Avengers Initiative ReviewFormat: iPad, iPhone

Developer: Marvel

US iTunes, App Store, iBookstore, and Mac App Store

I have been a huge comic book fan for the better part of 30 years now. So I am always up for checking out the latest games based on my favourite super heroes. And especially one that is as hyped as this. Avengers Initiative had the honour of picking up the prestigious IGN Peoples Choice Award. And as a result of winning that award the game went free to download.

From a graphical point of view Avengers Initiative is absolutely amazing. Especially when you have this bad boy up and running on the latest iPad. The characters themselves the Hulk and all the bad guys he will be battling look great. As well as boasting some amazingly impressive character models. The background are also just as equally impressive. Some games I feel that are on the iOS these days really give the home consoles a run for there money in the graphics department and this is certainly one of them.

So we have established that the game looks great, but how does it play? Well I personally loved the game, but part of me does think that is because I had my rose tinted Marvel glasses on. You see I have heard many people say that the game is boring, but from my point of view I had a ton of fun playing it.

Now let me get this out there right away Avenger Initiative initially lets you play as The Hulk. You can also purchase Captain America, Iron Man and Thor. Each character plays differently, but for this free download we will be looking at The Hulk as he is who you will be playing as.

Before we even get into the game play lets talk about the games story that is very well told. You see a bunch of classic Marvel villains have escaped and Nick Fury has sent out Hulk to track them down put a beating on them and then bring them back. Sure it will not win any awards for its story telling, but its a fun story that is very well told none the less.

The basic game play will you you needing to tap and swipe the screen in order to attack and parry attacks from the villain that you are battling. As well as this however you also have buttons on the screen that will let you block and dodge attacks as well. Some levels do have environmental attacks that will let Hulk use the scenery or something on the level to do some damage with. It is a very easy to learn combat system and it is one that I found very enjoyable.

There are also some RPG style elements to the game where you can level up your character. My favourite aspect of this was the alternate costumes that you could unlock. This is something I am sure all fellow comic book fans will get a kick out of. I in particular loved how they put the King Hulk costume from the Planet and World War hulk stories in there. These costumes actually made me want to play the game over and over again until I could unlock them all.

I do have one issue with the game and that is the load times. I am not a fan of long load times and Avengers Initiative has some that really got on my nerves. The reason they got on my nerves was because they happen during a battle. Many of the environmental attacks that I mentioned before will break up the game in order to load for a few seconds this really takes you out of the game and I hope that it is something that will be fixed during an update.

Many people have also complained about the amount of in app purchases. And granted there are many like being able to open the Captain America portion of the story (which is even better than hulk’s I might add!!!) But at the end of the day you do not have to do this if you do not want.

In all as a stand along Hulk game Avengers Initiative is a fantastic game and for free you really cannot complain. But if you are a Marvel fan then you probably will want to spend the extra cash in order to unlock the other Marvel heroes to play as. This is one of those games that I hand on heart have no idea why so many people are giving it negative reviews.

US iTunes, App Store, iBookstore, and Mac App Store