PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One Mixed or average reviews Mixed or average reviews- based on 16 Ratings More Details and Credits » users found this helpful LEGO Marvel’s Avengers - Spider-Man Character Pack Trailer Lego Marvel's Avengers - Ant-Man DLC - TrailerEarth's Not-So-Mighty HeroesAs a huge fan of almost everything related to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I was really excited to hear that an open-world LEGO game based on that particular version of Marvel’s franchises was being developed. Having played several prior LEGO games, as well as having viewed each movie in the MCU multiple times, I figured that the cute, slapstick style of humor brought on by the former would mix well with the dramatically playful banter of the latter. After all, it worked once before in 2013’s LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, which might be my favorite Marvel-related video game of all time. So how does the 3DS version of TT Games’ latest LEGO offering hold up?
Unfortunately, like Loki’s scepter failing to turn the “heart” of Tony Stark, the handheld version of the game has performance issues that hold it back from being an enjoyable experience. If you’ve played any other LEGO game in the last decade, you’re not going to be surprised by the gameplay you’ll find here. The one-button combat, the plethora of unlockable characters, and breakable environments are all back. And while the different heroes may play slightly differently, there is little unique to them in terms of gameplay outside of animations and attack range. You’ll still mostly just be pressing Y to attack and A to jump, whether you’re playing as Iron Man or Black Widow. Certain characters can fly, which makes them feel more unique in the more open areas, but in the self-contained levels, it doesn’t necessarily come in handy all that often. The formula has worked over the years due to its simplicity, and remains fun overall. Basically, if you’re familiar with the LEGO format from other games, you’ll be comfortable here, too.
But if you were hoping for something fresh to be added to the formula, this isn’t where you’ll find it. Whether you’re breaking the environment or crushing the skulls of HYDRA lackeys, one of the biggest issues you’ll run into is the inconsistent framerate. Depending on the level, the amount of things on screen, and other factors, the game often fails to run at the ideal speed. The most egregious offenders are the “chase” levels. Whether you’re either flying around as a character, shooting bad guys in an on-rails setting, or in a vehicle chasing after a foe, it can be difficult to tell what’s going on at times because the game simply can’t keep up with everything that’s happening. I wasn’t always sure whether it was due to the framerate or not, but there were times when the controls felt unresponsive as well, especially when the overall performance was dipping. Two of the biggest appeals to LEGO Marvel’s Avengers before release were its tie-ins to the MCU, and the promise of an open world to roam around in.
On both accounts the game falls flat. While the cut scenes look great, and mimic their big screen counterparts faithfully with plenty of trademark LEGO humor mixed in, the story is a jumbled mess that makes the X-Men movie series timeline look sane in comparison. Instead of rolling through the established movie canon chronologically, the game would rather jump in and out of each film at random. So unless you’re familiar with how all the MCU events shake down, it’s unlikely you’ll have the slightest clue as to what’s going on here. The most exciting element of the game, the open world area, is unfortunately where I was most disappointed with LEGO Marvel’s Avengers. While I have yet to play this game on a home console, the 3DS version shows the age of the hardware. Flying around Manhattan as Iron Man could be fun, if the environments weren’t hidden behind fog that brought back memories of early Nintendo 64 games, and an embarrassingly poor draw distance. It makes what should be a beautiful environment a muddied, ugly mess that I had no intention of exploring beyond what the game required.
If you’re looking for an exciting, LEGO superhero game, you won’t find it in the 3DS version of LEGO Marvel’s Avengers. The simple and intuitive gameplay and charming humor can’t save this game from its performance issues. Inconsistent framerate, a muddled story and a poorly rendered open world keep LEGO Marvel’s Avengers from being mighty.LEGO Marvel's Avengers features characters and storylines from the blockbuster film Marvel’s The Avengers, the sequel Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, and more. Play as the most powerful Super Heroes in their quest to save humanity. E10+ for Everyone 10 and older: Cartoon Violence, Comic Mischief LEGO Marvel's Avengers Wiki » LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap Pokemon Alpha Sapphire Version Pokemon Omega Ruby Version*A review copy was provided by TT Games* The concept of a LEGO game is an incredibly appealing one. Take these iconic movies and stories, and give them a LEGO coat of paint: it works as a representation of a fantasy many have playing with LEGOs in real life, as well as simply being a very appealing and charming idea in general.
Unfortunately, in the case LEGO Avengers for 3DS, the execution is rather poor, and that makes the game hard to suggest for all but those who really love the LEGO titles. Visually, most of it is very well done. The characters in their LEGO forms are excellent, the animation is gorgeous, and the environments are solid as well (except during the open world segments.) Despite being on the 3DS, the faithful way in which these characters and stories have been recreated in the LEGO world is an altogether joyous experience. Unfortunately, that is where the positives begin to end. A big part of LEGO Avengers is the recreation of the The Avengers’ and Age of Ultron’s events, and on the one hand, these are awesome. Controlling the big action scenes and seeing LEGO versions of the dialogue scenes is pretty darn cool. But there are a lot of cutscenes, and the abundance of these suffers from the classic video game tie-in problem: rewatching lengthy scenes that are ripped straight from the movies can be pretty boring.
This means that, once the novelty of everything being The-Avengers-but-LEGO wears off, you’re left with a pretty lackluster story in its own right. You’ve got the same dialogue, the same voices, the same shots down to the very camera angle. And that’s the point – it’s a LEGO recreation. But that does not mean it doesn’t get a bit dull, watching the same events I have seen a dozen times already, only without the pacing and the emotional investment. To make up for this, LEGO Avengers 3DS includes quite a bit of humor. Some of the events are changed slightly to add jokes; Nick Fury drinking a milkshake during a chase scene, or Loki wearing ridiculous costumes, for example. These can be hit or miss, but I did laugh out loud a few times and usually found them legitimately funny to some degree. The audio is quite impressive, with most of the music and dialogue being taken from the original movies. Some of the original ambient music can get a bit repetitive, but that’s a small complaint: the original music and voice actors being a part of the game is a really cool element.
The gameplay is the main place where it all becomes less than thrilling. As you progress through the campaign and explore the open world, you’ll take control of several Marvel characters with various abilities: Captain America can throw his shield, Black Window shoots guns, Iron Man can fly and shoot missiles, etc. But these different abilities don’t change how you actually play the game. The problem is that the gameplay always winds up doing the same dull things over and over. You’ll run through a level collecting studs, mindlessly beating up enemies during which there is no finesse or skills required, and then performing platforming and puzzle challenges that consist of a total lack of compelling design for the former and a “try every ability you know until one works” strategy for the latter. The only thing you lose when your health runs out (in combat or platforming) is a few studs, so there is no real challenge either. To make up for this, there are bonus challenges.
Each level has a set of bonus objectives that tasks you with collecting a set amount of studs, taking out enemies in a certain way, finding hidden collectibles, etc. Campaign levels have five challenges each, while the open world has far more. I found it hard to care about the extra challenges because I didn’t care about the regular challenges and gameplay (or lack thereof), but these are a welcome addition nonetheless. The best parts of the game are, by far, the set pieces. Occasionally there’s an on-rails shooter with Iron Man, or a smash fest with Hulk. Here the frustration of the lacking gameplay can be set aside for a moment, and you can just enjoy controlling the LEGO recreation of this awesome movie. These set pieces can be thrilling, although they are still totally devoid of challenge, and they always return to the grind of traditional gameplay quickly. There is also an open world that lets you explore, discover secrets, collect studs, and find collectibles. There are bonus characters and missions available.
These are all quality additions, but as someone who didn’t find the base gameplay all that enticing, it didn’t do anything for me. Still, it is a noteworthy addition that many will surely enjoy. All in all, I just did not enjoy the gameplay much – but I also suspect I am not the target audience. Note that this was my first LEGO game experience, so I’m not sure how it stacks up compared to others in the series. Either way, people who love running around collecting studs, mindlessly beating up goons, and scouring the world for collectibles will probably find LEGO Avengers 3DS a lot more enjoyable than I did. You might be one of those people. There are some technical issues holding it back though – the open world has horrible draw distance, and the frame-rate can be inconsistent. For all my grumbling and complaining, I hesitate to be too hard on LEGO Avengers 3DS. Even with its problems, it is an awesome idea that does quite a bit right, and a TON of people will enjoy it.