The plot of this particular adventure takes place a few years after a large armed conflict scarred much of the galaxy. Nikki is fairly central to the story, and is a rare example of an actually well written and well acted teenage character, who you want to know more about. Even the supporting cast is very strong, from Nova Corps Centurion Ko-Rel, Peter's ex-girlfriend, to her daughter Nikki. The game doesn’t spend much time introducing these heroes, and while we do learn more about their backgrounds as the campaign progresses, it's helpful to be familiar with the Marvel universe ahead of time. Peter Quill/Star-Lord is the reluctant leader, Gamora is the deadly alien assassin woman, Rocket is an engineer that's totally not a raccoon, Groot is the mysterious tree man, and Drax is the strong willed but clever warrior.

The five heroes have the same familiar personalities, of course. It probably helps that it's been a while since the last Guardians film (which wasn't very good anyway), so players won't need any time adjusting to how these characters look and sound in this version. All of the characters are well realized, and take on a life of their own, without being tied into the movies of the same name.

Thankfully, Guardians manages to mostly pull it off. In a single-player journey such as this, the story plays a crucial role, not to mention the added weight of expectations from being an existing universe with a huge reach.

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