The Avengers was a seminal moment in terms of the superhero genre. It was the culmination of years and years of baby steps and showed how important building a universe was and that you simply can’t do it by forcing it; I’m looking at you Justice League.
But video games and superheroes have always been a perfect fit and Marvel was no exception. We had major releases from Sega and others for movie games based on Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man and more; and that’s just the MCU films as nearly every major character (that includes a Howard the Duck) has had some form of game going all the way back to the ’80s.
But for how massive and for how much building Marvel did heading into the Avengers film the studio never managed to release a major movie tie-in game for it, something that was common and almost expected at the time. The reasons for this are a mystery to most of us and ripe for another article down the line. But what if we were to tell you that an Avengers movie tie-in game actually released and that it was almost nothing like the movie it was based on?
Enter GAMELOFT. That’s right, GAMELOFT, the company that got into the cellphone gaming scene before smartphones had even released on the market. You might have your own opinions about the publisher/developer (most of their early games were trash, although I lost many hours on Midnight Pool on my Razr V3) but it’s clear that they were ahead of the curve and saw where mobile gaming was going.
So, while no major console or portable publisher managed to get or pitch the right Avengers movie game to Marvel, GAMELOFT managed to acquire the license and released a mobile phone game back in 2012. A lot of that sounds strange as both the PS3 and Xbox 360 were on the market in 2012, but smartphones were still relatively new and more expensive than a console at the time, and I suppose they still are today in many respects.
But feature phones (pre-smartphones) were really cheap and millions were already probably in the pockets of potential customers. While in the United States those phones were beginning to become phased out as smartphones took hold, around the world they were still massive and much easier and affordable to get, especially in emerging markets. Even today in 2020 we see markets where feature phones are still king being sub $100.
And so GAMELOFT quietly released their Avengers movie tie-in game, although one that is very different than the movie it was based on. The basics are all still there: Loki steals the Tesseract, the Avengers run around New York, battle some Chitari, and have the big portal ending. The only thing is that those events play out differently from the film.
You spend most of the game fighting mind-controlled agents that Loki sends at you. The story mode only feature Iron Man and Captain America, although other Avengers are mentioned throughout the short campaign. Thor is mentioned once and while Black Widow is several times, she never shows up, even at the end of game win screen. Hulk is always Hulked out and acts a lot like smart hulk does in End Game in a weird sort of foreshadowing. Oh, and Hawkeye isn’t anywhere to be seen or even mentioned.
The Chitari are few and far between and the Tesseract is simply there for you to get back as it’s not part of Loki’s staff in. The final climactic battle takes place on the Shield Helicarrier between Iron Man and Loki. The team opens up the portal and Iron Man throws Loki into it saving the world. All the main points are here in the game but it feels like they were working with a really early draft of the film. That or Marvel didn’t really care all that much and just needed a game out there to earn a few extra bucks as if they needed it.
See a full playthrough of The Avengers movie tie-in game below:
Got another lost cellphone game that you remember s seeing or playing? Let us know and we’ll do our best to track it down and put a video together.
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