At last, I’m free to speak about one of the most exciting things that we’ve been squirreling away on at TT Games for LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, outside of everything that already makes the game such a fun and authentic Marvel title (yes, Squirrel Girl reference intended… sorry!). LEGO Marvel’s Avengers is getting some FREE, yes FREE, DLC content exclusively for all PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 players! What’s even more awesome is that this content is based on the brilliant Marvel’s Ant-Man movie and also one of my most anticipated films of 2016, Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War. And yes, believe it or not I’ve managed to keep a lid on this, I’m not quite sure how… but I have. LEGO Marvel’s Avengers already features content from six epic Marvel films (and a plethora of content from the rest of the Marvel Universe, including a ton of characters from Marvel Comics), however, now PlayStation gamers will be able to add content from two more movies to their LEGO Marvel’s Avengers experience.
So, I hear you all asking… what is this content exactly, and what makes it so exciting? (I don’t really hear you asking, it’s just a figure of speech, as I can imagine the thoughts that are in your head). Well, first up we have the Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War Character Pack, which will be available at launch on 26th January and includes nine characters – YES… NINE CHARACTERS – featured in the upcoming movie: Captain America, Iron Man (Mark 46 armour), Black Panther, Winter Soldier, Falcon, War Machine, Scarlet Witch and my personal favorites, Crossbones and Agent 13. It’s a great pack that will hopefully get everyone as excited as I am about the film. Obviously before you ask, YES, you will be able to take all of these characters into the main game, into the various levels or into the eight different open world locations. The second is the Marvel’s Ant-Man Character & Level Pack, of course based on the Ant-Man movie, which will be available later this spring.
This pack features an awesome level based on a section of the film (which one? I hear you ask… well, that’s top secret so you’ll have to wait and see!). It also has 11 great characters, including Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Ant-Man (Hank Pym), Ant-Thony (Flying Ant), Cassie Lang, Darren Cross, Scott Lang, Hank Pym, Hope Van Dyne, Luis, The Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) and Yellowjacket. We are really bringing Ant-Man and Yellowjacket to life with all the abilities that you’d expect them to have. The team and I here at TT Games are positive you will really enjoy this DLC offering. But, not only are we bringing you the characters and the level content, the part of this pack I’m most excited about… You’ll be able to fly around on Ant-Thony within the DLC level and then into the main game as well. When I watched the movie with the team, we really enjoyed it, so much so that I went back to watch it again the next day, and then saw the amazing playsets that LEGO created for the film.
So to now be able to pair those together and bring them to life in LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, it’s yet another reason why this game has been an absolute delight to work on. In addition to the movie and comic content in the game, we’re really looking forward to hearing what you all think of the many new features in LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, specifically the Avengers Team-Ups. When you think of the Avengers, you think of teamwork, pulling together against adversity as a team. So, now you can team-up characters to perform incredible combo moves to take down the bad guys. Teaming up core Avengers results in unique moves based on the pairing so we hope you enjoy trying out all of the various combinations to see which is your favorite. For us, it’s yet another reason why LEGO Marvel’s Avengers has been such a pleasure to develop. All of us on the team here are Marvel fans so make sure you look out for the various references and nods we’ve put into the game to make it the most authentic and fun experience.
We really think that this is our best game yet – more humour, more characters, more features, more open world gameplay, more abilities and, of course, more movie content exclusively for PlayStation fans. On behalf of myself and the team, we hope you have many hours of enjoyment when you play LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, and if you love it as much as we think you will, keep an eye out for the season pass content that we’ll be bringing your way, featuring classic comic content, as well as content from Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. For the latest LEGO Marvel’s Avengers news, don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.Traveller's Tales' loveable series of Lego games is known for its imagination, humour and attention to detail - and, in the case of the early titles, their solid 60fps refresh. However, the transition to the first round of HD consoles didn't go smoothly. Despite the relatively simple visuals, the jump from SD to 720p found the engine struggling to maintain a steady frame-rate without heavy tearing.
Eventually, Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars saw TT abandon 60Hz entirely in favour of overhauling the visuals of the game and expanding the scope of the action to freshen up the series. With the arrival of next-gen console, though, there's all those extra frames to play for again. So just how well has the Lego series transitioned onto Xbox One and PlayStation 4? We decided to take a look at Lego Marvel Super Heroes in order to find out.In truth, given the large scale multi-platform conversion work spanning no less than nine different formats - including two brand new consoles - combined with the tight pre-Christmas deadline for release, a return to the 60fps glory days of the PS2 was perhaps too much to expect, and once again, Traveller's Tales sticks to a 30fps update instead of aiming to reach the same lofty standard as the earlier games in the series. However, the decision to target a more modest frame-rate allows the developers to ramp up the level of visual effects and still maintain a smooth update.
To kick things off, the PS4 and Xbox One versions of Lego Marvel render natively in 1080p, resulting in a crisp presentation that is a massive improvement above the old PS3 and 360 Lego games. Similar forms of post-process anti-aliasing are used on both consoles, with coverage varying from scene to scene. As usual with post-AA techniques, sub-pixel shimmer is present across more finely detailed structures and objects far away from the camera. Aside from the obvious boost in resolution, Traveller's Tales has clearly focused on creating a more cinematic and exciting visual reproduction of the Lego universe that sees a range of enhanced effects work and lighting giving a more realistic look to those colourful Lego bricks and structures. Liberal use of object blur and a strong depth-of-field effect that highlights characters and parts of the environment close to the camera adds a more dramatic tone to the action, while the use of more advanced surface shaders does a great job of adding an almost Pixar-like CG sheen to proceedings.
Compared to last-gen Lego titles, environments are more detailed, using higher-resolution textures, and draw distances are visibly longer.
From a graphical perspective, the experience is replicated to a similarly high standard across both next-gen systems and PC, although there are one or two unusual differences that stand out. In the latter part of the first stage, some lower-resolution artwork is present on the PS4, with sand textures across the ground appearing as a blurry mess. The problem is also present on the PC - though to a much lesser degree - leasing us to believe that this phenomenon is most likely down to a rendering bug that slipped past QA. Curiously, screen-space ambient occlusion (SSAO) also appears absent from the PC version, robbing some scenes of added depth around the characters and parts of the environment, and we also see clear examples of banding across specular highlights on shiny surfaces.
Beyond that, though, we are looking at a limited range of adjustable graphics settings consisting of resolution, refresh rate, toggle v-sync
, and a brightness slider. Those hoping to tinker further will have to venture into their graphics card's control panel or perhaps indulge in a spot of config file editing. Anti-aliasing options are absent, the game using similar post-process edge-smoothing to the console versions, perhaps suggesting that a deferred lighting scheme is in operation - technology that's notoriously incompatible with traditional multi-sampling AA.
In terms of performance, the decision to target 30fps has its benefits over the current-generation Lego titles, with the added power on tap in the Xbox One and PS4 used maintain a much steadier frame-rate that rarely deviates from the target refresh. The stable 30fps update present on both next-gen consoles is welcome overall: controls feel more responsive than before, and the annoying juddering caused by dropped frames and screen tearing is basically a non-issue. Those hoping for a solid lock may be disappointed though: we occasionally see a few individual torn frames on the PS4, along with the odd drop down to 20fps (with tearing) on the Xbox One during some of the cut-scenes.
The good news is that none of this affects the actual gameplay, which appears consistently smooth for most of the time.
The liberal use of object blur also appears to make the action run smoother than it actually does due to the way frames are blended together in motion, which adds a distinct cinematic feel to the game that suits the source material. So while we never get the same super-slick 60fps presentation as in earlier games, the improvement over the latter-day last-gen titles is palpable.As good as it is, playing on PC allows us to regain the slick 60Hz presentation that was the hallmark of the series not so long ago, and this has some worthwhile benefits for the overall experience. The controls feel noticeably crisper than on console, and the excellent physics-based Lego debris appears better animated due to the increased smoothness. The extra temporal resolution also allows the lovely surface shaders and effects work to stand out more than before: more detail is resolved on-screen in fast-moving scenes, despite the heavy use of object blur, and without compromising the cinematic presentation.
"For a series with its roots in slick 60Hz gameplay, it is a touch disappointing that both next-gen consoles Lego releases are capped at 30 frames per second.
Only PC offers the ability to run at double the frame-rate." Overall, it's a strong first showing for the Lego series on next-gen consoles, with the vastly upgraded visuals and general effects work bringing these beloved plastic blocks and figures to life in more striking ways. The animation is first-rate, too, perfectly mimicking beloved Marvel characters as they fumble through action-packed encounters in the cartoon CG Lego style.
For those looking to bring back the PS2 glory days when Lego games ran at 60fps mostly without a hitch, the PC version delivers the full-fat experience with ease, complete with noticeably swifter controller response and a level of fluidity unmatched on the PS4 and Xbox One releases. The absence of SSAO and lack of in-game customisable anti-aliasing options is disappointing, but we feel the trade-off to obtain a much more silky-smooth presentation is worth it - it simply makes the whole experience feel more polished and enjoyable.
On the face of it, then, fans of the series should be very pleased with Lego Marvel Super Heroes.