Avengers Assembly Required

Magneto: You come to my lovely Asteroid M, but I don’t get a house-warming gift?
Thor: I say thee….. NAY!
Iron Man: Good luck magnetizing Thor’s god-hammer. Oh, and I’ve demagnetized my armor just for this occasion.
Spider-Man: I took a bath…… That’s all I did.

When a threat of Galactus proportions threatens to consume the Lego Marvel world, Nick Fury must assemble its many heroes to fight back and save all of Lego-kind. Standing in their way, however, is a cadre of misfits and super villains with their own nefarious plans for world domination. Will these stalwart heroes work together in time to fight back and save the day? Will Doctor Doom succeed in building his Dr. Doom Doom Ray of Doom?! Will the Thing EVER get a chance to finally say “It’s Clobberin’ Time!” without someone stealing his thunder?!?!?! WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHY AM I SCREAMING?!?!?

Sorry, got carried away (That is the Second Time, meet me in my office -Editor).

Excelsior!

I knew I was in for a treat the moment I stepped to the edge of the SHIELD heli-carrier and saw the massive lego-esque version of Marvel’s Manhattan waiting for me to explore it far below. What I wasn’t ready for was the feast that followed the second I leapt off and plunged head-first towards the ground below; all the while an appropriately bombastic and heroic score played in the background as I fell like a comet through multicoloured Lego stud rings. And just before I hit the dirt and leave a crater the size of, well, me I pop open a parachute and land gently in this little playground waiting for me to discover all of its hidden secrets.

And that is a massive, massive task I still have yet to fully explore. Because after running through the rather enjoyable campaign story, I’ve only managed to complete a meager 20% of the total experience the game had to offer. Every inch of the city begs the player to explore it, and requires some specific character in the 150 or so character roster to use their unique power or powerset to complete or unlock these various puzzle elements to overcome before you’re rewarded with a myriad of unlock-able prizes. Anything ranging from an additional character, to game changing red bricks, gold bricks, you name it.

This is my first experience with a Lego game where the entire cast is actually voiced and not pantomimed in that weird, Lego Simmish-speak. At first I was surprised at it all, but it was a good experience. All of the major players in the story itself are good, and there are even some notable voice actors in the mix. These include Steve Blum, John DiMaggio, Nolan North, Dee Bradley Baker, Fred Tatasciore, Tara Strong, Troy Baker and John Eric Bentley (who does an almost spot-on version of Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury), just to name a few. Heck, even Stan Lee lends his pipes from time to time (mostly for comedic relief, but an effective comedic relief).

The city itself is enormous, and filled with many of the iconic landmarks any comic-book lovin’ geek (such as myself) would instantly recognize; The Baxter Building (home of the Fantastic Four), Stark Tower (Iron Man), The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters (from the X-Men franchise), even The Raft, where Marvel’s most notorious super villains are incarcerated when captured. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg compared to the other places you’ll visit; Asgard, Latveria, even real world buildings make an appearance in the game like The Empire State Building, Grand Central Station and even the Statue of Liberty is thrown in for players to interact with.

This makes the entire game feel, despite some previous game staple mechanics (destroy, rebuild, collect studs, find hidden treasures), surprisingly fresh. Every level design feels unique across the 6 to 7 hours it takes just to play through the campaign itself. (and for those completionists out there, expect to sink probably 30 to 40 additional hours to hit that sweet, sweet 100%). Add in the fact the replay-ability factor to get that previously unattainable mini-kit piece, or that game altering secret red brick, just adds to the game’s lasting appeal.

GUH-LAK-TUS

Comparing this game to previous Lego games (since I’ve not played the last gen version of this one), I do notice that the characters themselves seem shinier, like they’ve literally been polished to a plastic gleam. It’s a little odd, but nothing that would detract the player from the game itself.

The draw distance on the PS4 is phenomenal; if you can see a part of the city in the distance, then you can travel to it; and if you can travel to it, then you probably have something unique to unlock there, be it a hidden character, or puzzle element to solve (which usually requires you to switch to an unlocked character). Its simplistic design, being a Lego game of course, you should be warned that, going in, don’t really expect this Triple A looking/borderline realistic visuals to compliment the game, but visually it’s still appealing nevertheless.

It’s Clobberin’ Time!

While the game itself should be fairly standard fare for gamers who have experienced previous Lego games (destroy, rebuild, collect Lego studs), the characters are what make the whole experience worth it. Traveling across the city and it’s almost uncountable puzzles and encounters makes the player invested in gaining every last character they can. Mainly because their specific powerset is required to unlock or solve said puzzles.

This also adds to the overall replay-ability factor through the Free Play moments across the game’s narrative. For all of those completionists out there trying to find and collect that one last elusive mini-kit or red brick hidden across the board, these characters are vital for most, if not all, of those previously inaccessible parts of the level.

The story is actually quite enjoyable, as it sort of throwbacks to the Silver-Age greatness with the whole “The Coming of Galactus” storyline in the old Fantastic Four comic books, while it does try something newer and more contemporary by tying in threads from the Marvel Cinematic Universe by making it feel like an Avengers/Thor/X-Men sequel of sorts.

This appeal almost makes it nigh-universal to old comic-book buffs like myself as well as newer fans who may have been brought in by all of the Marvel movies currently burning up the summer movie charts. Almost every square inch of the game, from the story to the city itself, is a loving tribute to the Marvel universe, both book and movie versions. And if it keeps this tradition in the sequel (come on, you know it’s coming), I can’t wait to play it all over again.

I love the background riffs that play across the entire game itself; it’s appropriately bombastic when it needs to be, equally nefarious and ominous-sounding when it’s appropriate, and all around just spectacularly implemented. I even loved the end-credit song (and consider it a highlight to an already impressive list).

Voice acting wise, you’ve got some impressive peoples giving it their all. John Eric Bentley himself delivers an impressive performance as Nick Fury (among other characters) and is almost spot on for Samuel L. Jackson himself. That’s impressive.

On the DLC front, honestly I don’t think the game needs it, considering how much there already is to do in it. But there have been some additional character packs thrown in for good measure. There’s the Pre-Order and Asgard Packs that throw in some of the lesser known characters in the Marvel U (Like the Warriors Three, Beta Ray Bill – An alien Thor, Kurse, and The Winter Soldier) just to name a few. Honestly though, with all that the game has to offer, they’re just extra icing on an already impressively decorated cake.

On a technical standpoint, you do have some occasional hiccups to have to plow through; some puzzles don’t unlock correctly (or at all) unless you reload and try again, several moments of brief (very brief) texture loading, and some small clipping issues. Also, considering how expansive the roster is, there is some small load times while your character appears on the screen. But on the whole, for a next gen game where there’s hardly (if at all) any loading waits, screen tearing, game freezing or even the last gen “screen pause” while the overworld level loads up, these are small, small gripes.

Final Thoughts: Despite some small personal gripes (I have to list them, that’s why they pay me to cri….actually no, they don’t…. ) I had an absolute blast playing Lego Marvel Super Heroes. The story is fun, the city exploration is fantastic, and the overall love letter to the Marvel Universe is on full display here. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting a funny, easy-going title for their next gen systems. The game can be purchased any reputable store such as Amazon or Game.