Lego Marvel Super Heroes Review

With Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes came a much higher bar for the Lego games.  It introduced voice acting (featuring the likes of Troy Baker as Batman and Clancy Brown reprising his role as Lex Luthor) as well as fully scripted cutscenes that replaced the pantomimed movie moments from previous installments.  The game also boasted an explorable Gotham, brim with familiar locations such as Wayne Tower, the Batcave, and Ace Chemicals.  Now Lego Marvel is here to showcase its impressive powerset, and as one guy's opinions of the Lego franchise go, it soars above the rest.

Lego Marvel takes a lot from Lego Batman 2; an open world, voice acting, an original story, and a myriad of beloved characters.  But Lego Marvel doesn't just execute these aspects; it cranks them up to max speed and sets out to fix previous problems that have plagued past games.  Exploring the Marvel version of New York is a smooth sailing experience with plenty of sights to behold.  Placing the mini-map on screen was a much needed addition and helps to easily navigate missions, gold bricks, and side-quests scattered about.  Both the flying and driving have been improved dramatically, though they can still be on the finicky side.  I believe the flying is more intuitive than it was in Lego Batman 2, with Superman handling like a giraffe riding a bottle-rocket, but I can see how some players may still be unsatisfied with the controls.  After a few hours, however, I was effortlessly zipping around New York as Iron Man, Thor, and Dr. Strange like it was forcefully irradiated into my genetic code.  Lego New York is also a lot more interesting to explore than Lego Gotham, not only offering eye candy easter-eggs, but letting you participate in many of these popular locales through the story and side missions.  Its one thing seeing the X Mansion on the map; its another thing entirely to be able to play as the X-Men and save the mansion from burning down while stopping the Juggernaut.

The story is also designed with fun in mind and I had a blast with it.  Don't forget, this is a Lego game we're talking about; if you're expecting Game of the Year performances or script that's going to knock your socks off, you're playing the game wrong.  Traveler's Tales knows that their primary audience is still children, but they also understand that parents will usually be the ones handling the second controller.  They do a great job of making the game accessible, funny, and enjoyable for both demographics, filling the story with cheesy dialogue and slap-stick humor that will put a stupid grin on your face.  Some may find the jokes and character banter groan worthy, but I tend to see it as part of the charm.  The main adventure itself also takes you through many of Marvel's beloved locales, taking on some of the top notch villains like Magento, Dr. Doom, and Loki as they band together to do...well...evil things.  Voice acting makes a return and you'll recognize many of your favorite characters being voiced by their animated series counter-part, which is always fun to hear.  If you're willing to sit back and enjoy the bad jokes, you're in for an enjoyable ride straight out of a Marvel mash-up comic.

One aspect, above all, really makes this game shine, and that's the characters.  And, oh man, are there characters!  I've logged in enough hours to unlock all but one, and I think I counted 132 character slots, plus the 8 DLC characters, plus a ton of different skins and costumes (some which even function entirely differently, like Phoenix v.s. Jean Grey, and Iron Man Mark I v.s. Iron Man Mark VII) and you have over 150 playable characters.  With 150 characters, you can expect to see the majority of your favorites (though there are a few missing that I'd like to see more than Howard the Duck or Gwen Stacy).  While some of the big-figs, such as Hulk, Juggernaut, and The Thing can feel a bit identical, most of the heroes have unique animations and move-sets.  All the characters also have the exact powers you'd expect them to have; Iron Man flies, shoots rockets, can charge up a Uni-beam, and fights with his repulsors.  Thor can zoom around the skies, summon lightning, throw his hammer, and use his powerful strikes to break down walls that only big heroes can bust open.  Everyone brings their own feel and it'll keep you playing for hours as you scour the map for new characters to unlock, curious to test out their might.

Mechanically, the game has a few issues.  Like all Lego titles before it, the AI is useless.  You teammates stand around taking punches, occasionally defending themselves, which only further exemplifies Lego Marvel as a couch coop title.  You might also find yourself getting stuck in some level geometry, wedged into an area you accidentally jumped into.  There are also some infinite death loops where you fall off an edge only to respawn in free fall and die again and again and again.  My game also frozen on me at some random points (usually during loading screens or boss fights), but this was only when I had been playing the game for over 2 hours or so.  But, again, this is a Lego title we're talking about; this is really nothing new, and while it certainly performs better than past games, its still a shame that these problems persist.

Though overall, the experience is a grand one.  The locations, the diverse roster, the free roam, the references, and the Stan Lee cameos all make for one solid title; certainly the biggest and best Marvel themed video game I've ever played.  If you hated the previous Lego games, this one certainly won't change your mind, but Marvel fans would be doing themselves a favor by picking this title up.  If you've ever wanted to hover around a city as Magneto or sling across buildings as Venom, now is your change.  Excelsior!

Review: Grand Theft Auto V

There's been a good hiatus since my last post, and that's mostly due to getting wrapped up in this extravagant world.  Grand Theft Auto V is truly gigantic, and I wish I had the endless amount of time and blog space to match the praise I have for Rockstar's new sandbox success.  Though its not without a few shortcomings, the overall package is an irreplaceable crime-spree experience.

Our story kicks off in the shoes of three very diverse characters.  There's Michael, the retired criminal who's traded his life of heists for an expensive house, a glass of whiskey by the pool, and a garage full of luxury cars.  Though it may sound like a wonderful retirement, Michael is plagued by an ungrateful, privileged family that can't stand him, as well as a nagging ache to get back into the game.  We also take control of Franklin, a kid from the hood who desires the luxury of big-league scores, but is continually dragged down into petty theft by useless friends.  And then, there's Trevor.  There is so much to say about Trevor; a crazed meth-head, a dreamer entrepreneur, a conspiracy theorist, a daytime philosopher, a loyal friend, and a dangerous enemy.  Most of GTA V's memorable moments come from Trevor's interactions and he's sure to go down in gaming history as a fan-favorite.  All three characters cross paths, their common enemies, goals, and colorful pasts intertwining their motives.  Each character gets an equal portion of the story, and seamlessly swapping between them ensures you never get bored.  Whenever you find yourself apathetic about a certain character's missions or want to see a new area of the map without taking a lengthy drive, simply switching to someone else and seeing what they have to offer will keep your television on for hours.

The game's several heists contain the shining points of the mission structure.  There is much more than just executing the big scores; GTA V has you decide your preferred route, choose your crew members, and collect any supplies you'll need to take the plan into action.  Picking a route usually comes down to low-profile and clever v.s. storming the gates, guns blazing, which lets players choose their preferred playstyle method.  Sifting through your crew also poses some tough choices.  Crew members with higher stats will require a higher cut of the payout, but their skills might be necessary as less experienced crew members could screw up by bringing ill-suited weapons and vehicles to losing an entire dufflebag worth of the loot.  Their attributes, however, will increase with each successful mission, while their desired cut stays the same, so there definitely incentive to taking some lowly thugs under your wing.  This also poses one of the games problems; there just aren't that many heists within the game.  Even if you want to take a crew member on missions to level up their stats, you'll probably only get to choose them a handful of times.  I had the most fun devising heist plans and its a shame that they come and go so quickly.

The heist setups keep the player involved and give a gratifying sense of careful preparation, that grounds these scores in a bit of reality.  You feel devoted to the mission as you acquire any getaway vehicles, chemicals, weapons, and machinery that your heist might require from the world around you.  When the mission finally takes off, Rockstar's clever implementation of character switching allows you to take part in every angle of the execution.  Michael might be in charge of leading a distraction crew through the front, while Franklin uses the stolen construction rigs and outfit to break down the back wall.  Trevor comes in with the chopper to airlift the goods, while Franklin brings around the getaway vehicle you picked out earlier.  Snapping in and out of characters is done in a fluid manner that's quick enough to avoid load screens and keeps you involved with every approach.

Outside of story missions the grand island of Los Santos is filled with plenty to occupy your time.  Hair salons, clothing stores, movie theaters, and auto-body shops offer short bursts of entertainment and customization while character specific side missions flesh out Michael, Trevor, and Franklin.  Some of my favorite missions involved racing fitness-nut Mary-Anne around the city and seeing how each character reacts to her psychotic personality (Franklin is truly afraid of her while Trevor thinks he's fallen in love).  The side missions are true to the GTA universe's sense of humor, giving you a break from the intensity of the story to participate in a silliness that further caricatures American pop-culture and the one-percenter lifestyle.

Visually, Grand Theft Auto V looks good, not great, though it is certainly a leap above GTA IV.  You'll find better looking console games out there, however if you consider the scope of Los Santos and how the game manages to perform so fluidly with only minor texture pop-ins and no inter-level loading screens, its hard not to leave impressed.  The character models and animations are decent, but its the superb voice acting that helps bring the cast to life and make a lot of GTA V's ridiculous banter quite memorable.  This title is quite dialogue heavy, which makes me thankful all the characters are well voiced and entertaining through the entirety of the story.

The meat of the Grand Theft Auto experience comes from exploration and GTA V delivers on this front.  Picking your preferred mode of transportation is as easy as steeling it and Rockstar offers a large variety in the vehicles available.  My jaw fully unhinged after an experience with a truck towing a boat.  I was able to hijack the truck on the free way, drive it a few miles down to the beach, back the boat into the water, detach the trailer, and use the boat to speed away.  The level of interactivity you're convinced you have within the sandbox is the most gratifying I've witnessed in any other game in the genre.  Giving the player control over manipulating and participating in the world is on a level I was truly blindsided by.

GTA V does have a few more weak points aside from leaving the player yearning for more heist missions.  The economy of the game feels a bit detached.  I was incredibly impressed by the stock market aspect of the game and your players ability to control your investments and aide their outcome via missions, but its not as deep as I once pictured.  Outside of story elements, the stock market isn't as affected by the player's actions as I expected, which was a bit disappointing considering the work that must have gone into creating it.  Obtaining money also feels like a bit of a chore and outside from the stock market and story-based heists, gathering cash tends to come down to investing in properties and waiting for their weekly check to add to your bank account.  And the only real purpose of money is to buy more properties to help you get more money.  I was hoping for a more involved real estate system that helped me really make my mark on Los Santos.

But any negatives I may bring up are completely out-shadowed by the experience and scope that Grand Theft Auto V offers.  While it may not be perfect, the level of work that Rockstar put into crafting this game is noticeable and awe-inspiring.  To develop such a world that is truly the best the series has to offer shows that the creators are devoted to expanding the genre and pushing the envelope on what is possible to achieve on a disk.  GTA V is a solid title, through and through, and hopping into the shoes of whacky characters to explore a surreal world of fantasy crime is an adventure worth taking.