--Kang the Conqueror, Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2
"I'm all over this game! At what point do I stop being a cameo and start being a star?"
--Stan Lee, Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2
Before Loki introduced Kang the Conqueror to the MCU, Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 had already given contemporary gamers a taste of what his personality and abilities are like. The game, which sometimes borrows the aesthetic and jokes of the MCU, follows various Marvel heroes and villains as they are displaced by Kang's time travel and thrown into a Chronopolis, which consists of different realms like Asgard, Wakanda, Ancient Egypt, Manhattan, Medieval England, and a Hydra-controlled territory placed next to each other. Fans of the MCU and broader Marvel lore alike can see that this is a game that cleverly uses Marvel-based characters to set up side missions and and humor that breaks the fourth wall. The main story brings together parts of Marvel universe history that might otherwise be unknown to plenty of fans and it provides a coherent plotline to unify them.
Production Values
The art style and general smoothness of the graphics are not the problem with the visual side of Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2; that would be the tendency for important things to pop in up close. Sometimes characters and objects appear only after standing or arriving at a place in the map for a few moments. Occasionally, the game also freezes and stops running completely, a much less common thing than the delayed appearances of some environments--but a flaw that also shows up in Lego DC Super-Villains at least when played long enough on the Switch. Whatever the reason, the more recent Lego games on the Switch simply have the same freezing glitch. Something that I experienced few or no consistent glitches with is the audio. From the voice acting for individual Marvel characters and random NPCs to the sounds of classic powers, the sound is excellent, especially since many characters make statements that serve their comedic purpose while actually touching on actual traits of their Marvel history or on the futility of real life goals (like M.O.D.A.M. complaining about how taking out her anger on people unrelated to her problems is irrelevant and yet doing it anyway).
Gameplay
You can play as familiar mainstream characters like Captain Marvel, Iron Man, and Venom, but some of the more obscure characters like Squirrel Girl, Howard the Duck, and M.O.D.O.K. are also playable. The roster is enormous, containing the likes of Man-Thing, Dormammu, newcomer Carnom--a mixture of the Venom and Carnage symbiotes--and characters from the Old West and underwater landscape of Lemuria, things the MCU has not (at least yet) incorporated into its stories. Still, the game definitely alludes to the versions of characters from the MCU through things like having Ronan the Accuser say "No amount of dancing will save you this time, Quill" or Thor say he wants "Another!" when he unlocks a new character via a sidequest.
The diverse range of characters allows for more mechanics than what appears in something like Lego Jurassic World. Examples of the mechanics include the symbiote-takeover m that lets you control other characters or the web-slinging of Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen, Venom, Carnage, Scarlet Spider, and so on. In fact, things associated with Spider-Man and the Spider-Verse are integral to the game's structure. Main story levels are preceded by broadcasts from J. Jonah Jameson, a character made famous by the J.K. Simmons portrayal in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man series. The following is a looser connection, but special missions can be unlocked by completing optional missions and get narrated by Gwenpool, whose name borrows from the names of Gwen Stacy and Deadpool.
There is far more to the game than Spider-Verse related elements, though. Groups like the Inhumans and plenty of other miscellaneous characters outside of the Avengers appear and have their own class of abilities. Wasp and Miss Marvel can shrink and regain their normal sizes, entering special miniature mazes that have to be rotated to progress. Hulk and A-Bomb can trigger their larger, more powerful alter egos as needed. Thor and Black Bolt can use their electricity-related powers to activate certain machines. Black Widow can cloak herself to sneak past security cameras, and so on. These diverse abilities are necessary to collect all minikits, secret character cards, and Stan Lee cameos in both levels and the open world.
Story
Some spoilers are below.
The Guardians of the Galaxy are told by the leader of the Nova Corp that Kang the Conqueror is coming, wielding his time travel technology that he soon uses the merge different locations from various eras. Kang persuades multiple villains like Kingpin and Maximus the Mad to cooperate with him in exchange for rule over their personal areas of the new Chronopolis. In the meantime, other smaller villains take advantage of the chaos. The Avengers travel from one region of the new world to another to help Asgard, Attilan (home to the Inhumans), and other cities or communities resist Kang. Outside of defeating his minions, they can also help the citizens of the different times and locations that find themselves facing new practical troubles.
Intellectual Content
The more comedy oriented nature of this game means it stays away from somber philosophical exploration, but there is a multitude of puzzles. Some are so short that they can be "solved" with one brief action. Others are prolonged, multifaceted challenges that do require skill, careful observation, and environmental analysis. There are, in fact, probably around 100 such puzzles of varying lengths scattered around the open world hub that can be explored outside of story, bonus or DLC missions. They might rarely approach the same level of complexity as something in a Legend of Zelda game, but they are both optional and numerous.
Conclusion
As a Lego game, a representation of Marvel lore, and a game that can last for 40 hours or more even without completing the DLC, Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 is an excellent offering with plenty of content and strong ties to both popular and largely unheard of Marvel figures. Its original character Carnom even goes beyond the comics and movies by introducing a new mixture of two previously established characters (who actually have their own bonus level as separate entities as well). The character roster is extensive, the mandatory and optional puzzles are numerous, and the humor cleverly parodies both daily life and the Marvel universe. Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 is one of the better recent Marvel games and a game with few flaws.
Content:
1. Violence: Extremely tame minifigure violence is a regular part of the gameplay.
No comments:
Post a Comment