TT Games deserve a massive amount of credit. Over the last few years they have churned out a huge amount of Lego games based on a plethora of different themes/universes. And yet they keep scoring highly on general averages of game reviews, and as such, have gained a large following by adults and children. To keep the standard as high as they have done is to be applauded. But now they have delved into what is arguably their biggest universe to date – Marvel, and their attempt to fit in so many characters, both good and bad, looks a massive challenge. Let’s hope they’ve succeeded.
Anyone who has played previous Lego games will be immediately familiar with the screen layout, and the games’ unmistakable character shines through from the beginning. TT Games now have years of experience in recreating iconic characters and areas in Lego, and they have again here. And with the recently introduced voices for characters present aswell, the charm and comedy of the Lego games is on show in abundance.
The start of the game features Iron Man and The Hulk, setting out to stop Sandman and Abomination from taking over Central Station. This level acts as the games tutorial, introducing you to the controls, simple puzzles and boss fights. I do have a slight gripe with the control set up, where too many things are allocated to the same buttons. Y might change someone’s appearance aswell as changing character, and B allows you to interact with items in the environment but also allows you to shoot projectiles. On too many occasions I found myself pressing the right button but having the wrong outcome, I didn’t need the Hulk turning into Bruce Banner when I was just trying to switch to a different character. In all fairness the game is so forgiving in most scenarios, the frustrations of the control system are barely worth fretting over.
The sheer amount of Marvel characters that are usable in the game is quite frankly breath-taking. From the more recognisable characters such as Iron Man and Thor, to those less known like Captain Britain and Taskmaster. Even Stan Lee makes multiple appearances throughout. Each character has been interweaved into the storyline of the game really well, being introduced at appropriate times and in keeping in what was going on in in the narrative. I thought that with so many characters if may have felt forced, but it’s anything but. There are times where I think that some character abilities are forced or unnecessary though, such as Spiderman’s ‘sense’ and Wolverine’s ability to dig/climb. In all though the range of powers available and the variation of them from character to character keep most feeling different from another. And once you are able to play through missions with different heroes/villains, you’ll be able to experience them in different ways. Being able to pick different characters is key to solving the Lego standard puzzles and gathering all the collectables in the games – each of which may require combinations of different abilities to solve/collect. The story itself lasts around 10-15 hours, but with so many collectibles and small side missions dotted about the huge open world map (which can be explored between missions).
The story itself is well put together. At the beginning the Silver Surfer’s surf board is broken into a number of cosmic bricks. Dr Doom is then on a mission to collect them to assemble ‘Dr Doom’s Doom Ray of Doom’. He and Loki combine forced and together with a whole host of Marvel baddies set out to make the cosmic bricks their top priority. S.H.I.E.L.D’s Nick Fury gathers as many heroes as he can to try to save the day. You’ll see Lego versions of the Baxter Building, Stark Tower, X Mansion and many more along the way.
Local co-op is available and is a great way to get the kids playing together, plenty of puzzles and family friendly fun, even from characters that may usually appear in a more adult way (Deadpool I’m looking at you). That said, there is plenty here for adults, and just general fans of the Marvel Universe. And I’m sure if you’ve enjoyed previous Lego games this will already be on your radar. Lego Marvel Superheroes continues the previous trend of Lego games of being great fun for all the family, and is quite possibly the strongest entry for a Lego game thus far. How they keep managing to release multiple games each year, each with their own story, characters and voiceovers is beyond me. But let’s hope they manage to continue the impressive run. By this time next year I’m sure there will be more than a handful more Lego games that we will have sunk our teeth into.
