Lego Marvel's Avengers

Lego Marvel's Avengers
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Arthur Parsons
Producer(s)
  • Jennifer Burbeck
  • Toby Jennings
Designer(s)Jon Burton
Programmer(s)Steve Harding
Artist(s)Leon Warren
Composer(s)
Platform(s)
Release
  • NA: 26 January 2016
  • PAL: 27 January 2016
  • UK: 29 January 2016
OS X
  • WW: 10 March 2016
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Not to be confused with Marvel's Avengers (video game).

Lego Marvel's Avengers is a Lego-themed action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, for the Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and OS X. It is the spin-off to Lego Marvel Super Heroes and the second installment of the Lego Marvel franchise.[1] The game is based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, primarily following the plots of The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron, with single levels based on Captain America: The First Avenger, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

The game features characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as characters from comic books. Characters include Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Thor, Ultron, Loki, Winter Soldier, Falcon, Vision, and War Machine, as well as some lesser known characters such as Devil Dinosaur and Fin Fang Foom.[2] It includes the characters of the Avengers, a superhero team, along with many others.[3] The game was released on 26 January 2016 and received mixed reviews, with many calling it inferior to its predecessor.[4]

Gameplay

The gameplay is similar to Lego's long-running series of franchise video games, with a focus on puzzle-solving interspersed with action. Players have to solve puzzles spread across the game environment to progress through levels. The game features New York City as the main large open-world hub, but also, for the first time, includes seven other movie significant areas players can travel to, including Asgard, Malibu, South Africa, The Helicarrier, the Bartons' farm, Washington D.C., and Sokovia.[5] These hubs also feature hundreds of side quests and bonus levels such as rescuing citizens in trouble and races. The main story takes up a fairly small fraction of the game's total "completion". While the game's story is predominantly focused on the first two Avengers films, there are single levels based on Captain America: The First Avenger, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Characters

The game features over two hundred playable characters, with most characters (excluding the Fantastic Four and X-Men-based characters) returning from the previous game. While most of the characters are drawn from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, some comic book characters that had yet to appear as of the release of the game like Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel, Sam Wilson's Captain America appearance, Jane Foster's Thor form, and the Young Avengers members Wiccan, Speed, Hulkling, and America Chavez are included as well. Director Arthur Parsons stated: "It's a celebration of everything about the Avengers. Comic books, movies, cartoons. It's everything you love about the Avengers in video games".[6][7]

Development

Audio

Unlike Lego Marvel Super Heroes, which used original voice acting, Lego Marvel's Avengers utilizes audio from the six films being adapted for the game, including voice and music, similar to Lego The Lord of the Rings, The Lego Movie Videogame, Lego The Hobbit, and Lego Jurassic World. The game utilizes the archive audios from the actors in the films.[8] Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Ashley Johnson, Hayley Atwell, Michael Peña, and Ming-Na Wen reprise their respective roles from the films and TV shows,[9][10] and Marvel Comics co-creator Stan Lee returned to voice himself.[11] Robbie Daymond voices A-Bomb.[12] Lou Ferrigno voices himself and Greg Miller voiced Aldrich Killian.[13][14]

Downloadable content

Free PlayStation timed exclusive downloadable content was announced. This included a character pack and a level based on the heist for the Yellowjacket suit from Ant-Man, which was released on April 6, 2016, and a Captain America: Civil War character pack that was released at launch. A season pass was also available during launch, which gave players exclusive access to the "Explorers Pack", story levels and over 40 additional playable characters. These story levels were based on the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. television series as well as levels focused on the comic versions of Black Panther, the Masters of Evil, Captain Marvel, and Doctor Strange.[15] A Spider-Man character pack was also released on May 24, 2016, which saw the Civil War version of the character as a playable character.[16]

Reception

Lego Marvel's Avengers received "mixed or average reviews" on all platforms, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[19][21] Game Informer's Andrew Reiner gave the game 7.75 out of 10.[23] IGN awarded it a score of 6.7 out of 10, saying "LEGO Marvel's Avengers is great fun, but unfortunately restricted by sticking to the Marvel Cinematic Universe".[25] Destructoid awarded it a score of 6 out of 10, saying "it's a fun mindless romp through a couple of interesting setpieces, but not a whole lot more than that when it comes down to it".[22] PlayStation LifeStyle awarded it 7.5 out of 10, saying "some technical hiccups and the occasional unclear objective can hamper your progress, but these can all be overcome in a game that exudes a fun-loving attitude throughout".[27] GameSpot awarded it a score of 7.0 out of 10, saying "if you've played a Lego game in recent years then you'll know what to expect: another familiar and fun adventure that you can enjoy with your kids".[24] Hardcore Gamer awarded it a score of 3 out of 5, saying "while a decent action-adventure title, Avengers does little to innovate or set itself apart from a vast library of superior Lego games".[28] PC Gamer awarded it a score of 52%, calling it "a half-hearted recreation of some fun movies, with almost nothing to offer over its predecessor".[26]

References

  1. ^ Cabral, Matt (29 June 2015). "Arthur Parsons Assembles 'Lego Marvel's Avengers". Marvel.com. Archived from the original on 1 July 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  2. ^ Phillips, Tom (12 October 2015). "Lego Marvel's Avengers covers six Marvel films". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 13 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  3. ^ "Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Games and The LEGO Group Announce an Action-Packed Slate of LEGO Videogames for 2015". Business Wire. 29 January 2015. Archived from the original on 30 January 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  4. ^ Futter, Mike (5 August 2015). "Lego Marvel Avengers Delayed Into 2016". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 8 August 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  5. ^ Takadashi, Dean (9 December 2015). "Lego Marvel's Avengers is loaded with superheroes, villians, cities, and open-world gameplay". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  6. ^ McWhertor, Michael (11 July 2015). "Lego Marvel's Avengers adds 100-plus characters, even more Stan Lee". Polygon. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  7. ^ Brown, Luke (5 August 2015). "Kamala Khan, Jane Foster and More Join 'Lego Marvel's Avengers' This January". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015.
  8. ^ "E3 Reaction: LEGO Marvel's Avengers is a Fun Remix of the Films". SuperHeroHype.com. 17 June 2015. Archived from the original on 18 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  9. ^ Dornbush, Jonathan (12 October 2015). "Lego Marvel's Avengers to include Phase 2, Agent Carter, more content". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 29 November 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  10. ^ Fahey, Mike (6 April 2016). "Ant-Man Is Not The Star Of LEGO Avengers' Ant-Man DLC". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  11. ^ "Interview: Stan Lee Talks LEGO MARVEL'S AVENGERS, Marvel Movies, And More!". Nerdist. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  12. ^ "Robbie Daymond Talks Sailor Moon and More". 4 November 2015. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  13. ^ "Lou Ferrigno". Behind the Voice Actors. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  14. ^ "Aldrich Killian". Behind the Voice Actors. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  15. ^ Dornbush, Jonathon (18 March 2016). "Lego Marvel Avengers season pass details". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  16. ^ Kato, Matthew (24 May 2016). "Free Spider-Man Pack For Lego Marvel Avengers". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 27 May 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  17. ^ "Lego Marvel's Avengers (3DS)". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on 31 January 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  18. ^ "Lego Marvel's Avengers (PC)". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on 22 May 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  19. ^ a b "Lego Marvel's Avengers (PlayStation 4)". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on 16 May 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  20. ^ "Lego Marvel's Avengers (Wii U)". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  21. ^ a b "Lego Marvel's Avengers (Xbox One)". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on 25 May 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  22. ^ a b Devore, Jordan (29 January 2016). "Review: LEGO Marvel's Avengers". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 15 May 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  23. ^ a b Reiner, Andrew (27 January 2016). "Lego Marvel Avengers review: The Age Of Loltron". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  24. ^ a b Ramsay, Randolph (26 January 2016). "LEGO Marvel's Avengers Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  25. ^ a b Pearce, Alanah (28 January 2016). "LEGO Marvel's Avengers Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  26. ^ a b Roberts, Samuel (4 February 2016). "Lego Marvel's Avengers review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 25 May 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  27. ^ Contreras, Paulmichael (27 January 2016). "LEGO Marvel Avengers Review (PS4)". PlayStation LifeStyle. Archived from the original on 2 August 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  28. ^ Dunsmore, Kevin (2 February 2016). "Review: LEGO Marvel's Avengers". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.