Marvel Strike Force – largely entertaining but completely void of Spider Gwen
I just want to know how it’s possible to play this game as frickin’ Squirrel Girl or a number of other heroes/villains that I’ve never heard of before, but playing as Spider Gwen is not accessible. I know that should be a highlight, getting to know new characters that are often overlooked by Marvel’s biggest standouts, but I want Spider Gwen! Marvel Strike Force is a turn-based role-playing game available for Android and iOS from publisher/developer FoxNext. Since its launch in the Q1 of 2018, the mobile game has amassed over 10,000,000 downloads on Android alone. As far as cell phone role-playing titles are considered, this one has a lot of features that I haven’t found in similar apps yet, and I can see why it continues to be popular two years later.
Marvel Strike Force finds Earth under attack once again, as mega-villain Ultimus creates dimensions that bleed into one another, and puts half of the heroes and villains under his orders by use of mind control. The remaining S.T.R.I.K.E. and S.H.E.I.L.D. members assemble to battle through the dozens of corrupted superheroes before Ultimus gains control of Earth and every pathway that leads to it. Join your favorite Avengers, Fantastic Four members, Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men and undiscovered allies in this race against time and space. Fight alongside their worst enemies before Ultimus makes Thanos look like a chump. But you won’t be fighting with Spider Gwen and clearly I’m still salty about that.
As I mentioned above, you get to play as a number of Marvel heroes; or more-so, you get to have dozens of choices to build your team. There are some common enemy and “supporting characters” who are developed just for the game, as well as just about every major character in the Marvel Universe. I suspect, however, that some characters are on reserve right now as to be unveiled to keep the game fresh at a later date. With this tactic, you get to play as favorites like Thor, Deadpool, Rhino and Jessica Jones, while also getting the chance to discover new personalities like YoYo, Shocker and Black Bolt. One downside, though, is certain personalities are stronger than others, so your favorite Marvel character may be left on the sidelines if their power isn’t up to par.
Unlike other smart phone games, Marvel Strike Force is very generous with rewards. You collect shards to unlock new heroes/villains and need certain items to upgrade your characters. All of this is done alongside in-game currency that is automatically provided for you. This keeps the game very fluid and consistent, and allows for a gradual build-up to difficulty. As much as it pains me to say, don’t invest in the currency you need to buy with your credit/debit card. I payed $14.99 for character shards, only to not end up with that hero at all because it says “may earn” or “up to.” Marvel Strike Force is a game you can spend a lot of time playing without spending your own money and that’s a huge check in the plus column.
And with so much to do outside of story-mode, Marvel Strike Force is truly a great companion game to Marvel Alliance 3 on Nintendo Switch. Challenges, arenas, events, blitz battles and alliance battles await you here.
My only big complaint is the amount of lag-time when loading the home-screen. If it weren’t for that, this game would be damn near-perfect.
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