war was over.

Guardians of the Galaxy

After Ultron and the Phalanx were defeated, Star-Lord formed the new Guardians of the Galaxy. The universe was in a very fragile state after the two Annihilation events and fissures in reality were beginning to form and spread. In order to prevent the collapse of the universe he had Mantis telepathically nudge Adam Warlock, Phyla-Vell, Rocket Raccoon, Drax and Gamora into joining his team. This motley crew set up base in the severed head of a Celestial called Knowhere. When Star-Lord's deception was found out, everyone but Mantis quit the team in disgust and set off on their own quests.

“I almost made it work. The Guardians were more than I could ever have hoped for! But the universe is also more dangerous than I ever imagined! Look around! This is the kind of thing that can happen! The galaxy doesn't need guardians! It doesn't need brave souls! If it's going to survive another one of these, it's going to need absolute bad-asses! It's going to need the biggest guns of all! Cosmic heavy hitters as scary as the menaces they have to face! It's going to need flarking annihilators!”

-Star-Lord

Bang, Zoom, Right to Rocket Racoon!

The long awaited "Guardians of the Galaxy" second trailer launched yesterday and the movie looks like great fun! I think it is a much needed break from serious Marvel and a much needed look into the goofy side of the universe.