Lego Marvel Super Heroes

The game’s attention to detail will likely leave Marvel-loving adults hooked as well...

It sounds a tad funny when you tell someone that your current addiction is a Lego game, but hey, it’s one of the only games released this year with an expansive cast of characters, a beguiling gameplay and most importantly, it’s sheer fun. It starts by building the characters in Lego Marvel delivering playable heroes in a coherent story about collecting cosmic bricks around the world before villains can get to them.

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The gameplay

The first mission starts with Iron Man and Hulk, but the selection of playable characters soon grows to include the rest of The Avengers, Fantastic Four, loads of X-Men, and even Spider-Man! The entrances and exits are all handled as part of the story, which gives you a chance to play several characters who all feel like they are part of a single narrative. We particularly liked how each mission played out as a sort of protracted chase, with the heroes in pursuit of folks like Magneto or the Red Skull while battling lesser villains like Pyro or the Leader along the way.

Although several playable comic protagonists share what are for all extent and purposes the same abilities — such as the brute force of the Hulk and The Thing — crisp, beguiling visuals and charming animations lend each figure an individualistic flair. We were also pleasantly amused with the myriad in-jokes and riffs on historic narratives, such as a nice early jibe about Wolverine’s obsession with his ancestry, which had us in splits!

The Odds

There are cumbersome aspects to the game that will be familiar to long-term fans of the Lego series. For instance, the camera is fiddly and obtrusive in places, leaving you dumbstruck and clueless at various junctures. However, with excessive playing and hands-on work, the characters simmer the absurdity down. Then there’s the matter of the ambiguous flying controls, which were infinitely less responsive than they should be. For example, when trying to make a turn, you would occasionally jar off to the side and suddenly come to a complete stop. And lastly, there’s way too much focus on the free roam and too little to do within the actual levels while most of the time and actual progress would be made during free play around a New York-like set. What actually makes up for the uncanny slips is the vibrancy of the New York game world with its staggering depth of side missions and collectibles.

Signing off

Every game has it quirks but Lego Marvel Super Heroes has done justice to its brand.

This is an enjoyable game with loveable characters, funny dialogues and great gameplay that is a sure-shot hit. Plus, the feeling of being 3 again is priceless!

From the January 2014 issue of FHM India.