Marvel Cosmic Invasion from the creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge simply couldn't pass by our hearts as retro game lovers. The project has already become popular with players: it has 85% positive reviews on Steam, and you will find out its pros and cons in our review!
Classic in the Flesh!
Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a 2D side-scroller in the beat 'em up genre. The very game in the spirit of classic 16-bit projects from SEGA and Dendy is a real homage to the golden age of the gaming industry!
This is reflected in everything:
- pixel art graphics;
- detailed "juicy" animations, where the heroes have several cool forms - especially Venom, who literally transforms on the fly;
- a corresponding color palette that refers to both old games and comics of those years - the colors there were very specific;
- the design of the world and game logic is built so that you need to be on the same line with the enemy in order to strike him.
Although, of course, there are modern references. For example, on one of the levels you can see Jeff the Shark in the background - a character who appeared in comics in 2018 and became super popular largely thanks to the game Marvel Rivals.
The plot of Marvel Cosmic Invasion tells about the attack of Annihilus: the villain from the Negative Zone - a universe that consists of antimatter. His invasion affects various corners of space: from Earth to the worlds of the Kree, Asgard, and the territories of Galactus himself - the devourer of worlds. The campaign consists of 16 missions, where each can be completed in 7-10 minutes: we go through the location, fight ordinary enemies, and at the end we fight the boss. Moreover, there are no save points along the way - lost to the boss, leaving him with health for one hit, or could not cope with the crowd of minions on the way to him? Start the level from the very beginning!
The player takes control of various superheroes and travels from location to location, freeing territories from the enemy army - there are no twists and revelations. The local plot is a very simple "golden age" comic about how heroes and even villains unite against a common enemy.
All this creates a warm "tube" atmosphere, returning the player to the times when games were exactly like this.
Even the difficulty curve, which the game has strange. Ideally, it should increase from level to level - and at first everything happens that way. The bosses of the first levels can be passed without noticing, while the next ones are already starting to cause problems, which is normal. But towards the end, there are situations when the final enemies are much easier than the previous ones. You pass the mission on the first try, without actually experiencing any problems, and you think: "Have I become so good, or are they just giving me a break?".
The bosses themselves often fight not quite honestly: their attacks have auto-aiming and they do not allow you to normally use the heroes' skills. Because of this, it is not always possible to dodge in time, because the boss can literally catch up with you with his attack - especially if it is long-range! You have to be doubly careful and attentive. Is it worth saying that this can be annoying - just like before?
But what is most annoying is the villains' shield - in fact, this is an additional health bar that needs to be demolished first. And it would be okay if this only needed to be done once, but they periodically update it, dragging out the duel! By the way, problems with the difficulty curve are mostly related to shields - the easy bosses simply don't have them!
But the final opponent - Annihilus - is a special case in this regard. If the other villains update their shields a maximum of 2-3 times per fight, then this bastard does it almost immediately after removing the previous strip, allowing himself to be hit only a few times. He doesn't have such difficult attacks that you can easily adapt to, but thanks to this feature, the fight can drag on.
On the one hand, all this increases the requirements for the player's skills, making the game more difficult. Which means - more interesting! It is already short, and if it could be completed on the fly without experiencing problems - it would be even more обидно!
But on the other hand, these shields are nothing more than an artificial overestimation of the difficulty of the battle. The developers could well have made the final opponents on the levels more diverse, adding more techniques or additional phases of the battle - there are many options to competently "stretch" the fight and it's not up to us to teach them!
Well, so we get an experience similar to the classic one, when battles could really seem unfair and "burned" from them significantly. But when you defeat the villain on the fifth or seventh try, you begin to appreciate the path you have traveled!
Many Heroes, Little Leveling - and That's Good!
A set of 15 characters is available for players to complete: Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Black Panther, Storm, Wolverine, Nova, Cosmic Ghost Rider, Beta Ray Bill, She-Hulk, Rocket Raccoon. Some of the heroes are not available immediately, but act as bosses, after defeating which they join the team: Phoenix, Venom, Phyla-Vell and Silver Surfer.
Before the start of each mission, you are given the opportunity to choose two characters for whom you will have to complete the level. Here the game recommends choosing two specific ones, who are the actors in the plot of the level, but no one limits the player - you can take whoever you want.
Some of the heroes can fly - everything corresponds to the canon from the comics. In battle, this feature can and should also be used, since there are a lot of flying enemies here and it is much easier to beat them for characters who can be in the air than trying to catch them in a jump.
In battle, the player has:
- normal hit;
- dodge/block - each hero has their own, and those who can block can also parry attacks, including boss attacks, which, with the proper skill of the player, simplifies the battle with them;
- strong attack - also unique: Spider-Man and Venom attract enemies, Rocket Raccoon makes a powerful volley from a large cannon, and so on;
- special long-range attack that consumes a separate scale that recovers itself;
- a combined attack from two characters that deals a lot of damage, but absorbs the concentration scale - it can be restored by picking up special items or dealing damage to enemies;
- superpower - a powerful area attack that eats up half the concentration bar.
All this can and should be combined, trying to avoid damage. There are also some interesting features of specific heroes that are suitable for specific opponents. Those who can control/attack electric can cause a short circuit in robots, Venom interacts well with symbiotes, and so on.
Characters can also be leveled up - experience is given even when defeated. The leveling itself is very conditional: there are only 10 levels and for each only the passive characteristics of the heroes are improved: health, concentration and talents. Thank God there are no skill choices - at least someone didn't make an RPG out of the "beat 'em up"!
Additional Levels
The game also has a cooperative mode - up to four players maximum. A significant part of the fun is the ability to play both in local mode, sitting in front of the monitor with a friend, and in online co-op with comrades on the network. Combining modes is also allowed. But it is important to remember that the game automatically scales its difficulty with each joining player - the more players, the more health the enemies and bosses receive and the more damage they deal.
In addition to the usual campaign, Marvel Cosmic Invasion also has an arcade mode. And no, it doesn't simplify the passage at all - on the contrary. In it, you need to pass the entire game in one go, and each loss will poison you to the very beginning of the passage
There are also small levels, the passage of which opens up various additional bonuses, such as the colors of the heroes' equipment or music.
In technical terms, the project has no problems - which is not surprising, given its retro style. But with the price tag, there is an obvious overkill: asking for 1500 rubles for a game that can be completed in 3 hours is not serious! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge at one time amazed me with a price of 880 rubles, but here - a quiet horror! Fortunately, the project is available in the Game Pass service.
Diagnosis
Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a small and "tube" project made with love for the classic era of 16-bit games and old comics. The graphics, gameplay, animations and atmosphere here are appropriate.
The plot of the game is very simple and not very memorable, and the passage takes only 3-4 hours - not counting the time for replaying levels, which will have to be done regularly.
Instead of a story, the project pleases with gameplay: a rich selection of diverse heroes, of which there are 15; a good set of skills - some of them are very reminiscent of what was in Marvel Rivals - which are sometimes interesting to combine; you have to play as two characters at once.
The difficulty is constantly jumping: some bosses pose a considerable challenge, forcing you to study all the possibilities of the combat system, while others can be passed on the first try, without sweating too much. And this does not depend on either the stage of the passage or the lore - it is very easy to defeat the same Thanos!
Well, and on top of the gameplay splendor is polished by the ability to play in co-op with friends, which makes the game much more fun and replayable. True, you will have to pay for it - the project costs as much as 1500 rubles! Only availability in Xbox Game Pass saves.
Pro
- Classic 16-bit style: graphics and animations
- Rich set of heroes
- Deep combat gameplay
- Possibility to play in co-op
Contra
- Strange balance of difficulty
- High price tag
