LEGO Marvel Avengers
Multi Format (PS4 in review)
Warner Brothers
There has probably never been such a successful attempt at movie tie-in games than the lego games. Traditionally ‘movie tie-in’ elicits the same expectation of quality as ‘Do you wanna come see my band’. The Lego games, however, are relentlessly on if not above par. The most recent to the mix is based on the the Marvel Cinematic Universe, unlike the previous Lego Marvel game ‘Marvel Super Heroes’ which was based on the comic universes and even included the child friendly version of Deadpool. The last major Lego game Warner Brothers released was the Jurassic World one which was arguably one of their best and I believe that the Lego Marvel Avengers is better again still. Though you’d think they would’ve called it Lego : Assemble Avengers or some other assembly based pun.
The game utilises voice clips from most of the films including flash backs to Captain America : the first avenger, with additional voice acting supplied by Clark Gregg and Cobie Smulders to give it a slightly more ‘living’ feel and not like a fan made video that some of the previous games had. On completing the game you are left to roam around New York as any number of characters doing side quests such as helping the lady who was looking after Black Panther’s cat track down the accidental clones she made of it.
The game seems to be exactly as I’d expect from the Lego games and as per usual if you enjoy the source material you are going to get a lot more out of it than if you do not. The unexpected character additions include the stars of the present day and upcoming netflix shows : Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Luke Cage and Iron Fist as well as subtle references to episodes of Marvel’s Agent’s of shield.
Taking into account the restrictions caused by most of your dialogue being a ‘cassette boy’ style mashup of things that have been said in the movies, the game feels remarkably tight. I think it’s fair to say that, along with the batman games, there are very few of the movies chosen to be represented in lego format that suit the style so instantaneously as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The main downfall of the game is the same as any of the previous ones in that it doesn’t feel particularly shiny and original, but it is fun. The other thing that I would say is that the game does tend to focus on The Avengers and Age of Ultron when there was a lot more material to be played with from Ant-man, Incredible Hulk, Iron Man and Thor for example. I assume that’ll be held off for a future title perhaps after Civil War inevitably assassinates Tony Stark (character assassination not actual assassination) and introduces Spider-man.
The game ultimately turns into a very child friendly version of GTA in which you can steal cars and fight people in the street, but you are more likely to be helping someone retrieve a purse than assisting them with smuggling cocaine. It adds quite a considerable life span to the game an it is a fun way to accidentally spend 30 hours and I’m gonna go and do that now.
4 out of 5 Nerds
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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