Just another brick in the wall…
There are a lot of LEGO games. That said, it feels weird that this might be the last one I ever review. With the release of LEGO Dimensions, it feels as if the annual flood of licensed LEGO titles may finally be done. There is now a platform that can host all of these games in one central location. LEGO Marvel’s Avengers feels like TT Games knew this. The game feels like delivering on a commitment to put out an already announced game, when they were clearly done with solo releases. This is by far the sloppiest and most disappointing game in the franchise in a long while.
On the surface, LEGO Marvel’s Avengers looks like any other in the franchise. It also boasts one of the most impressive rosters of characters the series has ever seen, over 200 in fact. There is a season pass scheduled with even more content that ties into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, heck the PS4 version even comes with free characters and scenarios from the most recent movies. There is a lot of brick breaking and stud collection to be found here.
MSRP: $59.99 (XB1 and PS4) $49.99 (360, PS3 and Wii U) $29.99 (3DS and Vita)
Platforms: XB1, PS4, PC, 360, PS3, Wii U, Vita, 3DS
Price I’d Pay: $29.99
The core game play also remains the same. Mash buttons to destroy bad guys, build objects to progress forward, collect studs; rinse and repeat. A couple of appreciated improvements do make an appearance though. For starters, the LEGO series has been notorious for being vague on its direction. These games are aimed at kids, but informing the player exactly what to do next has never been its strong suit. Avengers remedies that with icons that show up where the player should focus. It helps a ton.
Also there are new team-up moves between characters that break up the button mashing monotony. These context sensitive actions also require a button-press mini-game, and are always enjoyable to watch.
This is where the improvements really come to a screeching halt. As with most titles in the LEGO series, this game follows the series of movies that involve Marvel’s Avengers. The problem is that they are all over the place. Bouncing back and forth between movies that take place before actions I already completed. For those unfamiliar with the movies, it is a train wreck trying to keep track of it all.
Presentation is also weird. The team opted to use lines of dialogue from the movies, but it doesn’t always fit in. There are bouts of uncomfortable silence, and the audio in general just feels awkward. These are the kind of things that bother me the most about these games. Their production values just seem mashed together for hosting such a large license. It feels sloppy.
LEGO Marvel’s Avengers still boasts enormous amounts of content, and those that have not grown tired of the formula will find plenty to justify their money. Still it feels like the series is on autopilot and with LEGO Dimensions still fresh in everyone’s mind it can be hard to justify spending another full sticker price for what feels like a rehash.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
