The Avengers

When god-like supervillain Loki - adoptive brother of Thor - hatches a plot to enslave the human race, Earth's Mightiest Heroes™ must band together to stop him.

And when you're handed control of said heroes, you must hit your handset's '5' key. For about an hour and a half.

Because whether you're facing identikit goons or fearsome alien invaders, your plan of attack is the same. The only question is whether your thumb will wear out before your stock of lives.

Hulk smash

Taking the form of a side-scrolling beat-'em-up (think Streets of Rage with more spandex), The Avengers has you switching between Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and the Hulk over the course of its brief campaign.

But, while each character can boast his own moveset, there's no need to learn any combos or master any timings here.

Punching Loki's henchmen is simply a matter of mashing the '5' key until the baddies fall down. If you're in a tight spot, perhaps you'll need to hold '5' to unleash a charged attack. That's really about as complex as it gets.

You'll play through one or two variations, including a rather ropey flying level, on this side-scrolling fisticuffs theme before the credits roll, but, all in all, The Avengers is a slight affair.

You encounter only a handful of enemy types during your adventure, and environments are re-used with startling frequency considering the game's brevity.

Thor out of ten

Despite its dearth of variety, though, The Avengers does supply some workmanlike thrills. Your four heroes are crisply rendered, smoothly animated, and attack in a surprisingly dynamic fashion.

And while narrative interludes amount to nothing more than clunky exposition, the range of in-game Quick Time Events - which serve up flashes of cinematic flair - proves something of a highlight.

Inevitably, though, the repetitive nature of The Avengers's central gameplay soon leads to boredom, and once you've clobbered your way through the game's short, simplistic story, it has nothing to offer save the opportunity to replay missions for a higher rank.

It's hard to imagine even Marvel fanatics or obsessive completionists going back for second helpings here, mind. Once is quite enough, thanks.

The Avengers

The Avengers's brand of mindless brawling is fun in small doses, but its brief campaign suffers from a lack of variety
Score
James Nouch
James Nouch
PocketGamer.biz's news editor 2012-2013