Fans of the hit Guardians of the Galaxy movies will no doubt love how the game adaptation handled the banter between the characters and the overall feeling of the films. Players assume the role of Peter Quill—aka Star-Lord—and his team of fellow heroes/rejects, known by some as the Guardians of the Galaxy. Peter’s recent venture into making a quick buck for the broke team ends with them getting arrested and having a substantial fine placed on their heads. This leads our “heroes” down a path of random shenanigans that feels like the comic and movies combined for an entirely new experience.

You will quickly notice that the Guardians don’t quite look or sound like their movie or comic counterparts, and that is fine. Rather than using the voices from the films, Guardians of the Galaxy gets an entirely new team to voice our squad—and they do a great job of capturing the comedic timing and bickering found in the series. Hearing Peter bash Rocket’s love of blowing up things first and then asking questions never gets old, and seeing the strange muscle head Drax fail to understand sarcasm never stopped making us laugh. Every character here works incredibly well and rarely did we ever find a repeated line not making us smile.

Now, as great as the banter and comedy is in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, it wouldn’t amount to much if the gameplay was shallow or weak. Thankfully, lots of love was put into Guardians as the gameplay is smooth and fun. At its core, Guardians of the Galaxy is a third-person adventure title with 3rd person shooting and light RPG elements. Sound a bit confusing? Let us break down what you can expect when stepping into the red leather jacket of Star-Lord.

In terms of adventure, players will navigate various landscapes controlling primarily Peter and issuing orders to his team. Outside of combat, you’ll be running around looking for collectibles, scrap metal to upgrade weapons/abilities, and solving puzzles with your team’s varying skills. Gamora can be used to slash through objects, Rocket can unlock doors/blow them up, Drax can lift heavy boxes to be used as stepping stones/platforms, and Groot can create bridges and walkways with his tree-like abilities. Each Guardian has its own uses, and very rarely does the game focus on only one for each level/map.

When Peter and his team are attacked by wild animals and space creatures, that’s when this title unleashes its third-person shooting elements. Peter relies on his dual pistols to unload on enemies, all while being able to dash and fly around enemies with his powerful jet boots. Guardians of the Galaxy allows you to also use skills from the team to attack creating powerful combos and impressive finishing moves. Watching all of the heroes huddle up when your bar fills up is extremely goofy but fitting for the way they fight in general!

RPG-wise, Guardians of the Galaxy uses skill points earned from winning fights effectively to unlock several abilities for each of the Guardians. There isn’t a deep RPG system here, but it works to allow players a bit of wiggle room in making their favorite characters work over another.

Seeing as how Peter is like a '80s kid in space, the game reflects that decade's themes with strong pink colors and other vibrant designs. It’s uncommon to walk through a map and not notice a specific color overshadowing the rest. Even the music—which uses several real songs from the '80s—reflects this with titles like Tears for Fears’ Everybody Wants to Rule the World and A-ha's Take on Me. There are a few dozen great tunes, and hearing them all play randomly makes every huddle worth activating when you get the chance to.

Unfortunately, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy does suffer as the game can be a bit repetitive. Players will often solve the same types of puzzles, engage in similar fights with enemies and use the same tactics on bosses/enemies. This repetitive nature doesn’t sour the overall experience we had with Guardians of the Galaxy, but it is quite noticeable after several hours.