LEGO Marvel Super Heroes - Review

Review

January 13th, 2014 By Maya Mayfield 

LEGO Marvel is the re-imagination of british developers Traveller's Tales (Tt Games) who first decided to recreate the mega global  Star Wars sci-fi into lego bricks. After the successful launch of Star Wars Tt Games decided to recreate other lego games out of successful movie franchises including; Batman, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and now the Hobbits.

At the heart of LEGO Marvel Super Heroes is a mix of beat-em-up meets action platforming aimed at the entire family. The game is focused towards all ages and has a cheerful, humorous, easy to pick up and play theme I found extremely enjoyable.
The adventure starts with the capture of the Silver Surfer. In the midst of the chaos the shiny silver surfing guy drops these remarkable cosmic bricks that contain incredible power.  Doctor Doom up to no good as usual decides to use these cosmic bricks to power up his 'Doomray of Doom,' and cause the entire world some much needed doom and gloom.  Hence the Avengers are called once again into battle to give that naughty Doctor  a taste of his own medicine. (You get it!)

Fans of previous LEGO titles will find the story of LEGO's Marvel fun and amusing. The characters are created and written just like those in the comic books and movies. Expect some great laughs as you play through, with some real golden comedic moments courtesy of the Hulk, Bruce Banners alter ego.

There are 15 levels to campaign through some of Marvels most famous landmarks, like the Daily Bugle, the Baxter Building, Stark Towers, City of Manhattan and even S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
Tt Games attention to detail while re-creating Marvel's Universe is sure to make fans of the comic books and movie series extremely happy.  Manhattan for example is huge and our super heroes can interact with the environments by driving cars, boats and even fly airplanes. You can also free-roam using characters like The Human Torch and Iron Man.

There are over a hundred Marvel inspired heroes to choose from, each with their own unique skills and abilities. Play as your friendly neighbourhood Spiderman for example  and you will be able to use your special spider sense to discover hidden objects within the environment. While another of our favorite hero's Captain America can use his Vibranium-steel compound shield to deflect laser beams and block fire from his plastic built frame. Tt Games really make the most of these characters as you must use their skills at various segments of the game to get through particular challenges, thus forcing you to play with the entire cast of Marvel hero's instead of just your favourite ones.

Getting to grips with the games combat mechanics was fairly straight forward and easy enough. All attacks are executed by pressing the square button, while pressing circle will cause your super hero to execute a devastating special move. Like with previous LEGO games the more combinations of moves you execute the higher your multiplier will increase gaining you more studs for annihilating your opponents.  Depending on the character you are using at the time, some hero's also have their own finishing moves, which adds to the feeling of satisfaction of defeating your enemies. One of our favorite finishing moves, we call the 'Slam and Slap,' is executed by the Hulk grabbing an enemy, slamming them to the ground and then slapping the heck out of them until they are nothing but LEGO pieces.

As you journey through the 15 levels, you will have to collect studs scattered through out the game. Collect enough studs in a particular stage  will earn you the 'True Believer' status on that level, which will help towards unlocking all the games hidden characters. Just like in recent Marvel movies, you also have Stan Lee making his cameo appearance, which we thought was a nice touch and tribute to the legendary Marvels creator.
Completing a stage will take most gamers 25-40 minutes depending on your level of skill, so it was nice for Tt Games to include the ability to save your games progress in the middle of a mission. Each level is divided into sections. As you start each area you immediately gain access to a computer that you can use to save your progress, so you don't have to start from the top.
Another nice addition is the ability to play co-op mode, but this is limited to local multiplayer only, as there is no online multiplayer option available. I thought this was a missed opportunity as the ability to play online would have made a fantastic addition to what is already an awesome game. Maybe this could be something Tt Games could seriously consider in future developments to the series.

The Game looks great visually on the Playstation 4, the environment is sharp and colorful and the LEGO Marvel Super hero's bare uncanny resemblance's to their comic book and real life characters. The gameplay is smooth and fluid running at 30 frames per second.
The music score, sound effects and voice actors compliment the game very well, with famous voice talents like Troy Baker and Roger Craig Smith lending their talents to bringing characters like Hawkeye and Captain America to life. Fans of Marvel will enjoy the wonderful musical scores as they battle through to the very end.

Overall

The attention to character details and environments in Marvel's Universe is sure to make any true Marvel fans very happy. Tt Games have done a great job re-creating and delivering a fun, enjoyable, pick up and play game that is sure to appeal to most gamers and fans the world over.

Score 5/5