27th May2014

‘LEGO Marvel Superheroes’ Review (WiiU)

by Kat Wheat

LMSH-WiiU

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes features an original story crossing the entire Marvel Universe and sees players take on the role of their favourite Marvel characters like Spider-Man, Iron Man, Wolverine, Thor, Captain America and the Hulk, as they assemble to battle against some of the most menacing Marvel Super Villains, including dastardly Doctor Octopus, the ghastly Green Goblin, the ruthless Red Skull, the vicious Venom, Thor’s vexing brother, Loki, as well as the Devourer of Worlds, Galactus – as they attempt to assemble a super-weapon capable of destroying the world.

Given that the Marvel universe is home to a myriad of superheroes and villains, LEGO  Marvel Super Heroes features 100 playable characters, including Mystique, Elektra, Mandarin, Silver Samurai, Malekith, Aldrich Killain or Super-Skrull. Players can also choose from a plethora of magnificent bonus hero characters, such as the heroic Guardians of the Galaxy, the Punisher, Captain Britain, Deadpool… and even Squirrel Girl!

Taking a leaf out of LEGO City Undercover, there is a key storyline to complete but the game also sees players chasing down Cosmic Bricks and completing mini-games and various “quests” as they travel across an open-world LEGO Manhattan and visit key locations from the Marvel Universe, such as Stark Tower, Asteroid M, a Hydra base and the X-Mansion.

There’s not much new to say about the LEGO franchise these days – developer TT Games (formerly Travelers Tales) have these games down to a fine art, so much so that it often feels like they can pump up LEGO titles at a ridiculous rate without fear of a drop in quality. And LEGO Marvel Super Heroes is a perfect (inevitable) example of that. The game combines everything gamers know and love from the LEGO games franchise – cute characters, fun situations, complex and some not-so complex puzzles, and most of all humour, LOTS of humour – with the wild world of Marvel, complete with it’s own bevy of super-powered characters and long-standing (and some would say complicated) history.

Graphically LEGO Marvel Super Heroes looks superb. A world’s away from the dark look of the LEGO Batman games, this is a bright, colourful world – even when it’s being invaded by the darkest of Marvel’s characters. Speaking of characters, if there’s one thing TT Games do it’s bring life to there characters. Whilst embodying their superhero-ness all the Marvel heroes (and villains) have the usual LEGO game cheeky-charm which appeals to young and old, managing to bring the fun – and cute – out in even some of Marvel’s most stoic characters!

One thing that does differentiate LEGO Marvel Super Heroes from previous LEGO games is that this game is short. Very short. It doesn’t take very long to complete the main storyline at all. Thankfully once that is completed you realise the main story is only about a quarter of the game! The rest of the game entails you making your way around the aforementioned open-world LEGO Manhattan. Which, if I’m honest, is a tedious job… Mini-quests that include rescuing a dog from a tree and retrieving a woman’s “lost” son don’t make for an exciting superhero game. It’s makes for a mundane one sadly. Definitely one you’ll be playing in short bursts once you get to this point in the game.

Sadly LEGO Marvel Super Heroes seems a step in the wrong direction for the LEGO franchise. The open world environment doesn’t, I think, work as well as the mission-based experiences in the previous LEGO games. If this game had stuck to the fun level-based action seen in the LEGO Batman games I’d be urging you to go out and buy it as soon as possible. As it stands now I’d say wait till you can pick it up cheap(ly).

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