It's no secret that this game has been on life support for a while now. The live-service model was a bad angle to take with this game unless the developers had had plenty of content ready to come in the next few months. This first expansion is around a year after the release of the game proper, and it's too little, too late. I hate being that harsh, because I do genuinely enjoy this game, but this storyline really disappointed me.
Let's start off with the positives: Wakanda is stunningly gorgeous. The environments in this game were always good, but this is absolutely beautiful. The city feels like a blend of the MCU's Asgard and Wakanda, and the splendor is palpable. The jungles are lush and fertile. A lot of work was put into this, and it shows.
On another note, T'Challa has solid gameplay. He's fairly easy to learn, but difficult to master. How much you'll enjoy playing as him will depend on how much you enjoy the mastery process. I tapped out by the end of the campaign, but YMMV.
And now for the negatives. First off, something was really off with Christopher Judge's voice for T'Challa. It waffles back and forth between high-pitched and deeper in his register at odd times. I've seen enough Stargate to know that Judge is a more than capable actor, so I'm thinking he must have been given bad direction. It's also a little distracting how much Klaue sounds like Wolverine and [[Cowboy Bebop: Spike Spiegal]], but I guess that happens when you hire Steve Blum.
But the really big issue is the story of the game. We pick up with Aim having already invaded Wakanda and the Avengers already on the way to help. We're given hints at a larger backstory and history for the characters, but little of it impacts the story. It's a real shame, because some of what we get is truly tantalizing. After A-Day, T'Challa quit the Avengers and decided to close the borders of Wakanda again and leave the rest of the world to its fate. But T'Challa and the Wakandans perspective on the events in the story before this are completely ignored, and the Avengers treat this more like a diplomatic mission than helping a former friend and teammate that they have history with. It's especially frustrating that Tony's interactions are rather friendly when an e-mail you find out in the world has him incredibly angry at T'Challa for abandoning them. It really makes me wonder if the writers were communicating with each other at all.
And the story itself really isn't that engaging either. Because we're given so little time to connect with these new characters who are driving the plot, we have little reason to care about them. It really feels like the writers were banking on audience familiarity with the Black Panther movie giving them the knowledge needed, but forgetting that the world and characters they've set up are different from the MCU. We don't know this T'Challa. We don't know this Shuri. We don't know this Okoye. As such what little development they do receive feels more like lip service than a genuine character arc. Just like the Future Imperfect DLC that introduced Clint, this feels hollow and unsatisfying. And unfortunately the plot doesn't pick up the slack in that regard.
So in the end War for Wakanda is another disappointing expansion in a game that is increasingly wearing out its good will. It adds some nice new bells and whistles, but all the polish in the world can't make up for the fact that right now, this game desperately needs a better story and a way to make the endless grinding feel worthwhile. Because right now it's feeling more and more like it would be better to just end this version of the Avengers and reboot with something more akin to the recent Guardians of the Galaxy game. And that's sad, because I believe there is potential in this game and the story it's trying to tell. I believe that Avengers can be more. I just wish that something would prove me right.
VideoGame War for Wakanda: A Losing War for the Audience's Attention
It's no secret that this game has been on life support for a while now. The live-service model was a bad angle to take with this game unless the developers had had plenty of content ready to come in the next few months. This first expansion is around a year after the release of the game proper, and it's too little, too late. I hate being that harsh, because I do genuinely enjoy this game, but this storyline really disappointed me.
Let's start off with the positives: Wakanda is stunningly gorgeous. The environments in this game were always good, but this is absolutely beautiful. The city feels like a blend of the MCU's Asgard and Wakanda, and the splendor is palpable. The jungles are lush and fertile. A lot of work was put into this, and it shows.
On another note, T'Challa has solid gameplay. He's fairly easy to learn, but difficult to master. How much you'll enjoy playing as him will depend on how much you enjoy the mastery process. I tapped out by the end of the campaign, but YMMV.
And now for the negatives. First off, something was really off with Christopher Judge's voice for T'Challa. It waffles back and forth between high-pitched and deeper in his register at odd times. I've seen enough Stargate to know that Judge is a more than capable actor, so I'm thinking he must have been given bad direction. It's also a little distracting how much Klaue sounds like Wolverine and [[Cowboy Bebop: Spike Spiegal]], but I guess that happens when you hire Steve Blum.
But the really big issue is the story of the game. We pick up with Aim having already invaded Wakanda and the Avengers already on the way to help. We're given hints at a larger backstory and history for the characters, but little of it impacts the story. It's a real shame, because some of what we get is truly tantalizing. After A-Day, T'Challa quit the Avengers and decided to close the borders of Wakanda again and leave the rest of the world to its fate. But T'Challa and the Wakandans perspective on the events in the story before this are completely ignored, and the Avengers treat this more like a diplomatic mission than helping a former friend and teammate that they have history with. It's especially frustrating that Tony's interactions are rather friendly when an e-mail you find out in the world has him incredibly angry at T'Challa for abandoning them. It really makes me wonder if the writers were communicating with each other at all.
And the story itself really isn't that engaging either. Because we're given so little time to connect with these new characters who are driving the plot, we have little reason to care about them. It really feels like the writers were banking on audience familiarity with the Black Panther movie giving them the knowledge needed, but forgetting that the world and characters they've set up are different from the MCU. We don't know this T'Challa. We don't know this Shuri. We don't know this Okoye. As such what little development they do receive feels more like lip service than a genuine character arc. Just like the Future Imperfect DLC that introduced Clint, this feels hollow and unsatisfying. And unfortunately the plot doesn't pick up the slack in that regard.
So in the end War for Wakanda is another disappointing expansion in a game that is increasingly wearing out its good will. It adds some nice new bells and whistles, but all the polish in the world can't make up for the fact that right now, this game desperately needs a better story and a way to make the endless grinding feel worthwhile. Because right now it's feeling more and more like it would be better to just end this version of the Avengers and reboot with something more akin to the recent Guardians of the Galaxy game. And that's sad, because I believe there is potential in this game and the story it's trying to tell. I believe that Avengers can be more. I just wish that something would prove me right.