Nov 2, 2013 at 8:00 pm Take away the Marvel characters, and what is LEGO Marvel Super Heroes? Just another LEGO game. Luckily, it has a stable of over 100 Marvel characters. Characters from the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Spider-man – you name it – team up in a LEGO game with so much star power you'll want to put on Cyclops' shades. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes begins with the Silver Surfer crashing into Earth. From there, you embark on a globe-trotting journey as you attempt to recover pieces of his flying board (dark, sparkly cubes) to stop Galactus before villains like Dr. Doom hunt down the pieces for their own use. That's why every hero comes together, little by little, to save the world. From the first level where you play as Iron Man and The Hulk, you get a feel for the epic scale of the fights. You're going up against Sandman who isn't exactly the most exciting villain to battle. Still there's a cinematic quality to the fights. The Hulk and Iron Man – actually, all the Avengers – are based on the movie versions more than their comic book counterparts.
The Hulk will do that signature move from The Avengers movie where he grabs someone by the leg and bashes him multiple times on the ground, and the way he throws larger pieces of rubble or enemies feels very familiar. Combat is smooth and you jump from enemy to enemy with ease. It comes down to simple button mashing, but you'll never get sick of watching these super heroes fight off baddies. No matter how many times you see them, iconic moves from these heroes never become boring to watch. The visuals help, as this is one of the nicest looking games I've played on the Wii U, and a gorgeous game in general. The voice-acting is also pretty damn good. While it's not as awesome as having Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Downey Jr. lending their talents, there are some excellent sound-alikes doing the work, as well as some big names: Troy Baker, Clark Gregg (Agent Phil Coulson), Phil LaMarr, Tara Strong and Nolan North. Like every LEGO game, you're going to get a good dose of humor and pop culture references.
Oh, and tons of Stan Lee. While combat is what you might come for, you'll stay for the puzzles. Every character has specific skills and powers that will allow them to access or interact with different environmental pieces, so there's some really good variation to what characters you can use to complete each puzzle. I was never stumped as to what I should be doing next – let's not forget that this is a kid's game – but there were some moments where I had to stop and think or look around a little. Each level features a bit of exploration, which will reward you handsomely with more collectibles and bricks. It's a cycle of fighting bad guys, solving the puzzles you can on your first playthrough, beating bosses, getting bricks, and then using your bricks to buy new heroes for free play mode, where you are then able to complete even more puzzles to get more bricks, characters, and so on. The thing is, it never gets boring. This is the cycle of the game, and it works so well because you are rewarded constantly with more bricks, collectibles and heroes.
It's kind of like Pokemon – you want to catch them all. The highlight of the game is the HUB world in-between missions. You'll roam around a Marvel version of New York City that has a variety of collectibles for you to find, as well as races, puzzles and challenges for you to partake in. I actually had to remind myself to get back to playing the story – that's how much fun I was having. You can explore Professor Xavier's mansion, the Statue of Liberty and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, which is really fun to jump off of. Think of this as LEGO City Undercover's open-world, but not quite as big. Still, like in LEGO City, time escapes you as you uncover everything hidden in Manhattan and rise to its challenges. Even with all of these positives, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes isn't without its faults. It's pretty common to get caught on pieces of the environment, which can be frustrating, especially for younger gamers. Also, the camera is very unforgiving. It uses an adjusting diagonal split-screen which changes as characters move around.
Sometimes it gets hard to see what you're doing, and the camera often gets in the way. Trying to aim and shoot something gets a lot more difficult when your aim can't reach something you had in sight a second ago because your partner keeps running around. Although the puzzles are great, they're really nothing you haven't done before in other LEGO games. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes is the best Marvel game I've ever played. There's been so many bad ones since Marvel Ultimate Alliance that LEGO Marvel Super Heroes feels like a breath of fresh air. The strengths of the game – namely the awesome open-world HUB, graphics, animations and story – completely outweigh any shortcomings. If the camera wasn't so inconsistent and it wasn't so easy to get caught on the environment (both problems when playing with a young child), LEGO Marvel Super Heroes would almost be perfect. Still, it's an amazing game and a must-buy for any Marvel or LEGO fan. You can follow Senior Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ.
He likes talking sports, video games, movies, and the stupidity of celebrities. Plot hole: Nick Fury is talking with The Silver Surfer after Magneto has been defeated. Nick asks for ideas on how they can save the Earth, and the Silver Surfer states that they need his board. Nick asks what Doctor Doom wants with it, Silver Surfer says something about Loki and the power cosmic. With almost no chance of saving Earth, Nick decides to put in an outside call and has Agent Hill call Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. The scene switches over to the Baxter Building where Magneto crashes through the roof and Agent Hill then calls them and says to them "This is Agent Hill from S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Fury is in urgent need of your assistance. Agent Coulson is on his way to pick up Magneto." There is no way Agent Hill, Agent Coulson, or even anyone who works at S.H.I.E.L.D. could have possibly known Magneto was going to crash through the Baxter Building roof. Magneto had only crashed through the roof a few seconds prior to the call and they had no idea the precise direction in which Magneto was falling in.
Agent Hill established through the call that Coulson was already on his way over to the Baxter Building, so even if Agent Hill had seen Magneto on the floor through the call, there is still no way she could have gotten the word to Agent Coulson that Magneto was there anyway. Bug: Sand Central Station: In the first area of the level, Iron Man and the Hulk have to walk up to the Central Station whilst taking out the sand people up until they reach a huge truck between them and the museum. There will be two huge green levers for the Hulk to pull on. If the level is on Free Play and a standard sized character is standing between the huge green levers and you instantly switch to the Hulk standing in that same position, the Hulk will become stuck and won't be able to run or move away. He will be only able to rotate around in circles. Audio problem: Rapturous Rise: Right before Magneto unleashes Rhino, he says "I see you've enjoyed playing with my pets. Let's see if you enjoy playing with this one."
He is shown moving his lips with the speech, but the audio is never heard. This audio problem only occurs in Free Play mode. Bug: Rapturous Rise: Around the point of the level where the dinosaurs show up, The Thing will pick up a massive boulder, either intentionally or unintentionally. If you switch to then play The Thing, the Boulder will remain in his arms and his character to cannot be switched to the opposing character nor can he change his character when played in Free Play. This bug only occurs when Rapturous Rise is played in Free Play mode. Continuity mistake: When Magneto crashes through the roof of the Baxter Building, there is rubble all around him. There is a rectangular shaped white piece of rubble directly in front of Mr. Fantastic. That piece of rubble vanishes as Mr. Fantastic leaves to go get a broom. Continuity mistake: Taking Liberties: Partway through the level, The Hulk, Mr. Fantastic and Wolverine will have to go into a lift. When the lift reaches the second level, all of the positions of each person in the lift have been reversed.
They are completely different to when they entered. Bug: That Sinking Feeling: When Iron Man, Spider-Man and Thor are battling M.O.D.O.K., after he has lost two lives and you have battled all of the guards, he will fall to the ground for someone to hit him. If M.O.D.O.K. lands on the left hand side of the platform and it is Thor who is hitting him, M.O.D.O.K. still won't lose a life. Bug: That Sinking Feeling: In the second area of the level, with the large pool, if you move the mini boat in the pool and move it towards the mini kit under the water, the mini boat will end spin around in circles without being touched. Continuity mistake: After completing "Juggernauts and Crosses", it will show the Fantastic Four outside Baxter Building. The Thing and The Human Torch will then run off, leaving Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. The two will then go to Central Park and get in the Fantastic Car. When they get into the shuttle, it is still just them, but when the intro clip for "Doctor In The House" starts, The Thing, The Human Torch and Nick Fury have appeared in the shuttle from nowhere.
Audio problem: Red Head Detention: At the start of the boss battle, Red Skull says "I am Red Skull and you are all numb skulls." His mouth never moves as he says this. Revealing mistake: Red Head Detention: Just after you reach the area where Red Skull is first shown to be located, walk over to a device with tracks leading into it. If you walk straight up to it, the floor design's colour changes and the shadow of some objects appear from nowhere. Bug: Rebooted, Resuited: There is one point in the level where Captain America and Iron Man need to open a laser gate with three blue lasers along it around the second area, in which it asks you to save the level at the checkpoint for the first time in the level. If you continue to the right, you will be able to jump onto a blue and white striped climbing wall, climb up it, and at the bottom of the wall is an electric pit. If you attempt to climb the wall and you miss the wall, you fall into the pit. When you are in the electric pit, if you push the button to switch characters, it won't let you switch characters at all.
Continuity mistake: Rebooted, Resuited: Tony loses his pants in "Rock up at the Lock up" and doesn't have them when he returns to Stark Tower, but he suddenly has his pants as soon as the intro clip for "Rebooted, Resuited" starts. Bug: Rock up at the Lock up: During the showdown between Abomination and the Hulk, next to the broken wall on the far left is a huge SHIELD crate to pick up. If you pick it up while you are directly in front of it, the crate will end up going through the wall of the prison. Bug: Exploratory Laboratory: Just before the clip of Black Widow, Hawkeye and Spider-Man plummeting into the lower level is shown, Spider-Man has to launch a web at a web target above him. If you launch the web whilst you are directly under the target, Spider-Man will get stuck in the target. Audio problem: Times Square Off: When Doctor Octopus says "Victory is now within my reach", his mouth is wide open and his lips don't move. Revealing mistake: S.H.I.E.L.D. Hellicarrier: If a character falls off the Hellicarrier, a rescue drone will rescue them.
On some occasions, the drone will fade through part of the Hellicarrier, depending on where you fall. Revealing mistake: Baxter Building: After letting Captain America out of the park gate and Captain America breaks the Shield Switch on the wall with his shield, a ladder will drop. If you climb the ladder, the shadow of an air conditioner instantly appears on screen. There is no air conditioner as you start to climb. Factual error: Baxter Building: The position of the lock on the park gate outside Baxter Building is in a completely impossible position. The key hole part of the lock is located inside the interior of the park instead of the exterior where the gate is usually locked from. There is no reason the key hole part of the lock should be located inside the park. Revealing mistake: Baxter Building: Just as Captain America and Mr. Fantastic are about to land on the ground after jumping off the Helicarrier, Captain America's shadow doesn't match up with his distance off the ground.