Thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the once relatively obscure Guardians of the Galaxy are now a household name. And for many, the look of the characters on the big screen is how people now know this ragtag team of misfits. So, the designs of the characters in Square Enix's upcoming video game Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy can be a bit jarring, just as it was with Crystal Dynamics' Marvel's Avengers game.
In a new video, developer Eidos-Montreal provides some insight into the inspiration behind the character design in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. Art Director Bruno Gauthier-Leblanc explores the designs of each of the core members of the group and the artistic liberties they took so that players could experience a fresh take on the iconic space adventurers.
“When designing the Guardians, it was important they remained true to the narrative we had built while still being instantly recognisable as the Guardians of the Galaxy fans know and love," explains Gauthier-Leblanc. "We combined inspiration from Marvel comic lore with our own character backstories to craft new visuals for this fun and dysfunctional family, infusing each Guardian with specific design aspects that also tie into gameplay.”
Star-Lord's design, for example, is inspired by his "rock-and-roll space persona." His "space metal" outfit design features Easter eggs from the '80s, including pins on his lapel and other tributes to his namesake and favorite musicians, rock band Star-Lord.
Drax the Destroyer's appearance actually tells a story of his extensive combat history. As Gauthier-Leblanc explains, Drax's tattoos are circular in nature, and every circle he adds means he won a battle. His individual design also helped inspire the environment of his home planet Katath, which mirrors the circular nature of Drax's tributes.
For Gamora, Eidos looked to the comics for inspiration to give her a strong and powerful look. Gauthier-Leblanc admits that Rocket was pretty much the most straightforward and easiest character to design, while Groot was the hardest. In the video, he explains that the inspiration behind Groot's armored plating is from the idea that Rocket is always customizing Groot, almost like a giant mech.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy launches on October 26, 2021. It will be available for Xbox and PlayStation consoles, as well as PC and streaming via GeForce NOW. A cloud version will be available for the Nintendo Switch.