Playing Marvel’s Avengers beta this weekend has been pretty good fun.

It’s definitely got a Destiny-like feel to it with mixing up equipment, enhancing it, and tackling various mission types, but it also pays great tribute to Stan Lee’s superheroes.

Each one plays in a unique way, with Thor being able to fling his hammer at every angle, Iron Man propelling himself to the skies, and Black Widow using guns and athleticism to down anyone and anything.

But it’s Hulk that really sold me on the game and his raw, brutish power that can cave through walls and pound enemies through the floor.

That move he does in Avengers, grabbing Loki by the foot, slamming him headfirst into the ground is in there, as well as a massive thunderclap which pushes everything back and sends them reeling.

The beta definitely shines the brightest spotlight on Hulk. I think Crystal Dynamics and Square have immediately recognised his potential to be a fan favourite and it’s a good choice. He fits the mould of the game they’ve built like a glove.

The first mission lets you take each Avenger for a spin, giving you a great opportunity to compare the way they play and see how they fare in battle.

There’s a nice boss battle right at the end with The Taskmaster, which sets up some nice action spots and helps you learn countering and the different action types. But it also sets the scene for the events to come.

Marvel’s Avengers centres its story around the separation of Earth’s Mightiest heroes and it would seem, over the course of the game, it will be up to you to bring them back together again.

The beta primarily situates itself around the War Table which lets you select different mission types, the game showing you your comparative power level to see how you match up. Most of the time, the odds will be against you.

For the beta, you’ll eventually get access to a handful of heroes, but I mostly mained Hulk for missions, just stomping around, clubbing enemies around, and letting out bloodcurdling roars for the heck of it.

His pace and power just suit the game, easy to play, can switch off a bit while maining, and slightly tiered above his enemies compared to the rest. But there’s some advance skills that don’t make him wear out his welcome too quickly.

I’m still unsure about the longevity of the game. I enjoyed the beta but found myself running out of steam after the first few missions. It remains to be seen what the game has in its locker the deeper you get into it. More of the same could definitely start getting stale real quick.

Apart from Hulk, I can definitely see me enjoying playing Black Widow over the course of the game. She has a real dynamism to her attack style and her guns akimbo attack style just works for these style of games.

Flying around as Iron Man is also going to be pretty fun for a hot minute. Mixing missions up between the three of them should keep things relatively fresh, surely.

The story seems pretty interesting too, though Kamala Khan’s gushing over everything little thing already feels a bit tired.

Still, I had fun with the beta and most of that is thanks to Doctor Banner and his best green friend. It’s a good fit, and all worth a play just for the smashing. Helps get some of those 2020 frustrations out, at least.

Marvel’s Avengers releases September 4th on PC, PS4, and XO, with next gen releases arriving at console launch.

Tested Open Beta