Check out the newly released trailer if you don't believe us: Today (October 9), the team responsible for turning our favorite super-team into adorable minifigures assembled at the LEGO Marvel New York Comic Con panel to tell us more about what to expect when this new game comes out in January. However, yesterday, MTV News got the chance to check out our very own private demo of the game (it's okay to be jealous), and we saw some totally incredible stuff. Here are the highlights: Watching cutscenes in "LEGO Marvel Avengers" is often like watching a shot for shot LEGO remake of the "Avengers" movies you already love, complete with the original lines of dialogue as spoken by the real stars -- with some ridiculous sight gags and dorky jokes added in, of course. It wouldn't be a LEGO game otherwise, right? But that's not all-- in addition to getting to play our your favorite battles in "Avengers" and "Age of Ultron," you'll also be reenacting scenes from a huge chunk of the Phase 2 Marvel movies like "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and "Thor: The Dark World" as well, and playing with versions of the characters that appear all across the MCU.
Remember how Maria Hill was always there to give you a hand in the last LEGO Marvel game? In this one, she's back and played by none other than her live-action counterpart, Colbie Smulders. Both Hayley Atwell ("Agent Carter") and Clark Gregg ("Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.") also recorded brand new lines of dialogue for some of their side-quests, too -- and yes, they're playable, too. Peggy Carter even has her trademark red hat. Because this game is filtered through the lens of the "Avengers" movies, it's focused primarily on the characters that Marvel still retains movie rights to -- so sorry, Wolverine, but you're probably going to have to wait for the next one. But that's fine by us, because... The Internet is already super pumped for comic book characters like Ms. Marvel, America Chavez, the new Thor and Squirrel Girl, as LEGO announced their presence in the game a few months ago. But there will also be super obscure favorites like Fin Fang Foom or Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy.
Heck, Butterball makes an appearance. Do you know who Butterball is? Of course you don't, but he's great. Eventually the game will contain over 200 different characters (not to mention all the different outfits and skins that some characters will have), and the creators of the game tell us that they will keep adding new ones to the line-up -- often times based on what the fans on Twitter request -- right up until the week before the game is ready to release. That's dedication, right there. The creators of "LEGO Marvel's Avengers" are all about getting you and your friends to switch back and forth between all the characters as often as possible, but now the game developers have added a wrinkle -- every pair of characters has a team-up move with one another, and some of them are wonderfully specific to their actual abilities and relationships in the comics. For example, Quicksilver can throw Captain America around to strike several enemies at once, and Moon Boy can actually ride Devil Dinosaur around.
When you weren't saving the day in story quests in the first LEGO Marvel game, you'd spend most of your time Manhattan, AKA the location of nearly every single base of operations for all the Marvel heroes. But in "Marvel's Avengers," you'll have so many more interesting places to explore, like Asgard, South Africa, Washington D.C., and even Clint Barton's cozy little farm upstate. Your characters can also do way cooler stuff in the open world, too; in story mode, Quicksilver can only run up walls in certain situations, but if you're hanging out in a hub area then he can do it all the dang time. Tony Stark has Veronica to keep The Hulk in check when he gets out of line, but he's not the only one with a giant suit of armor to wear. So does Stan Lee, as the team behind "LEGO Marvel's Avengers" revealed at San Diego Comic-Con earlier this year. And yeah, that is a giant pencil gun and a desk lamp on the back of it, because Stan Lee is all about making deadlines while fighting crime.
But even he's not the only one, either -- Squirrel Girl's got an iron suit, too. It's basically the cutest, most bad-ass thing ever, and we can't wait to get into it and seriously wreck some stuff. "LEGO Marvel’s Avengers" will be released on January 26, 2016, available for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation4, PlayStation3, PlayStation Vita, WiiU, Nintendo 3DS and Windows PC.This feature contains plot details from the movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens There was no disturbance in the force, no voices crying out in surprise. Eleven years after the original Lego Star Wars game introduced the winning formula behind this phenomenally successful series of co-op puzzle platformers, no one was shocked when Warner Bros announced Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It was as inevitable as another Death Star. And it’s kind of what you expect: 18 levels and five hub areas, which closely reflect and tell the same story as the movie, picking out key action scenes for players to replicate and interspersing these with comedic cut-scenes that gently mock the source material.
This is how UK studio Travellers Tales has dealt with every license that’s passed through its office, from Harry Potter to Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings and the Lego Movie itself. The first point of interest, though, is that seven of those levels are entirely new creations. “They cover some of the events leading up to Episode Seven,” says producer Tim Wileman. “You’ll get the opportunity to take control of Han and Chewie as they capture rathtars; or control Lor San Tekka and work out how he got to Jakku.” The latter is one of the key questions that hovered about after the furst screenings of Force Awakens, so it’ll be interesting to see what answers this Lucasfilm-approved script comes up with. In a three-level demo shown to journalists this week, players start out guiding Rey and BB8 through the spaceship junkyards of Jakku, fighting other scavengers and solving simple puzzles to operate doors and machinery within a downed Star Destroyer to get through the level.
Right from a start, there’s a great sense of authenticity. Each level begins with a Star Wars narrative crawl (apparently using exactly the right font, aspect ratio and vanishing point for the text), and all the creatures, craft and locations are rendered in loving detail. Traveller’s Tales says it has examined the movie and replicated beats and vehicles that may only get a glimpse of screen time. But it has also layered on its daft slapstick. In one section of a third level set in the Niima outpost, Rey and Finn have to escape the marketplace, and it’s filled with the weird aliens and rusty mechanical detritus we saw in the film. But there are also cute touches like stormtroopers in the background, trying out straw hats from a souvenir stall. As ever, all the characters have their own skills. Rey can jump higher than other characters as well as wall jump and wall run to access higher areas. BB8 can get into small ducts and tunnels as well as interface with computers, instigating little hacking mini-games that lift barriers for other characters.
There will be over 200 Star Wars characters to unlock, not just from the Force Awakens, but also from previous movies and the expanded Star Wars universe . On top of this, players will be able to use the regular customisation tool to create their own combinations. There are some new elements to the familiar action. In the sections where players have to build models to solve puzzles, Force Awakens provides a selection of possible kits rather than simply requiring you to hit a button to build. Sometimes it’s about working out which of the models is the only correct option, but other times, players get some freedom to build the model they like then figure out how to use it. It’s a teeny upgrade to the limited building element of the game, but it will at least add an extra layer of complexity. More obvious are the new flight combat levels, which let you take control of the Millennium Falcon as well as X-Wings and Tie-Fighters, piloting them in open-world dog fight battles over familiar areas like the Takodana rebel base.
In the second level of the game, you need to escape Jakku in the Falcon, piloting it through the wrecked hulls of Star Destroyers. It’s an on-rails section with limited movement but you get to swoop about and target Tie Fighters, while accompanied by Rey and Finn’s excited whoops. Combat has also been overhauled. Now there will be cover shooter sections where you need to hide behind and use scenery to beat larger numbers of enemies. Players can build gun turrets as well as shoot or pull down scenic objects to squish opponents. These sections are slightly more tactical too: “sometimes you may see a First Order engineer coming out instead of a regular stormtrooper,” says lead story designer, Graham Goring. “You’ll know that they will probably try to build a blaster turret so you have to deal with them first. Or you may see a guy on a lugger beast who will keep calling in reinforcements until you take him out. It just adds a little more thought to those sections.” Characters also get a unique special attack, accessible via a gauge that powers up while fighting.
So far though, it’s the incidental stuff that’s proving most charming. There’s a wonderful Kylo Ren cut-scene, based around his Darth Vader monologue, that really taps into the whole Emo Kylo Ren joke. The levels are filled with easter eggs too, whether thats finding and putting on a gonk droid outfit (which also makes the robot’s signature noise) to making little Star Wars Micro Builds that characters can fly or skateboard about on, there are loads of little references and in-jokes. Adding to the authenticity is the fact that several major cast members have recorded new dialogue to accompany the game sections. We only heard Daisy Ridley in the demo, but Warner Bros has promised some massive news about the full cast list later on. While the demo levels show that Traveller’s Tales hasn’t strayed a whole galaxy away from the conventions of its series, there are some new features to get to grips with. Flight combat feels a little chaotic, but it changes the pace, while the additional multi-build sections hint at slightly greater puzzle complexity while stopping short of actually offering any sort of creative control to the player.