Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 PS4 Hands-On Preview – More of The Same

What’s left to say about another LEGO game other than it’s another LEGO game? Well, developers TT Games are back with another LEGO game. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 to be exact. After a while it becomes exhausting to be excited for these games that come out so often. With Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Worlds, Dimensions, and so many more, the franchise feels as though it’s starting to wear thin. With breaking, building, laughs, running around aimlessly, and trying to figure out the objective because you forgot, Super Heroes 2 brings it all.

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 is based off of tons of Marvel franchise characters and features several worlds in different times in history, all to stop the evil villain Kang the Conqueror from completing his evil plans. The heroes to select from vary from stage to stage. Within the preview version of the game I played at E3 2017, the characters immediately available to play within the level were the Guardians of the Galaxy characters. We find out Kang is attacking and the Guardians have been sent in to save the day. So Star Lord and his two friends are set on the ship and need to get off.

Do the characters play the same as the last game? Yes. Even if they’re different characters, each one will have its special move and its attack move. There are unique powers for each character and each of them has a specific job to do before they are able to complete the level; but there’s really nothing new to be seen. Star Lord flies around which is kind of cool, and Gamora is agile, but it’s not like we haven’t gotten this from all the other LEGO games. You’ll also have three characters on screen that you can switch between at any given time, just like previous games.

"After some fifteen minutes of dodging attacks of Kang’s minions, collecting LEGO money, building parts, saving my partners’ lives, doing a little flying, and playing as the adorable baby Groot, I finally figured out the device to build was a battery of sorts."

One of the biggest things in almost all LEGO games that has yet to go unnoticed, is the sheer amount of activity going on onscreen at all times. Lego money is shaking and spinning; broken parts are rattling around; the second and third characters are wiggling around not knowing what to do; set pieces in the background are constantly in flux. There’s so much stuff moving around all at once, I could not find what I had to do for a good five minute. By the time I found it (a switch had to be turned), I had to build a lever from more rattling pieces lying about and activate a door. Once I was able to exit and land on the planet below, Rocket Raccoon shows up to help.

Apparently there’s a giant robotic-looking monster called a Celestial attacking the planet, and it looks mad. Luckily the Celestial is standing in water so it’s only half as tall as it should be. It has a massive glowing green orb in it’s blown-open stomach. That’s obviously the weak spot, but it will take work to take it diwn. You can’t just hit the green spot, there are procedures to do beforehand. It’s up to the Guardians of the Galaxy to stop the Celestial from destroying the city to pieces. The ground is the only safe place to stand, and as the previous parts of the level were… it’s annoying. With Kang’s henchmen coming out from every corner, to tons of spinning coins, rattling pieces, and so many twirling and moving things going on it was near impossible to figure out what was going on. What do I do where? How do I do what? LEGO bricks falling from every part of the level. It’s as if you were to enter a kaleidoscope. I think that’s the perfect example of this game: the level takes place in a kaleidoscope and you’ve got to figure out what everything means while it’s in constant flux.

After some fifteen minutes of dodging attacks of Kang’s minions, collecting LEGO money, building parts, saving my partners’ lives, doing a little flying, and playing as the adorable baby Groot, I finally figured out the device to build was a battery of sorts. I got the pieces together. At that point I was able to fly around onto the Celestial and trigger its weak point.

"I have mixed feelings from Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 preview build. It felt too much of the same thing we have all been playing for the last few years."

The sound in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 is like a loose spigot left to shoot water out all day and all night; it’s going in all sorts of directions; pulling on your senses and you have no idea what’s saying what and who’s speaking. However, the voice acting is done very well. They aren’t the same voices as those in the films, but for what they bring to the table is well acted.

I’m tired of LEGO games not making any bold moves. It’s the same tried and test formula over and over again but with new characters. But then why fix something which isn’t broken? However, I have mixed feelings from Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 preview build. It felt too much of the same thing we have all been playing for the last few years. I am hopeful that the final version will be much more in-depth than the short preview  I managed to get my hands on. We will see how this game pans out when it releases this November.

This game was previewed on the PlayStation 4.