G.O.T.G (GOTY?)

Guardians Of The Galaxy - Game of the Year?

It's a bold title - I know. Bear with me; because it might just be true.

I picked up this game after seeing it available on the PS Plus premium collection. My only knowledge of the game came from the first look at it during the Square-Enix presentation last summer.

The game starts from the point of view of a young Peter Quill, back on earth. Flash forward to the future; he is the captain of a crew called Guardians of the galaxy! A group of misunderstood heroes! The team consists of Groot. The last of his kind, a sentient tree species, capable of only saying the phrase 'I am Groot.' Which never gets old. Rocket. His partner in crime, a super genius woodland creature (not a racoon) hellbent on blowing up everything. Gamora. The world's deadliest woman. She's an assassin and daughter of Thanos. Finally, there is Drax. Drax is an elite warrior. He is renowned for putting an end to Thanos to avenge his family. Drax is incapable of sarcasm, and it is hilarious.

The gameplay revolves around Star-Lord (Peter Quill) fighting enemies with his element guns and commanding his teammates to utilise their combat skills to work together to overcome whatever the galaxy throws at them. You can also use these abilities to solve environmental puzzles to progress across alien environments.

As I mentioned earlier, I had no idea of the plot beforehand and was surprised at just how good it was. The team morale is stretched to breaking point throughout the journey and is unexpectedly emotional in parts! It is counter-balanced with some genuine laugh-out-loud moments. The story never felt stale and left me wanting to play more and more.

My favourite elements of the game were plain and simple. The designs of each planet were wildly different and vibrant and Alien. It looked amazing! Jaw-dropping even. As usual. I took a lot of pictures during my playthrough. I was obsessed with taking photos in combat situations and just with the characters in the environment with the alien backdrops. I over-saturated the photos I took to make each picture pop with colour and heavily leaned into the Alien theme, and the results might be my favourite pictures to date.

This killer combination of great-level design, unique combat and the constant interaction between the team made them feel like family, and that's just what this game is about at its core. It's overcoming the odds with your family. I had a great time with this game, and it's on the short list of being my favourite game this year. It's that good. I implore you to play it. I would love another game set in this universe and to go on another adventure saving the galaxy with its guardians.

Here's a gallery of all the photos I've taken. All unedited and taken with the tools available in game. **there's some spoilers for the game in the photos**