Guardians of the Galaxy review – cinematic adventure marred by tedious gameplay

PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One/Series X/S, Nintendo Switch; Eidos Montreal/Square Enix
Simplistic, repetitive interactions drag on an otherwise engaging story based on the Marvel franchise

A teenager's bedroom some time in the 1980s. A boy is listening to his favourite band when his mother enters his room for a heart-to-heart. A very normal situation, only that this boy is Peter Quill, and this is the memory of how he ended up in space, leading the ragtag mercenary band Guardians of the Galaxy.

In the present, said Guardians - Quill, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket and Groot, for those who've never seen the films or read the comics - are on a monster hunt that will inevitably go very wrong, setting the wider events of the story in motion. Peter, whom players control, will return to the memory of his mother several times throughout the story, an emotional anchor that makes him a more likable protagonist than his movie counterpart.