Marvel's Avengers: Red Horizon

Marvel's Avengers: Red Horizon is a video game based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. What was initially supposed to be an expansion pack for Marvel: World of Superheroes eventually grew into its own as a separate game. As such, people who already own Marvel: World of Superheroes will get a 50% discount for purchasing this game. It will be released worldwide on February 19, 2021.
Marvel's Avengers: Red Horizon is an open-world action-adventure title similar to its parent game that allows the player to control the various Avengers across the many locales of the game. The game follows the Avengers three months after a near-joint decision to exile the Hulk from the Earth after multiple occasions of uncontrolled rampage through major world cities such as New York City and Tokyo. The Avengers are in their sixth year of operation and are highly seasoned at what they do. But without the Hulk, they may just be coming up on their greatest threat.
==Gameplay==
In Avengers: Red Horizon, the player will automatically be able to assume the role of the Avengers in a whole different range of locales across the Marvel universe. Each Avenger has their own moveset and special abilities. As the player progresses forward through the game, more abilities will be unlocked for the Avengers to use. 
These are experience points. This is what the player will earn as they complete story objectives, missions, and side quests. XP can unlock new story missions, different suits for the Avengers, and more. 
The Avengers engage in a linear set of missions, begun once the player reaches this yellow Avengers symbol. Story missions may be combat, stealth, or puzzle-based. Or in some cases, a combination of the three. Completion of main story missions will advance the story and progress of the game as well as unlocking new locales.
However, even as the main story is played out linearly, the player is still free to explore the many different locales of the Marvel universe and play side quests. These are marked by a blue Avengers symbol. Completing these can also help the player unlock new suits and gain XP.
=== Open Roam ===
The player can travel through a locale in a number of different. A player can switch to a flying Avenger such as Iron Man or Thor for the fastest mode of travel. Or if the player wants to interact with different events that are taking place within the locale, he/she can opt to travel by a grounded vehicle (i.e. car, motorcycle). This will usually entail running into spur-of-the-moment events such as petty theft, a person or group of people in need of help, or a vehicle chase. Players can lend their hand to each of these events and solve them for some XP. 
For certain locales (like New York City), some non-player characters will call out to an Avenger and cheer them, ask for autographs, or ask for selfies. However, some non-player characters will boo an Avenger. This is usually because of some people losing loved ones over the collateral damage caused by an Avengers battle or a Hulk rampage.
== Plot ==
=== Prologue ===
Captain America stood and overlooked Brooklyn from a rooftop when a hidden figure crept upon him. Cap sensed this and immediately asked for the identity of the man. But the man came out to attack him. Cap dodged the swipe and he and the mysterious man do battle. After the fight, the man revealed to be a mercenary-for-hire and former S.H.I.E.L.D agent nicknamed Constrictor. 
=== Act One ===
Clint and Natasha do some computer work at the Avengers Compound to find out the connections of the Constrictor. They end up finding out that he was hired by an entity codenamed SE. The SE was an organization shrouded in mystery. They were only speculated in conversation when a big event occurred such as a major business deal, kidnap of a high-profile individual, or even the death of a high-profile individual. A list of locations was then brought up as to the organization's whereabouts. However, a common location that was brought up was a small facility out in the Mojave Desert in Nevada. With this information in mind, the Avengers (Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Thor) traveled by the Quinjet to Nevada.
Once the Avengers arrived at the facility in Nevada, Iron Man performed reconnaissance on the building. Strangely enough, nobody was detected inside. The lights were on, though, so the Avengers persisted in investigating the place. After some investigation, Natasha found a filing folder of great significance named, "The 8-3-4-1-5-2-1-5-2 Project" which translates to "The HUMANTANK Project." It's also discovered from the folder that SE stood for the Secret Empire. The filing folder was shown to the rest of the team and Cap recalled that he's heard of the name Secret Empire before. Then suddenly, a squadron of Secret Empire henchmen flooded the facility, surrounding the Avengers. 
With nowhere else to go, the Avengers fought their way out of the facility. During the fighting, the leader of the squadron muttered over his comms to send the other team to attack Avengers Compound. Iron Man overheard the message and thus sent a message to the remaining Avengers members at the compound to be ready for an upcoming offensive.
At the Avengers Compound, only three Avengers were on call for the attack: Ant-Man, War Machine, and the newest Avenger, Wonder Man. The three of them fended off a squad of Secret Empire henchmen and then their squad leader, Svetlana Porfiry⁠—otherwise known as Harridan. She wielded a weapon known as the Deathstaff that can drain the life force of her victims. After the three Avengers defeated her, both squads of the Secret Empire were eliminated.
In the aftermath of the attack a little while later, Crossbones was seen with a red-headed woman beating her around at an undisclosed location. The red-headed woman's name was Sinthea Shmidt. Crossbones used a myriad of different brainwashing techniques to get Sinthea, who was the daughter of Red Skull, to remember who she really was—all in an effort to undo the programming done to her by S.H.I.E.L.D. He used familiar imagery, face drowning, and intimidation until he got what he wanted. The programming was undone and Sinthea reverted back into her cold, cruel persona as Sin; the daughter of the Red Skull. They made a pact to continue Red Skull's legacy and crush the Star-Spangled Avenger.
Meanwhile, far away from Earth was a planet named Sakaar. The Hulk had been confined to the planet ever since his exile from Earth. Since then, he had been forced to enter a series of fights for the entertainment of an audience under the rule of the Red King. The Hulk, along with his fellow captives, the Warbound (Korg, Hiroim, Miek, and Elloe Kaifi), were all under the mercy of their Obedience Disks. The next big fight was between the Hulk and a captured Silver Surfer. As the two powerhouses fought each other, the crowd cheered fanatically for they had never seen such an aggressive brawl between just two contenders. However, one particular blow from the Hulk disabled Silver Surfer's Obedience Disk which led to the Surfer destroying everyone else's Obedience Disk. Silver Surfer then offered to drop the Hulk off on Earth, but Hulk refused. The Surfer left, the Warbound made an escape to their hideout, and the Hulk went his own way. Enraged, the Red King sent his top servant, Caiera the Oldstrong, to bring Hulk back to him dead or alive.
A few days later back on Earth, Tony held an indoor pool party at Avengers Compound where all manner of friends and colleagues were invited. Steve was noticeably absent from the party. Instead, he was up on the balcony gazing at the night sky in contemplation. Natasha soon joined him in stargazing and asked Steve what was on his mind. They had a conversation about the mysterious attempt on Cap's life by Constrictor and the recent events regarding the Secret Empire. The covert organization was running something that they could not afford the Avengers knowing. Tony then met up with the two and got them back into the jive of the party.
Elsewhere, at an affluent gentleman's club in Los Angeles, a group of wealthy businessmen and politicians converged on what their next plan of action was. These group of men formed the head of the Secret Empire. The United States election was coming up and Holden Ellis, the shining nominee, was shaping up to be the next president. The group discussed how to get rid of Ellis in order to usher in Drake Crane, one of the heads of the Secret Empire and the nominee against Ellis. However, M.O.D.O.K. entered the room and introduced a biochemical weapon known as Madbomb. The weapon, when activated, releases a gas that would induce utter rage and insanity upon its victims. M.O.D.O.K. argued that the weapon would be enough to tarnish the reputation of the Avengers and the opposing presidential nominee. The group agreed and the plan was set in motion. 
=== Act Two ===
The next day, the Avengers (Iron Man, Captain America, Ant-Man, and Wonder Man) moved forward with their next Secret Empire location. This time being in the forests of the Brazilian Amazon. A kid under slave labor ran up to the Avengers and begs them to liberate the juvenile labor force. The kid led them through the forest until one of his overseers caught up with him. Ant-Man modestly took out the guard. After that, the kid and the Avengers continued their trek through the forest until they reached an open area where another facility associated with the Secret Empire was. The premises was rife with child laborers leading to an argument over how to proceed. However, Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) flew in and destroyed half of the facility.
The Avengers thus leaped into action and took care of the guards, liberating the child laborers. A Madbomb was activated inside of the facility where Ms. Marvel was⁠—causing her to fall into a mad rage. She and the Avengers fought each other until she was subdued. The head of the facility, the Beetle, made a return to find everything in disarray. He made an engagement on the Avengers which ended quickly in his defeat. Everything was going to plan for the heads of the Secret Empire, however.
Holden Ellis was holding a rally at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Tens of thousands of people were in attendance and as the presidential nominee spoke, an anonymous sniper had his crosshairs on the politician. The sniper fired his gun which injected a nearly microscopic, yet highly concentrated dose of the Madbomb chemicals into Ellis. After a few seconds, Ellis succumbed to the effects of the bioweapon and fell into a delusional hysteria. He began cursing people out which then escalated to him drawing out his concealed gun and firing upon some of the attendees. The anonymous sniper was then revealed to be Crossbones.
Back on Sakaar, Hulk was found surviving in the wilderness on his own when Caiera finally located him. They fought each other until Caiera spotted a Spike ship which they decide to follow. The Spike ship ended up moving onto the hideout where the Warbound was and attacking it. Hulk, Caiera, and the Warbound fought off the Spike ship. Two more ships then show up. The Spikes were a crazed race of alien beings hellbent on consuming every living thing they could find. They've been a plague on Sakaar for decades. Caiera called for the help of Red King and his forces, but it's revealed that the Red King created the Spikes himself. A cataclysmic bomb was dropped on the hideout, destroying all but Caiera and the Warbound. Hulk gave them cover and took on the full heat of the blast, killing him. Seemingly.
Later, Caiera brought the body of Hulk as well as the restrained Warbound. However, Hulk was actually alive and broke himself and the Warbound out of their chains. As Caiera and the Warbound fought off the Red King's guards, Hulk went toe-to-toe with the Sakaaran tyrant himself in his Imperial Armor. Hulk eventually overpowered the Red King and defeated him. Caiera then laid the final blow by letting a Spike consume the Red King from the inside-out. 
A day later back on Earth, the Beetle woke up in a confined room at Avengers Compound. He stated that it's illegal to hold someone against their will. However, Clint entered the room and shot back, "this coming from the guy that essentially ran a slave labor camp?" Clint then asked what the Secret Empire's next plans were but the Beetle didn't give anything up. He instead touted that no amount of interrogation or torture would make him fork over the details. Clint remained unconvinced, left the room for a few moments, then came back with Thor following behind him. Thor's presence visibly shook the Beetle but he remained steadfast in not snitching. The Thunder God then began channeling a storm of electricity within the room and he lifted his hammer. Soon enough, the Beetle espoused everything he knew about what the Secret Empire was up to.
The Secret Empire's ultimate goal was to reshape America, the most powerful nation in the world, into their own image and then amass that image into the greater world. Beetle disclosed that the group was comprised of wealthy corporate CEOs, shareholders, investors, and high government officials. Once Drake Crane was in as President, there will be no stopping the Secret Empire's takeover.
Meanwhile elsewhere in the compound, Tony finished analyzing Carol on why she went insane at the Brazilian facility. In the analysis, a link was found between mental insanity and the use of chemicals meant for biological warfare. Further analysis led to a link between the biological weapon and A.I.M. Carol then told Tony that she was pursuing A.I.M. for a sentient machine named Doomsday Man. Tony offered Carol to temporarily join the Avengers and they could work together to expose & bring down both A.I.M. and the Secret Empire. She agreed on the condition that she never worked with Simon. Coincidentally enough, however, Simon entered the room and made Tony leave the room as he could "sense the awkwardness." Simon and Carol, as ex-partners, end up having an initially cumbersome conversation before having a heartfelt one-to-one. 
Later, riots erupted all across New York City because of the horrific actions of the now incarcerated Holden Ellis. Spider-Man swung around the city trying to calm down tensions before noticing a convoy of unmarked vehicles cruising through the discord. Stealthily, Spidey followed the vehicles all the way down to Tribeca in Lower Manhattan. There, he was able to snap pictures of Drake Crane in a condemned building doing business with known crooks. However, before Spidey was able to make off with the exposing pictures, he was attacked by Crossbones and Sin in armored suits provided to them by A.I.M. 
All of the Avengers (sans Hulk) gathered together at Avengers Compound to discuss how to bring down the Secret Empire as well as A.I.M. A dusted up Spider-Man then suddenly entered the discussion room laying out four pictures of Drake Crane doing business with verifiable criminals. 
=== Act Three ===
Hulk was reigned in as the new king of Sakaar after the death of the Red King. Hulk and Caiera became a couple and she was appointed the queen. The people were overjoyed over their new king except for a Red King sympathizer named Dr. Omen. He had just completed the Red King's ultimate project dubbed Red Horizon; an autonomous artificial planetoid equipped with weapons able to obliterate planets easily. The weapon of mass destruction's original goal was to bring other planets to their knees in order to gather more powerful contestants for Sakaar's entertainment fights. However, Dr. Omen reprogrammed the Red Horizon to lay waste to the Hulk's home planet, Earth, in an act of revenge.
Sakaar's Royal Intelligence Agency (RIA) caught wind of this and alerted Hulk of the development. Hulk, Caiera, and the Warbound then traveled to the superlab where the Red Horizon was kept. Once there, however, they found that the WMD had already launched into space and was on track to Earth. Dr. Omen was promptly killed by Caiera impulsively, much to the Hulk's chagrin. With the doctor dead and unable to be questioned, Hulk made a resolution to take a spaceship and race to his home planet to attempt to prevent its destruction. While this decision was met with some dissent, it was eventually agreed upon that Hulk can try to save his homeworld; but Caiera only allowed it if she came too.
A few days later back on Earth, the Daily Bugle reported of the corruption going on with Drake Crane working with criminals. Later, Tony Stark exposed that Holden Ellis didn't kill the people at the rally from his own volition but because he was shot and put under the influence with a dose of Madbomb chemicals produced by A.I.M. This led to a massive worldwide scandal where Drake Crane, along with many top A.I.M. scientists, were arrested under numerous charges. M.O.D.O.K. was still at large, however.
Captain America led the Avengers (Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, War Machine, Wonder Man, Spider-Man, Ant-Man, and Ms. Marvel) in a charge against a compound where M.O.D.O.K. was suspected to be. After fighting waves upon waves of A.I.M. foot soldiers, the Avengers made their way to the core of the compound where M.O.D.O.K. was. M.O.D.O.K. feared that something world-threatening was coming and that they needed to prepare for it. He offered to the Avengers to set aside their differences and come together, but Cap strongly declined after the recent corruption and destruction that M.O.D.O.K. was largely responsible for. The Avengers and the Scientist Supreme did battle. The Avengers ended up winning the battle but not without a couple of shortcomings. James Rhodes (War Machine) suffered a broken right arm while Scott Lang (Ant-Man) sustained a few broken ribs.
Over the next few days, the rest of the heads of the Secret Empire were chased down and charged with their crimes. Some tried to be proactive and gave an expedient apology for their actions but that changed nothing for them. M.O.D.O.K. was imprisoned in the Raft. Many of the Avengers took a more leisurely week in celebration for their victory over the Secret Empire. James went to physical therapy regarding his broken arm with Tony accompanying him. Thor returned to Asgard for a festival. Natasha continued to train herself in combat. Clint and his partner Bobbi Morse went out for shawarma. Simon and Carol rekindled their relationship. And Scott rested up at home with his daughter Cassie.
Steve, however, met up with Nick Fury at a discreet bar. Fury told Steve that an unmarked spacecraft came like a meteor through the atmosphere and crash-landed in an open field in Ireland. He only revealed this to Steve because the Hulk and a woman of alien origin were onboard the ship.
While it's never shown why the ship crash-landed, Caiera sifted through the wreckage wondering how they'll get back to Sakaar. Hulk, for the first time in months, reverted back into Bruce Banner to show Caiera his other side. While he was afraid that Caiera would reject his weaker form, she didn't care as she loved him for who he was. As they walked out in unison, they were met by the Avengers (Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Wonder Man, and Ms. Marvel) as well as a squad of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. 
Iron Man gradually stepped forward saying that nobody wanted any trouble and that everything was going to be alright as long as Bruce cooperated. Caiera assumed an offensive stance which nearly led to a full-on battle before Bruce told her to stop. Bruce then explained why he returned because the Red Horizon was coming to destroy the Earth. Just then, the sky began to turn red. This occurred all over the world causing people all over to go into fear and panic. While Iron Man tried to analyze what was going on, Ms. Marvel flew high into the sky to get a closer look. The Red Horizon then materialized and blocked out the sun.
Bruce explained that the planetoid was going to launch two sets of kinetic rods all over the Earth to weaken the planet's defenses. After that, it would launch its Omega Rod at the planet which would ensure the Earth's complete and utter destruction. With such short notice on a catastrophic threat, Iron Man and Cap got into a heated argument over what the plan was to do. The argument was interrupted by Natasha who steered everyone's attention back to the sky. 
The first set of kinetic rods were already launched, too far gone to be stopped.
=== Act Four ===
 
Peter and Mary Jane enjoyed a day of festivities at Coney Island. Half of Brooklyn and parts of Manhattan were then obliterated by a kinetic rod. As it happened, Peter and Mary Jane were riding the Coney Island Cyclone and he "slipped" off of the rollercoaster to change into Spider-Man. While he was saving the people on the rollercoaster, the Ferris wheel came off its hinges and began to fall. Luke Cage, who was also visiting Coney Island, held up the Ferris wheel until the people came off. Both Spidey and Luke Cage worked together to save as many people as they could from the destruction. 
Afterward, the two of them saw on the news how cities and areas of interest were in disarray across the world because of the kinetic strikes (New York City, Tokyo, Amsterdam, the White House, and the Kremlin). 
All of the Avengers (sans Scott Lang's Ant-Man) converged together to enact a plan to destroy the Red Horizon at Avengers Compound. They constructed the idea of a frontal space attack but they lacked an adequate amount of spacecraft for such an endeavor. Black Panther (T'Challa) along with Okoye and Shuri then made a surprise appearance saying that they could help with that. 
Natasha encouraged a despondent Bruce who blamed the whole world falling into chaos on himself. She pressed in the idea that it wasn't his fault. Loki tried to conquer Earth partially because of his conflict with Thor, the Secret Empire and their conflict with Cap, and now this with Bruce. They were all crazed, power-hungry people that would've done evil regardless. 
Soon after, The Avengers Space Fleet was prepped and ready to go so the heroes stepped in with their specialized space suits and took off. Bleeding Edge Model Prime Iron Man and Thor led at the front. As they were heading through the atmosphere, the next set of kinetic rods were launched. One of them was in direct trajectory for the Space Fleet. With no time to think, Wonder Man jumped out of one of the ships to be caught up. As Thor caught him, Iron Man realized what he was trying to do. At Tony's telling, Thor hoisted Simon up to absorb the oncoming blast which he did successfully. 
Back on Earth, the kinetic rods decimated (The Bronx, the Zhongnanhai in China, Beijing, the Pentagon, Frankfurt and the European Central Bank, Tokyo again, and Novi Grad in Sokovia). The X-Men (Wolverine, Jean Grey, Storm, Nightcrawler, Gambit, Colossus, and Kitty Pryde) were in Tokyo dueling with the Juggernaut as well as getting people to safety. Much of the city was saved from destruction because of the X-Men's efforts. After the defeat of Juggernaut, Professor X telepathically urged Jean Grey and Storm to help out the Avengers.
Meanwhile, in space, the Avengers attacked the Red Horizon. However, their Space Fleet came under attack from an array of defensive gun arsenal systems. Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, and Wonder Man managed to destroy the systems in order to descend onto the planetoid and land on it. The Avengers left their ships and went down into the core of the planetoid, fighting their way inside while time wasn't on their side. 
The Red Horizon was charging up its Omega Rod when the Avengers made it into the core. They were in the control room but found that the planetoid took all of its commands from the RH Supercomputer. Dr. Omen's consciousness then came online through the supercomputer and greeted the Avengers. Hulk demanded Dr. Omen to shut the Red Horizon down, but it was already too late. The Omega Rod was fired and as a last resort, Thor and Ms. Marvel flew away from the planetoid to try and stop it. Dr. Omen later taunted that the Omega Rod had the power of a bursting star.
The Omega Rod pierced through the Earth's atmosphere and was only a few miles from reaching the surface; which would've destroyed the planet. But the combined might of Jean Grey and Storm held it off from doing so. They wouldn't be able to hold it forever, but Thor and Ms. Marvel came in to help push it back. With all of their power combined, they began to push the beam of destruction back.
Dr. Omen initiated a self-destruct protocol and took out the Space Fleet ships to ensure that the Avengers would fall with the Red Horizon. The heroes fought their way back out of the core but found they were stranded. Iron Man said that he could call over the closest Stark Industries satellite for them to board, but due to the limited capacity, one of them would have to stay behind.
Multiple Avengers stepped up for the sacrifice including Cap, Natasha, and Hawkeye, but Hulk was adamant that it should be him. Caiera argued with him for her to make the sacrifice, but Hulk remained steadfast. The team bid a tearful farewell to the Green Avenger as they boarded the satellite. Moments later, the Red Horizon went up in a massive explosion which hurled the satellite into the Earth's atmosphere in a meteoric fashion.
Thor, Ms. Marvel, Jean Grey, and Storm successfully managed to push the Omega Rod away from the planet and then worked together to stop the Stark Industries satellite from getting destroyed by the atmosphere.
While Crossbones was incarcerated for his crimes, Sin managed to elude the authorities. A small dice-sized cube from the residue of the Red Horizon fell into the Potomac River in Washington D.C., mysteriously not burning up from falling through the atmosphere. The Avengers completely regretted the decision they made months back to exile Bruce Banner/Hulk from Earth and held a tribute party for him.
=== Epilogue ===
In the mid-credits scene, a month had passed since the main game's events. Major world centers and cities were largely rebuilt. Caiera the Oldstrong lived out in the Ireland wilderness during this time in remembrance of her love, the Hulk, until she was met by the Silver Surfer. He revealed that the Hulk was alive. Surfer knew where the Hulk was and that he could take her to him. This made Caiera overcome with happiness until she learned that Hulk was not back in Sakaar.
In the post-credits scene, Sin arrived at Red Skull's secret base in Antarctica. She broke into the facility and killed all of the Nazi guards. Sin then opened the main vault of the base discovered a large hammer of Norse origin. Much like Thor's hammer, it was thought that nobody could wield it. Sin, however, was able to lift it. Upon doing so, she transformed into Skadi.
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