Marvel's Avengers Academy
Out now on iOS and Android. Review. Hints. Tips.
Update 23 Feb: There has been a large update in the game, including a short beach limited edition event and a bunch of new levels and characters. Including Task Master, Kamala Khan and Scott Lang! YAY!
So I'm not much of a gamer myself. Despite some significant art skills I have literally no hand-eye coordination and I'm terrible at first person shooters etc. I don't have time for 40+ hour long epics. I have a really addictive personality so I daren't try to get into online PC gaming as I'd disappear into a pit and never return from my man cave. The last new release game I bought was probably Marvel's Ultimate alliance on the Wii. I'm a casual gamer at best. I like the sort of none game, games. Things like Professor Layton, Animal Crossing, Advance Wars and Pokemon. Boy, do I love pokemon. Things that take time and patience, slowly levelling up characters with no real skill involved. Games you can pick up for short bursts at a time, that won't take forever before another save point. Those are my jam.
A little background on the name. Avengers Academy was originally a comic title. It was a spinoff and result of the Civil War event. New powered heroes were required to register their identities with the government and undergo basic training. So what you see here in the game is a similar idea of having a SHIELD run campus, only this time you are recruiting your typical Avengers made famous with the cinematic universe, rather than obscure new heroes.
This is Marvel's answer to the app store "freemium" game, to rival things like Simpsons Tapped Out, Family Guy Quest for stuff, Jurassic Park, Flintstones Bedrock etc. You are essentially tasked with building a campus and filling it with buildings, slowly recruiting more characters. Your typical Marvel hero characters are depicted as teens and are appropriately dressed in the latest trends. There are coins to be earned and there is the rarer gem currency that you can purchase with real money. Typically you can play these games with or without spending any money. One way takes slightly longer.
I've played through to level 12 so far and the game doesn't feel as polished as it's rivals. There are too many tasks featuring the same characters, while others can be left with nothing to do. Whereas in Tapped out you can leave everyone with a task to earn money, in Academy you only get rewards if you accomplish tasks from your menu screen. So you could need Ironman to finish 4 different tasks yet there's no point giving Falcon a job as it will take time but give you no reward unless the game has told you he needs to do it. It's the equivalent of playing the most recent Pokemon games and then going back to play the first: The maths behind it doesn't add up. You can be stuck in a rut simply going through the motions for days.
I'll be honest I've never spent money on a freemium game before but I took advantage of the buy one get one free starter pack. £3.99 for coins and you got the equivalent in gems too. Perhaps their tactics and maths worked as I simply bought it out of frustration. I wouldn't spend more than that though. I figured it was what I'd spend on a comic that would take me 15 minutes to read and I'm going to get hours out of this game.
After playing for a few days now I've come up with a list of hints for new players:
1. It is a game where you only get rewards or money back for completing tasks and missions. After assigning all of your characters to missions you may be tempted to give an unassigned character a task. Don't. It doesn't give anything back and you will only need that character later and won't be able to until they've finished.
2. Most nerds who read this or have more than a casual interest will understand collecting. When it comes to assigning tasks, always take the ones that give rewards for your inventory over those that simply give money. They are used to unlock new characters, and you will never have enough. So when one comes along, prioritise it!
3. Currency is somewhat scarce in the game. It almost tries to slow you down by overwhelming you. There where points where in order to progress at some points I required currency for multiple things but could only afford one. You need roughly a thousand in game currency to upgrade or unlock a character or likewise build or upgrade a building. My advice is prioritise. Complete one fully before moving onto the next. Use a little tunnel vision rather than juggling all at once.
4. There isn't a moment to loose in this game. the added layer of not being able to get money by simply giving a task to a character and instead relying on the game telling you who needs to do what, in order to progress, leaves you waiting. A lot. The kind of "waiting in a hurry" that these games help twist your arm into spending real cash on. Don't get frustrated just activate the push notifications so that you make the most of every moment in the game.
I'm impressed with the male and female character split too. There are plenty of both. There won't be any "boycott this as there's no women characters" blog posts. So far I've got Black Widow, Enchantress, Spider-Woman and Wasp. I can't wait to get Ms. Marvel, she's a favourite of mine. I've also got Ironman, Falcon and Loki (currently working on Cap). The game uses Nick Fury, Pepper Pots, Odin and more to assign you missions. There's a nice mixture of fan favourites and diversity very early on.
Over all, I found this game a tad lacking and slow compared to it's competition. However the bright colours, fun teen redesigns and casual pick up whenever you feel like aspect of the game, has kept me coming back. If Marvel is your thing, it's worth it for a fun little free to play game, but I'd also recommend Puzzle Quest and other Marvel games over this, at least while it finds its feet.
Update 23 Feb: There has been a large update in the game, including a short beach limited edition event and a bunch of new levels and characters. Including Task Master, Kamala Khan and Scott Lang! YAY!
So I'm not much of a gamer myself. Despite some significant art skills I have literally no hand-eye coordination and I'm terrible at first person shooters etc. I don't have time for 40+ hour long epics. I have a really addictive personality so I daren't try to get into online PC gaming as I'd disappear into a pit and never return from my man cave. The last new release game I bought was probably Marvel's Ultimate alliance on the Wii. I'm a casual gamer at best. I like the sort of none game, games. Things like Professor Layton, Animal Crossing, Advance Wars and Pokemon. Boy, do I love pokemon. Things that take time and patience, slowly levelling up characters with no real skill involved. Games you can pick up for short bursts at a time, that won't take forever before another save point. Those are my jam.
 |
| Fun teen redesigns and bright colours make this a very enjoyable play. |
A little background on the name. Avengers Academy was originally a comic title. It was a spinoff and result of the Civil War event. New powered heroes were required to register their identities with the government and undergo basic training. So what you see here in the game is a similar idea of having a SHIELD run campus, only this time you are recruiting your typical Avengers made famous with the cinematic universe, rather than obscure new heroes.
 |
| You won't see your obscure favourites here! |
This is Marvel's answer to the app store "freemium" game, to rival things like Simpsons Tapped Out, Family Guy Quest for stuff, Jurassic Park, Flintstones Bedrock etc. You are essentially tasked with building a campus and filling it with buildings, slowly recruiting more characters. Your typical Marvel hero characters are depicted as teens and are appropriately dressed in the latest trends. There are coins to be earned and there is the rarer gem currency that you can purchase with real money. Typically you can play these games with or without spending any money. One way takes slightly longer.
I've played through to level 12 so far and the game doesn't feel as polished as it's rivals. There are too many tasks featuring the same characters, while others can be left with nothing to do. Whereas in Tapped out you can leave everyone with a task to earn money, in Academy you only get rewards if you accomplish tasks from your menu screen. So you could need Ironman to finish 4 different tasks yet there's no point giving Falcon a job as it will take time but give you no reward unless the game has told you he needs to do it. It's the equivalent of playing the most recent Pokemon games and then going back to play the first: The maths behind it doesn't add up. You can be stuck in a rut simply going through the motions for days.
 |
| Some great character redesigns, and plenty of un-lockables will keep you coming back for more. |
After playing for a few days now I've come up with a list of hints for new players:
1. It is a game where you only get rewards or money back for completing tasks and missions. After assigning all of your characters to missions you may be tempted to give an unassigned character a task. Don't. It doesn't give anything back and you will only need that character later and won't be able to until they've finished.
2. Most nerds who read this or have more than a casual interest will understand collecting. When it comes to assigning tasks, always take the ones that give rewards for your inventory over those that simply give money. They are used to unlock new characters, and you will never have enough. So when one comes along, prioritise it!
 |
| Aim for those textbooks and trophies over the currency. You'll need it! |
3. Currency is somewhat scarce in the game. It almost tries to slow you down by overwhelming you. There where points where in order to progress at some points I required currency for multiple things but could only afford one. You need roughly a thousand in game currency to upgrade or unlock a character or likewise build or upgrade a building. My advice is prioritise. Complete one fully before moving onto the next. Use a little tunnel vision rather than juggling all at once.
4. There isn't a moment to loose in this game. the added layer of not being able to get money by simply giving a task to a character and instead relying on the game telling you who needs to do what, in order to progress, leaves you waiting. A lot. The kind of "waiting in a hurry" that these games help twist your arm into spending real cash on. Don't get frustrated just activate the push notifications so that you make the most of every moment in the game.
 |
| Un-lockable zones include, SHIELD HQ, The Raft, WWII ruins, The Hellicarrier, Asgard and more... |
Over all, I found this game a tad lacking and slow compared to it's competition. However the bright colours, fun teen redesigns and casual pick up whenever you feel like aspect of the game, has kept me coming back. If Marvel is your thing, it's worth it for a fun little free to play game, but I'd also recommend Puzzle Quest and other Marvel games over this, at least while it finds its feet.
Marvel's Avengers Academy
Reviewed by Matt
on
03:15:00
Rating:
Reviewed by Matt
on
03:15:00
Rating:
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