The first game Square Enix announced at E3 2021 was "Guardians of the Galaxy," a third-person action/adventure game starring Marvel superhero Star-Lord. Like Square Enix's "The Avengers," "Guardians of the Galaxy" is not explicitly based on a comic book, movie, or anime, but uses familiar characters to weave a new story.

So far, much is known about the game. You'll spend part of your time fighting off intergalactic enemies and part of your time navigating the social intricacies of the rest of the crew: the Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, Drax the Destroyer, and Groot. They will also help you in combat.

The game will be released on October 26 for Xbox and PlayStation consoles and PC. Square Enix has revealed the pre-order bonus and collector's edition, which will include additional skins, a soundtrack, and an art book.

Square Enix showed both a story trailer and a pre-recorded gameplay section for Guardians of the Galaxy, which is being developed by Eidos Montreal, during the E3 2021 live stream. From a gameplay and story perspective, the game is similar to Marvel's "The Avengers," with third-person combat and a new take on classic Marvel characters. What is different this time around is that "Guardians of the Galaxy" appears to be a traditional single-player game rather than an ongoing live service title.

From a story perspective, "Guardians of the Galaxy" covers fairly familiar territory. The trailer showed Star-Lord and his shipmates arguing amongst themselves, traveling the galaxy, getting involved in law enforcement, and confronting villains.

Gameplay in Guardians of the Galaxy focuses on third-person combat. Controlling Star-Lord, the player runs, jumps, and flies through open-ended levels, fighting off enemies with two guns. You can coordinate attacks with teammates, stagger enemies over time, and dodge attacks. If you've played recent action games, it doesn't sound too shocking.

What could be more interesting is that you may be forced to make story decisions involving your teammates. For example: in the gameplay demo, Star Lord had to decide whether to "sell" either Groot or Rocket Raccoon to a notorious collector to make some much needed money. (Teammates who decided to sell Groot were either happy or angry, while those who decided to sell Rocket were either happy or angry.

(In this respect, Square Enix's "Guardians of the Galaxy" seems similar to Telltale's "Guardians of the Galaxy" from a few years ago. However, that game did not have a dedicated combat system, relying instead on irregular quick-time events)

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In any case, this is what "Guardians of the Galaxy" has been about: some combat, some conversation, some witty teammates; Marvel's Avengers, while the live service elements in the game were not for everyone, was solid gameplay. Since "Guardians of the Galaxy" seems to employ some of the same gameplay mechanics, perhaps fans will be more receptive to Square Enix's latest Marvel Universe title. We'll be checking this game out in October, but hopefully we'll have a chance to learn a little more about it before then.

Stay tuned for more E3 2021 coverage in Tom's Guide this week.