In spite of the truth that it was “Unofficial Batman Week” round the GameSpot offices last week (MANvsGAME’s Jason Love ran a marathon livestream session of the 3 console Batman games, Batman t-shirts abounded and a small canine in a Batman costume wandering around…), the Marvel universe has my attention in the mean time. Lego Marvel Super Heroes has arrived.
And it shipped with a free Loki keychain.
You can’t argue with a free Loki keychain.
While a whole review is in progress for Monday, I’ve been playing the sport for the past couple of days and having a good time, TT Games having lovingly crafted a luxurious meal for Lego and Marvel fans alike. With roughly 150 characters to unlock and play as–including side characters inclusive of Aunt May, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson and pa culture tropes equivalent to Howard the Duck (who comes equipped with a rocket launcher)–there seems to be something for every person here.
This, and the pleasure of exploration, make for the thrill of this game. Granted, this isn’t the brainiest title you’ll pick up this year, nor will it’s considered as subtle or nuanced (the game’s relatively simple plot centers around preventing Doctor Doom and cohorts from collecting cosmic bricks to construct Doom’s Doom Ray of Doom), there’s an undeniable joy in what can also be called the “Lego Formula.” Within the Lego Formula, you’ll readily jump into the extent, smash or blast everything destructible around you, battle your enemies, see what Lego pieces could be picked up, what machines could be assembled or what superpowers can be utilized to unravel the on-screen puzzles and move on from there. Yes, it’s a longtime method and the Lego franchise has long done this, but you’re fully immersed within the Lego-ized Marvel universe as you try this, unlocking increasingly more content within the process, and it’s still as rewarding because it ever was.
Superb attention to detail shows what a Lego variant of a Marvel world can truly be and for each landmark, location or item that you just ever loved in a Marvel movie or comic book.
Where Lego Marvel Super Heroes truly shines is in its warmth and a spotlight to detail. The game’s humor is light, playful and genuinely fun, the writers reveling within the implied cheesiness of the comic book genre and the super hero characters therein and hamming up the dialogue to make the cutscenes enjoyable. Background jokes similar to Lego workers attempting to sweep up the destruction from the last level’s epic battle, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson constantly bringing Nick Fury and other heroes snacks and the Hulk growing frustrated with a working laptop or computer that he finally ends up smashing, keep the mood where it must be. Superb attention to detail shows what a Lego variant of a Marvel world can truly be and for each landmark, location or item which you ever loved in a Marvel movie or comic book (akin to the Helicarrier, Asteroid M, downtown Manhattan, etc.), there’s usually a Lego version of it that catches your attention and proves fun to explore.
It’s been fun to look the Lego games grow during the last decade and Lego Marvel Super Heroes isn’t any exception. Improved modeling, lighting and details make the sport visually inviting, responsive controls make the easy act of moving around enjoyable and enhancements within the combat engine have turned what gave the impression to be two Lego figures slap-fighting within the early Lego games right into a genuine fight between the 2 characters being shown on screen.
Unfortunately, a couple of glitches have interrupted my fun. A small, unexplained black square briefly appeared above my characters’ heads towards the tip of the sport and a graphical glitch showed both the dead and alive versions of the article on screen simultaneously, the protocol calling for a dead character to blow up in a bath of Lego bricks, disappear and are available back again a moment later.
Between the visceral joy of pounding your opponents into dozens of exploding Legos, unlocking every character you are able to and taking down a collection of flying Hulkbuster armor via the Iron Man 3 “House Party” protocol (wherein half a dozen Iron Man suits fly in to aid you), there’s always something fun to do in Lego Marvel Super Heroes. It’s the blend of Lego and the Marvel universe you’ve been expecting, a joyously geeky concoction worthy of your attention.
I’ll have the total review come Monday.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, i’ve a Lego version of Carnage to unlock and frighten a metropolitan populace with…