Traveller’s Tales have already tackled big film franchises such as Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter, but the Lego series has struggled to replicate the same ingenuity since the realise of 2005’s Lego Star Wars. Marvel offers a huge universe of characters and decades’ worth of intricately woven story lines in which Lego Marvel Super Heroes can draw from in order to create an original story, but sadly leaves players feeling unsatisfied.
The plot is typical of the genre; Loki wants revenge on Earth and Asgard and so manipulates the world of super villains to aid him in his evil plight. The levels have been well constructed and fully utilises the immense roster of characters on offer. You might start a level as Cyclops and Jean only to end using Storm and Beast. The level structure is also similar; you can spend the entire level chasing down Magneto only for Rhino to jump in as a mini-boss and demand your full attention, which helps drive the plot whilst keeping the player both entertained and challenged. The boss battles have even been adapted; where once you would simply button mash until you had defeated Darth Vader, now you have to solve a puzzle in order to defeat the boss. Take Rhino for example, he will just keep charging at you until you have built an object (a pumpkin for some reason), to stand in his path which then gives you the opportunity to damage him
If at first you don’t succeed … build a pumpkin
The character roster in this game is immense, boasting over 100 heroes and villains to play as. Playing the story unlocks these characters at a decent rate; you start with Iron Man and Hulk before quickly unlocking the rest of the Avengers, most of the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and everyone’s favourite wall-crawler: Spider-Man. When unlocked, these characters can be used in the game’s hub world, or in the traditional free play mode in which players go back and replay story missions in order to find the hidden minikits. Between missions players find themselves in the open world island of Manhattan, where you will find landmarks such as the Baxter Building, Stark Tower, Oscorp, and the Statue of Liberty. This open world hub is one of the game’s greatest features: players need to navigate this hub in order to find the remaining gold bricks, unlock even more characters and assist troubled citizens. Any player can find a character or corner which they recognise and love, whether it is Daredevil, Elektra, Ant-Man or Thor – there is an iconic representation for everyone (yes, even Moon Knight).
In terms of gameplay the Lego series is pretty much refined by now, but this time with the addition of powers and abilities, adding a new element to the gameplay mechanics. Whilst most are implemented well in the game some are not, such as Wolverine using his claws simply to dig up Lego bricks. Certain powers are annoying to use, such as HulkÔÇÖs transformation, and whilst these powers are a good concept it does make some characters feel obsolete. Travelling through the hub is made much easier by characters who can fly, therefore characters without this power are never used. It is the same in the levels, when in free play mode you might chose to play as Drax – but seeing as he doesn’t have any abilities, will soon found yourself changing to Iron Man to use his rockets, then to the Hulk to smash or lift something big, and so on. However, Deadpool does offer some quirky bonus levels in order to unlock the 11 Deadpool bricks.
Mr Fantastic’s Thirst Quenching Ability
Lego Marvel Superheroes is a welcome addition in the Lego series and it is the best Marvel instalment since 2006’s Ultimate Alliance. The open hub is a tonne of fun, the powers are a nice touch but there is definitely an issue of refinement. Again, the story needs more depth, the plot is lacklustre – only weighing in at under eight hours. This game is a must if you want some fun, light-hearted humour and superhero action.
Quench Verdict: 3/5
What did you think to Lego Marvel Superheroes? Did you enjoy saving the world or would you have preferred to leave it destroyed to bricks? Let us know in the comments section below
