MARVEL Cosmic Invasion - Part 1 - New York City Guide

Welcome to MARVEL Cosmic Invasion, this retro-influenced beat ‘em up game has a variety of heroes to play as, and many stages to complete to reach the end. In this series, I’ll go through stage by stage and describe what characters the game recommends using, the challenges set for you, and what dangers are awaiting you, along with info about the boss you will meet at the end.

NEW YORK CITY, Road to Annihilation

The recommended heroes for this first stage are Spider-Man and Nova; they are the characters you need to complete the three optional challenges. It is not required to complete them, but you can level up your team and strengthen skills. If you would rather play with different heroes, that’s totally okay, you can always come back and replay the level later to finish the challenges with the characters you need. 

Challenges: Hit 3 enemies with a single web-swing kick using Spider-Man, Defeat 10 enemies using Nova’s Energy Beam, and Avoid taking damage from swarming bugs.

We start on the street in front of the Daily Bugle building, where yellow alien bugs are crawling down the sides. On the street, you will find trash cans where some have food hidden inside to restore some of your health. You will fight yellow and blue insectoids; the blue foes can spit green acid at you, so watch out for that. When you get past the brick building with a fire escape, you notice there is a sparkling cube hidden in the wall. There are three green dumpsters with red glowing eyes peeking out; this is a swarm of enemies ready to jump out. When we get to the street with a crater in it and damaged cabs are parked, we see Beetle, who started as a Marvel supervillain, followed by insect thugs breaking into a bank.

Outside the building, insectoids, both green and blue, swarm the street. There are a few flying enemies that can easily be taken out with Spider-Man's web swing or by using Nova’s blast projectiles. As you walk down the street, you are confronted by two tough-looking green enemies with shields. The easiest way to take them down is to get behind them and attack; the shield isn't very useful when it isn't facing the attacker.

On the sidewalk, there are two garbage cans that you should smash; one has a hot dog to restore some health, the other has a blue gem. The enemies here are the same type that we have seen before. As you walk beside the window of the bank, and you see flashing and electrical bolts. Beetle is launched out the front door by a couple of insectoids, and he declares he has to get away from these freaks. 

A huge swarm of yellow insects come flying in, and we find another cube in the garbage can. By the sign for the Secret Hospital TV show, there is another garbage can with a hotdog to take. Beside the port a-potty there is another garbage can; this one has a pizza! Watch out for enemies jumping through the sign and walls. We are now at the stage's boss battle: we see Beetle pleading with the insectoids surrounding him, when an alien larva jumps down his throat, taking control of him. This possessed Beetle is the one that you fight against. 

Beetle shoots electrified beams that you need to avoid, but he will charge before discharging it so you have a split second to move out of the way. He spends a lot of time floating in the air, so to attack, you will need to jump, swing with Spider-Man's web, or use Nova’s blasts. When his health is halfway depleted, Beetle will fly high into the air and shoot down a huge electrified beam that moves around the stage; at the same time, two flying green insectoids appear to attack. Take these minions down so you can focus on attacking your main enemy, and the larvae possessing Beetle will try to make an escape, just to get squished. 

With the mission cleared, you’ll see the total time taken, the number of enemies defeated, your max combo, score, and how much progress you’ve made levelling up your hero, along with any skills or perks they’ve learned.

Now that this first area is done, it is on to the next stage, where things are sure to get more challenging.