LEGO® Marvel™ Super Heroes features an original story crossing the entire Marvel Universe. Players take control of Iron Man, Spider-Man, the Hulk, Captain America, Wolverine and many more Marvel characters as they unite to stop Loki and a host of other Marvel villains from assembling a super-weapon capable of destroying the world. Players will chase down Cosmic Bricks as they travel across LEGO Manhattan and visit key locations from the Marvel Universe, such as Stark Tower, Asteroid M, a Hydra base and the X-Mansion.

When I popped the game in for the first time, I wasn’t too sure what to expect. Not so much from the game itself, but from the Marvel side of the game. At first you get control of none other than Iron Man and the big green guy, Hulk himself. The game, like most, proceeds a sort of in game tutorial of the basic physics/controls as you are in pursuit of Abomination who is wreaking havoc on the city.

During this process, I did notice some tearing and frame rate drops but nothing that really takes away from the gameplay itself. One complaint I immediately had was the inability to skip or even pause cut scenes. Even after a cut scene is over, there is still a second or two lapse of you being able to control your character. This generally leads to you getting beat on for a second or two before you can retaliate should there be enemies around during one of these cut scenes or interim story progression moments.

Shortly after the opening tutorial and punching Abomination in the face, I really wanted to SMASH something. Your attention quickly turns to pursuing Sandman after Abomination, and you come to a wall of sand that he has created in a shopping mall of sorts. A hint comes up that you need to make the sand wet to progress, but for the life of me I could not logically figure out where to find water and use it on the wall.

Jumping to the internet, I see that I am by far the only one who faced this very same problem. I literally shot at everything that looked like it could help me progress. In the end, you have to shoot a clock with Iron Man’s special targeting missile which causes it to explode into several tiny pieces. You must then assemble it by holding the circle button down into a water cannon. Shooting the clock with any other attack other than the targeting missile attach does nothing and Hulk couldn’t put a scratch on the clock. While logically unsound… this is a LEGO game after all so once I understood that the puzzles often defy logic, I found the game a bit easier to play.

If you ever watched a Marvel movie, be prepared to relive every single one liner from every single movie as the characters encapsulates and magnifies each and every character flaw they are known to have. If I have to hear Iron Man say he is a “Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist one more time I might scream.

All of that aside, the game does offer many game modes, secrets and replayability as you unlike other characters and powers.

It does hold a certain charm that all LEGO games have, and you will often find yourself smiling at the large Marvel roster that is used as some of your favorite, often ignored heroes/villains are brought out on the screen.

Overall I found my experience with LEGO Marvel Super Heroes enjoyable even though at times it was infuriating. It is not an overly difficult game outside of the logic defying puzzles that are often repeated over and over as you progress through levels.

If you are a LEGO game fan, you will not want to miss this one. If you are a Marvel fan, you could likely live without ever playing this game.

[review pros=”Covers many characters from the Marvel Universe
Multiple game modes and mini games
open world and hundreds of quests” cons= “Often cheesy repetition of ever line in every Marvel Movie
Can not skip cut scenes or pause them
Slight frame rate drops at random times” score=70]

Disclaimer

This review is based on a copy of LEGO Marvel Super Heroes provided by Warner Bros.