LEGO Marvel's Avengers Review: Super and Mighty

After several iterations of the LEGO Batman series, fans of Marvel were finally treated to their own LEGO game back in 2013 in the form of Lego Marvel Super Heroes. The title featured its own original story, which was enjoyable at the time, but true Traveller’s Tales fans wanted a retelling of some well-known Marvel films. LEGO Marvel’s Avengers appears to be the game we’ve all been waiting for as it brings both Avengers films, and additional corresponding features, into the LEGO world, along with TT Games’ brand of humor, genius puzzle solving, and family-friendly action that make this one game you’ll want to assemble family and friends for.

Avengers Assemble!

LEGO Avengers’ story spans not only both Avengers films, but I was also surprised to see a number of flashbacks have been included to help support the game’s narrative. While both Avengers films weren’t exactly difficult to understand, the game presents them in a much more straightforward way so younger players will understand what’s going on and why. Playing through the story, I had the chance to play as a number of important characters, like Captain America, Iron Man, and Black Widow. There were even moments where I was in control of some antagonists, which I enjoyed as it gave a better understanding of what was going on behind the backs of the Avengers, and why their work was so important.

As is the case with many LEGO games based on films, the large majority of vocal tracks are taken directly from the source material, although there are some additional voice tracks from Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), and even Stan Lee himself, in the game. The inclusion of vocal tracks worked well during cutscenes, but I found the repetition to be borderline annoying during gameplay. Characters use well-known dialog from the films during combat, and while they can sound intimidating at first, hearing the same quips and one-liners can often put a damper on the experience.

Put The Hammer Down

Lego Avengers has a good pace to it as it mixes the classic open-level style missions TT Games’ titles are known for, while sprinkling in some much-needed variety. During my time with the game, I was involved in a number of chase scenes, one of which involved The Hulk going on a rampage, participated in a side-scrolling-esque shoot-em-up with Black Widow, and fought atop a runaway truck as Captain America. Large battle scenes, such as the hour-long battle at the end of The Avengers film, have also been included and are as action-packed as they were in the films.

This time around, TT Games included a stud multiplier that increases your stud count as you continue to combat enemies. This gives an even greater incentive to combat as it helped me earn a “True Avenger” rating with great ease, although the lack of barriers in the levels caused me to lose a good amount of studs. Even though I try to stay clear from the edge of a level, sometimes the combat animation would lead me to the edge of a cliff, in the middle of a roaring fire, or off a moving vehicle. This issue can easily be resolved as long as I keep the combat in the middle of a level, although it can get tricky if I’m duking it out with several Chitauri at a time.

The Avengers can only succeed if they work together, which is why I was happy to see TT Games include combination attacks. Each character in the game is able to perform a combination attack if their combo meter is high enough. The variety in combination attacks was pretty high as I didn’t notice any repetition, and they varied from being downright devastating, like Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch’s combo, to humorous, like Thor and Hulk’s combo which has the latter punching the former at its end.

Speaking of combinations, LEGO Avengers includes the option for players to create their own LEGO Super Hero. There’s a lot of customization here as I was able to change the color of my hero, its clothing, weapons, hands, face, size, etc. It’s a great addition that I think families will really enjoy as it helps tap into your child’s creative side.

Puny God!

LEGO Marvel’s Avengers is what I expected it to be. It combined TT Games’ ability to translate a popular film franchise into a fun and family-friendly experience while also adding some new tricks, such as the stud multiplier and combo attacks. And even though I was quite familiar with the source material, I still couldn’t help but to pay close attention to its story as it was delivered in such a unique and fun package.

This review is based on a PlayStation 4 code provided by the publisher. Lego Marvel's Avengers is available in retail stores and on digital platforms today for $59.99. The game is rated E10+.