Written by Eric Gallegos
Lego is back, and this time, they have the entire Marvel universe at their disposal. I am happy to say there is so much to love about Lego Marvel, and it’s impossible not to feel giddy while playing it.
The story starts with Dr. Doom rounding up numerous Marvel villains to try and collect cosmic bricks that have crashed all over the world from Silver Surfer’s surfboard. Naturally, S.H.I.E.L.D. is against this and they round up an array of superheroes to try to collect these cosmic bricks before the villains do. Lego Marvel spares no expense as to which characters they have used for this game. The roster of both heroes and villains is huge.
You can play as many of the popular characters such as Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Thor, or if you’re into the more obscure superheroes, you can play as Howard the Duck, Spider-Girl, and even Squirrel Girl. Initially, these characters are locked, but as you progress through the story, you are able to replay missions using newly unlocked characters. Lego Marvel does a good job of incorporating all these characters into the story without it ever feeling too crowded. Of course, some characters do get to shine more than others.
If you have ever played any of the other Lego games, you will notice that gameplay hasn’t really changed. With Lego Marvel, each stage essentially feels like a giant boss battle. There’s a certain villain that is causing havoc and you are forced to solve puzzles to stop them. The puzzles never feel old and mainly consist of you using a specific superhero with a certain power to solve. For example, you might have to use Spider-Man to trigger a hard to reach lever or use Wolverine to dig up Lego pieces. Once you reach the end of a stage, you engage in a boss battle that requires a little thinking. You solve a puzzle or two before you are able to give a punch. Once you finish a stage, you are able to come back to it with characters you have unlocked and collect collectibles that you weren’t initially able to get the first time. This adds an incredibly amount of replay value.
Lego Marvel does a wonderful job of translating the Marvel Universe into Lego form. It was always a treat to see a new character introduced in the story mode and see how they were translated into Lego form. Each character looks very unique and you can tell a lot of time was put into them. The locations also have great detail. Asgard looks amazing, as does New York City which acts as a central hub for Lego Marvel. Once you complete the story mode, you can explore New York City with your favorite character and complete side missions. They aren’t really challenging, but it is a fun way to pass the time.
While Lego Marvel does have a lot of good things going for it, there are some things that were hard to shrug off. For starters, the new flight system is incredibly difficult to control. On many occasions, I found myself flying into buildings or dying because I accidentally pressed the wrong button. It was something I was never fully able to get comfortable with because the controls just felt incredibly awkward. Also, while many of the voice acting was good and appropriate for the characters, there were just some voices that felt off. It seemed as though they were trying to copy the movie version of the character, but it ultimately just felt corny.
In the end, I would definitely recommend Lego Marvel if you are a Marvel fan. There were many instances where I felt incredibly giddy because I truly felt like I was the character I was playing with. Lego Marvel’s strength is its’ characters and I can’t stress enough how good of a job Lego did in translating these well loved and well known characters into Lego form. Although there were some minor issues, they weren’t enough to hinder the amount of fun I had. Even after you have completed the 12 hours or so story mode, there are many things to collect and many characters to play with.
Rating 8.5/10
Comments are closed.