Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2
Released: November 14, 2017
Game Length: 58 Hours
Grade: A-
Gameplay
Battle Tactics: A lot in the game has already been seen in previous renditions of the series. You can grab opponents with the B-button and sometimes be able to hit them by pressing the X-button. You'll simply "let them go" unless you have some charges to perform special counters when pressing the B-button again. Boss fights generally have several "phases" that will require you to perform specific actions to advance even if their health bar is completely empty. Certain characters will have an added option shown with a ring that appears around the target reticle to pull enemies towards them. However, the biggest change in this game is how they modified enemy types. Characters will now wear silver armor that needs explosives to be rid of, gold armor that requires a laser, and red armor that requires... you to knock them out of bounds. Flamethrowers will knock you back unless you toss something at them. Then while they are stunned or trying to reload, you have to melee them in the face. Enemies with electrical packs are invulnerable while their shield is up. You simply have to wait until their battery runs out of juice. Enemies with shields, and other equipment like spears, will absorb blows until you either rip their shield away or find a way to stun them. Ninjas are probably the worst of the bunch as they can instantly evade attacks, deflect projectiles back at you (meaning you can freeze yourself), become invulnerable as they do some fancy flipping, or turn entirely invisible (including their vitals). One fascinating thing I encountered late in the game is that enemies will occasionally "dog pile" larger figures. You will receive a button prompt to shake them off.
Team-Up: There is no doubt a large number of abilities happen when pressing the Y-button when your charge meter is full. However, there is a huge disadvantage when those abilities do not leave a lasting impact. Not only can the combo be easily interrupted before it even begins but sometimes the enemies will be able to avoid any damage dished out. I can only remember about a dozen different attacks that impressed me visually. The others tend to be pretty nauseating with how the camera shakes around trying to keep up with the action.
Glitches: I would normally ignore the minor glitch here-and-there. The only game-breaking one came in the Cloak and Dagger DLC when a platform locked into position without me on it. However, there were just so many of them that they started to pile up. The portals that you generate has a cool warped reflection, but the image can't distinguish from which source to reflect and sometimes swaps when you pause the game. There were a few missions that reset when I got a little too far away from the character I was escorting or outside the investigation zone. Various catered outfits for certain hubs would "pop" onto the figures when they got really close to your characters. You can initiate a Y-button special ability on those who have been taken over by a symbiote. Because of how it automatically switches you to the other character, you become stuck as a mindless zombie without abilities until you switch back. For some reason it was very easy to hit the switch through a wall inside a console socket maze. Stan Lee can have a hard time fleeing after being rescued. AI-controlled characters have the hardest time knowing when to advance in a level - they won't switch to someone with a specific ability, they will hang on levers, they love to follow you through a vent and block your path back, they can respawn in restricted areas that are supposed to be inaccessible, and sometimes allies won't move into position when they are supposed to. Black Widow I noticed specifically will continue firing her electricity if you fire it in the air. Lasers can bend in another direction if something nudges you out of position. Two characters, or even creatures, can appear in the same space and "split" apart like cells. Cameras can get ridiculous when hugging in tight passageways, corners, or walls.
Features
Photographs: What was originally seen as a simple concept where Hulk would take selfies of himself and post them inside the Avengers Tower has now advanced as a full-fledged feature. There are few characters with this functionality - Tony Stark, Peter Parker, Hulk, and Ms. Marvel are the obvious choices. You can save up to 90 photos, upload them onto boards across the hub for a challenge, and delete the ones you don't want through the gallery when you pause the game. Simply press the LB-button to initiate it, Y-button removes your character from the picture, LT & RT for zoom, and LB & RB filters through 8 different color mode. Although you are able to move around freely while setting up your photograph in the world hub, things become much more restrictive depending on where you are inside structures. You may not be able to move from your position or tilt the camera all the way up or down. The photo automatically taken during the bonus mission is not saved to your gallery and you can capture anything shown on video screens.
Character Customization: Compared to the other games, there is a massive amount of options to customize your character. You can add any number of abilities and powers, equip weapons, change between six different voices, and add a background image. You can stack skills, choose whether you must hold or tap a button, and modify your target reticule. There is a large list of standard equipment you won't find in the character roster, slot things in either arm, add super speed as seen in the previous game, modify your outfit in up to 40 different colors, or change the color of your vitals. You are able to customize your character early in the game and any character you unlock will further unlock their decals in the list. There are a few stray outfits that will be highighted with a small shake when you accept a mission that requires one. There is also a little biography added to the character card explaining the situation. However, their card containing all this information will not be displayed in the character roster or as an identification marker when your character is behind something.
Multiplayer: There are two battle arenas that can sport up to four players. Color Clash plays very similar to Splatoon in which you must score points by painting the arena. Capture the Infinity Stones is a simple arena where gems will grant certain abilities and points when held.
Environment
Character Roster: The character roster fills the first row with all your essential characters from the story and proportions the rest in alphabetical order with the DLC coming after the custom characters. Each character comes with their own card that displays their abilities, biography, and first appearance in a comic within the roster or pause menu when one is selected. The game does not have categories or filters for characters like that introduced in Lego Ninjago. Identifiers will appear when standing in front of a puzzle that reveals a required character from either your group or one from the first row in the roster even if you don't own that character yet. You will need to unlock Black Widow outside the main campaign for stealth missions. The cool thing is entering your character roster when an identifier shows will automatically place your cursor on the appropriate character.
Puzzle Assistance: Outside of pressing the left analog stick to get tips and hints from Wasp in a overhead textbox, puzzles themselves seem to hand themselves over to you. The sliding puzzle will always reward you studs for the right answer or shine white when it is the wrong answer. You can manually push objects across or give them one strong kick to push them all the way. When manipulating time, there will always be a spider building a web and the mechanical gears to help differentiate the times. The line around a gold wall will glow when you have a usable character. A green line will appear around time-based objects the same way. There is a puzzle within the pyramid that will glow within the correct slot while you are slowly moving one of the pieces over.
Interface: There is now a half-wheel animation for interactions when it comes to attacking or puzzle elements. Enemies have health bars over their heads. The game carries the tradition of Lego Ninjago by having two rows of subtitles that subtly highlighting which one is currently being used in dialogue. The level selection screen, bonus levels, and downloadable levels are all displayed together in a very easy and minimalistic way from the main menu screen. You can still check the levels for what you may still need to collect but it no longer divides the levels into sections. The overhead map allows you to zoom, pan, and place waypoints with their own guide studs on any visible icon. Despite the fact you can't designate your own waypoint, the game does provide you with a giant blue beacon that can be seen from a distance. Icons on the mini-map increase in size as you get closer to them and generate up to three up or down arrows when on a different level. The mini-map is hidden when nothing is selected, enemies aren't appearing, or you aren't moving fast across zones. Characters no longer have base logos displayed underneath them.
Dialogue: The graphics of the mini-figures and how they move their mouth when any dialogue is given definitely adds another level to the game. Your voice echoes in various locations like caverns, caves, or tunnels inside the world or in levels. There are phrases for every occasion for over half the characters: when they are selected, when they can interact with an object, when they can't interact with a puzzle element, two different phrases when collecting items, and when they are defeated. I honestly could not keep track of all of them. Even those with reskins have different quotes. Captain America (Old West) will say something to the effect of "I better keep this under my hat." Throg will say that he is green with envy. Villains are most amusing when they express their gratitude of collecting items. Klaw makes a joke and asks you not to repeat it. Dormammu makes a reference to how it would be a good gift for Satana.
Attention to Detail: The trailer is professionally designed outside the bounds of the game. Scorpions will scrunch up in the size of a briefcase when they are picked up but might only be possible in special circumstances. The screen will bubble and turn green whenever you are poisoned. Eson the Celestial can be seen in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie when the Collector is showing off events on his screens. There are 250 music files. Objects destroyed underwater will float to the surface. Characters who aren't large in stature or have a mask already will automatically be equipped with a breathing mask. Footprints, even those bigger in size, are left behind in the sand and vehicle tire tracks are left behind in snow. If you can spare 20 minutes, you can watch through most of the interesting animations from the characters. You can see the LEGO logo on the inside of character's arms during a cutscene. Stan Lee carries one of the original Fan Club buttons that say Make. Mine. Marvel. as a usable shield. Although there are areas where the screen adjusts to a different room, you'll still able to see people move around in the opposing rooms. There will be optional travel methods to get around with routes vehicles will take around the entire map, ladders to help characters up that can't fly, and launch pads that will get you out of water or around the city quicker. While it is nice to see some characters return from previous games, there can be quite a bit of difference between their outfit and abilities. There is a trophy room filled with objects from completed missions and comic-book covers from collecting all 10 mini-kits in a level. I only managed to snag 4 of these. My rate: 203/260 Minikits; 263/279 Characters; 257/279 Gold Bricks; 94.8% Completion.
The World
Campaign: The story starts strong right from the gate. You have Guardians of the Galaxy riding the flagship of the game with an incredible cast of characters. They did a brilliant job setting up Kang the Conqueror as the main villain cramming 18 worlds into one tight space. The game splits up into various teams and provides you the option of which level you want to do next. These teams also consist of up to four characters, which is a huge boon if you decide to go adventuring before starting a level. Once the campaign is over, you will be randomly assigned two characters at the mansion. You can switch characters right away without needing to reach a station or complete the whole game beforehand. J Jonah Jameson acts as the game's narrator as he livestreams his opinions from his office. There is a certain amount of influence from Lego: Dimensions too when it comes to manipulating time and space over multiple universes. Every level usually has some sort of major boss fight with a villain trying to team-up to compete against Kang the Conqueror. Unfortunately, this doesn't play out too well for the antagonists as the story advances. The loading screen only shows what parts of the city are presently available at the time. It is a bit lacking when you see the same motionless mini-kit city during every transition. Mummies that target you will distort your screen during the level.
Missions: There will come a time when you are able to travel to each of the world hubs and access the travel points. This will enable you to fast travel and discover where each of the puzzle elements are. It was very easy to stumble across half of these without the map. The map itself does not have a filter for clearing away any you complete. It does add a big green checkmark over them. These will compose of your typical puzzles, color-matching sequences, and escort quests. The puzzles can get a little obtuse, with some being less than obvious. Criminal Activity returns from Lego: Marvel Avengers in the form of Wasp notifying you of trouble instead of Phil Coulson. Characters will move at a brisk pace, hurry if you are moving quickly, or stop to wave at you if you fall behind. There is an additional quiz mission that sends you on a quest to talk to the locals about a certain subject. There are usually five answers that will slowly replace the question marks in each of the choices from your quest-giver as you retrieve information. Choosing the wrong answer is actually pretty funny since the character will respond accordingly to the statement. Some missions will ask you to use features like photography or the Custom Creator. Races are a completely different story. Not only does it require you to choose a specific vehicle but sometimes it will check to see if you have a character with a certain ability. These can get extensive when you travel through up to 50 rings in 2 minutes. Not all vehicles are available at the start either. There is an overall performance timer to check if you can receive a gold brick and another one checking if you make it to the next ring in time. If you fail at any point, there is a five second timer that will ask you to press the B-button that pulls you back to the start. Unlike Lego Marvel Avengers, you do not have to rescue Stan Lee in sequence.
Locked Content: The concept of quest chains is something we've seen in the previous games, but the way things are arranged feel vastly different. In order to participate in a boss fight, you must first complete every single thing within a given hub. These bosses aren't as easy as the ones in Lego Batman 2 either. There are some serious mechanics you have to watch out for. Bonus missions are no longer locked behind collecting a number of gold bricks but require you to complete all the associated missions. This generally includes assisting two or three characters in a storyline that culminates in one final mission. Each of these missions will contain a pink power brick. I'd like to mention the "Big Heads" pink brick cause all heads to swell, whether they are big or small, except for a few unusual figures like Devil Dinosaur, small Groot, Living Totem, Old Lace, and Sparky. MODOK's head does indeed get even larger and Fang's entire head piece extends outward. There will never come a time you automatically unlock someone who has stealth capability within the main campaign. You'll have to complete "Vistas Not To Be Missed-a" challenge in order to unlock the only boat available in the game to complete the races over the water. You have to complete "Helicarrier Clean-Up" before you can unlock the two Nick Fury missions inside the Manhattan hub. You can see a list of challenges in the map interface, but there are no pointers to where to find these challenge markers in the game. I'm simply glad that Captain America's 4x4 counts as a "van" for the associated races. Completing "Guided Tour" by taking a lap around the Kang-O-Rail is one of the easier challenges to complete.
Bonus Levels: Despite how difficult it is unlocking these missions and how painful it might be to listen to Gwenpool's voice, they are all worth it! Each one reveals a ton of new characters in a fanciful situation that usually includes some awesome music. Things like the sudden song that plays during the boss fight at the castle or the party mix during the final mission that unlocks after you complete all the other ones. You will party on Star Lord's ship, go to a FUZY meeting, ride the Lola-Train through an overly-extended shooting gallery named "Field Agent Risk Threat Simulator" (FARTS), attend Chrono-Con with Howard the Duck, and put on a show with some inflatable characters.
Vehicles: You can easily switch to a vehicle roster from the character grid by pressing the X-button. Three vehicles can remain persistent in the world and placing another one down will automatically destroy the oldest one. Some vehicles will break down the moment they touch water. There doesn't seem to be any logical reason why some vehicles come out in different colors. Vehicles can be placed and visibly build on their own when the outline turns from red to green. You can also carefully rotate and pan them before construction. Strong characters are now capable of picking up any vehicle and tossing them. General Ross Tank only allows giant characters to drive while Deep Sea Hydra Diver can only be constructed underwater. Black Widow's Motorcycle amusingly shocks people as you drive by them. Ghost Rider Motorcycle flames light up when you drive it. It is also good to pay attention to which vehicles are capable of firing at targets. Unfortunately, I was only able to peruse a small section of vehicles because of how difficult it was to unlock more through challenges without using a guide. There are two "vehicles" that can be used inside the world hub that are not available in the roster: the TumbleCart in the Old West and the Mechanical Pegasus in Medieval England.
Add-Ons
Downloadable Content: The season pass actually includes all additional bundles, including all six levels, that were offered for the game. There were initially three character packs filled with characters from the Classic Guardians of the Galaxy team (which you can see in a closing cutscene of the second film), characters from alternate universes in Out of Time (that was offered as a Gamestop pre-order), and a less than stellar Agents of ATLAS pack (that was included as a pre-order for Playstation Store users). The fourth Champions Character Pack that arrived a month later included a bunch of memorable characters like Amadeus Cho who turns into the Totally Awesome Hulk, a flying dog named Sparky that will play catch with Captain America's shield, Kate Bishop, the female Ironheart who walks with style and occasionally takes her helmet off to reveal her afro, Nova sporting a new outfit, Viv who is the daughter of Vision, Nadia Pym as Wasp showing off some red, the genius machinery of Moon Girl, and the playful Devil Dinosaur.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2: This pack was initially released along with the character packs. It also came about 7 months after the film came out. There is a decent cast of playable figures like a version of Rocket Raccoon who can now fly, Ego who can transform into a small planet, Kraglin who is carrying on the legacy of Yondu's fin, and some of the original Guardians of the Galaxy. The level beautifully expands on the first ten minutes of the film where tiny Groot dances to some music while the team takes down a giant alien. One of the secrets of the level includes rewinding or fast forwarded the tape player to a couple of other songs.
Black Panther: This pack was released at the same time as the film. It adds modern editions of Black Panther in his vibranium suit, Erik Killmonger and his wicked transformation into the suit, Ross which is the most disappointing character I've ever seen, Ulysses Klaue carrying his awesome new electronic hand, the more impressive Nakia, and Okoye. Surprisingly, this pack also included two new vehicles: Wakandan Patrol Buggy & Battle Tank. Unfortunately, the level pack doesn't really expand the events that occur in the film. Instead, there is quite a bit of platforming involved for what could have been a wonderful expansion.
Cloak and Dagger: It is no coincidence this pack was released a few months before the release of the television series. I only wished the show didn't dive so deep into New Orleans folklore and the "everybody is out to get us" trope with these two teenagers. I will admit that it was good to see them explore their abilities in reading people's greatest hopes and fears. I kind of liked the mind loop in Episode 7 Lotus Eaters and the haunting in Episode 8 Ghost Stories. The comic-book style of the level and characters is actually a more fitting perspective anyways.
Runaways: This was the other "young adult" series that Marvel released about five months before the release of the level pack. Unfortunately, the television series does not match the prowess of the comics. Not only did they water down the origin stories of each of the characters but spent way too much time trying to humanize their parents. They failed to make them distinctively different from society as radical beings and villains. The kids running away from home actually occurs at the very end of the first season. Yet again, the underwater sequence that slowly introduces the more developed comic-book version of these young ones is a much more appropriate version. You have Gertrude who plays the drums like Spider-Gwen, Chase Stein with his gloves of power, the staff-wielding Nico, the very colorful Karolina Dean whose hair freely flows when glowing with power, super strong Molly Hayes, and Old Lace the dinosaur that can be ridden by Gertrude. I personally love how Neo will physically drop the staff on the ground if you don't keep holding the B-button all the way to the end. Old Lace will actually cover his face in disgust if you do something wrong in his presence. I had no idea that they were going to feature the Leapfrog during the level either.
Infinity War: Released at the same time as the film, amusingly this pack shows the villain's perspective as they chase after the Inhumans. It covers the characters of The Black Order and includes some of the most outlandish mini-figures I've ever seen. Just watch the trailer. You have Thanos wearing the gauntlet already, Corvus Glaive carrying a weapon that looks like a thunderbolt, his spouse Proxima Midnight that carries a similar weapon, Cull Obsidian, the unusual Ebony Maw, teenage brooding Groot, Supergiant, and Hulkbuster. The level design is honestly forgetable, but it is worth doing once through.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Although this pack was released about the same time as the second Ant-Man film of the same title, it certainly goes in the opposite direction by highlighting Egghead from the comic books. You have characters like Crossfire, Ghost, Raz Malhotra as Giant-Man, The Human Fly, Cassie Lang as Stinger, Hope Van Dyne as Wasp, and another version of Ant-Man. The level is pretty fantastic with a scientist lab full of trapped super heroes as you conduct yourself in a good ol' fashion boss battle. Egghead will occasionally turn you into a chicken (which also changes your character card when you pause the game as well). You can still peck at things and Egghead will flap his arms wildly as he tries to flee from you. If you don't follow him, he will taunt you from a safe distance. Eventually you will have to fight his egg-laying mechanical chicken. Fun for the whole family.
Important Heroes
There are 12 Iron Man figures. These generally contain missiles to destroy silver bricks and lasers to destroy gold bricks. Many of these will have the capability of performing selfies (and the old western version will momentarily pull out a vintage camera). Tony Stark will call forth his Iron Man suit and be surprised when it sneaks up on him. As Iron Man or Iron Man (Mark 47), he will collapse his suit to revert back. While idle, you can spot him with some glowing studs in his hands or panics when his core suddenly stops working. Howard the Duck can turn into Iron Duck but does not have the ability to fly. Tony Stark (Old West) will call forth a cowboy to equip his Iron Man (Old West) outfit but cannot fly in it. Red Skull (Iron Armor) uses the same abilities and will occasionally get hit the head with a Captain America shield when not looking. Others include War Machine, Tactical Force (Hydra's version), Iron Man 2020 (DLC and shoots a beam from his chest), and Ironheart (DLC).
There are 12 Spider-Man figures with web-based abilities. This allows them to swing in the air regardless if the web is actually attached to anything, climb walls, temporarily tie people up, leave web residue behind during attacks, create tight rope, pull on two hooks at the same time, and use their spider sense to detect incoming danger. Males who idle will occasionally shoot themselves in the face or attach their camera to web in order to take photos of himself while making several different poses. Females who idle will talk on their phone and accidentally fire web. Entities who idle will juggle three skeleton heads between their tendrils. Spider-Man, Symbiote, Homemade can all turn into Peter Parker. However, he can only transform back into Spider-Man. He shoots sparks out of his camera and can shoot his web in all directions. These forms can use camera mode. Others include Aracindo Jr., 2099 (with claws), Noir (with guns and additional voice-over while firing them), Scarlet Spider (with generic abilities), Spider-Ham (who has an animated stout like the Spider-Man logo and very vocal), Miles Morale (with electrical blast), and Spider-UK. Extra work put into Carnage who has no special strike but very vocal and occasionally hugs a teddy bear then drinks milk all while a small jingle plays in the background while idle.
There are 11 Captain America figures that use shield-based abilities. This allows them to bounce their shield around targets to a shield slot, hit multiple targets in a single throw, deflect lasers back, extinguish flames automatically by walking up to them with their shield down, absorb blows, return projectiles back at enemies while their shield glows, and ride their shield like a surfboard. While idle, they will raise their shield above their head or casually throw it into the air while it temporarily flashes its symbol. These include default, pilot version (with reduced bio), Secret Empire (with pointed shield), Old West (with hat), Peggy Carter (seen in the What If? animated series), Cap-Wolf (with added animal abilities and hyper jump), Militant (Hydra version), Red Guardian (Soviet Union's version), Captain Assyria (DLC), and Major Victory (DLC & shoots laser from his forhead). Extra work has been put into the 2099 Edition with a holographic shield, wrapped hair sticking out the top of her head, red wings that enable her to fly, and huddling close to her shield when falling down to the ground.
There are 6 Thor figures with hammer-based abilities. This allows them to swing their hammer while flying, bounce their hammer across targets, ignite it with lightning that causes writing to appear and glow all the way down the handle, shoot electricity at targets, and use super strength abilities. While idle, he will casually spin the hammer in the air or fall onto the ground after it takes off while leaning on it. These include default, Jane Foster (who doesn't have any special animations), Beta Ray Bill (retains everything but wields Stormbreaker), Hammer (Hydra's version), and Ragnarok (access technology panels). Extra work has been put into Throg who is more vocal than the others and can swim faster underwater.
There are 26 Hulk figures with giant abilities. This allows them to hop-jump across the landscape, climb walls, use super strength to pick up vehicles, smash walls, pull double-handed levers, grab chunks of land to throw at things, and charge at people. They cannot build bricks or operate a good portion of puzzle elements. Although they can't ride in many vehicles, they are the only ones that can use the General Ross Tank. Any that can transform will revert to their natural state when they collapse and stay that way when they respawn. While idle, they will generally do some heavy breathing or shout and occasionally pose in a suave manner. Bruce Banner (wearing his traditional pink pants in his standard outfit) will fail to transform (with a bit of green appearing in his face) when using his B-ability or successfully transform using the Y-button. He can perform selfies only while in his Hulk form. He can also generate a thunderclap that extinguishes fire. This is the only time I've seen him get mad when a stray chicken pecks his feet when you aren't moving. Others include A-Bomb/Rick Jones, Carnom (or Venage as it states in his card), Greenskyn Smashtroll, General "Thunderbolt" Ross/Red Hulk, Kingpin (lacks certain abilities but fires from the top of his cane), Kronin Warrior, Living Totem (who dances before he charges), Lizard, Maestro (equipped with Captain America shield that he uses to attack and charge with), Man-Ape (who rolls entire body), Man Thing (who can dig and summon pollen), Red King (has missiles, lasers, a sword, and fly), Mummy Bodyguard, Surtur (with additional vocals, telekinisis abilities, breathes fire, and teleports), Torg, Ursa Major, Charlie 27 (DLC with lasers and explosives), 2099 (DLC), Gorilla Man (DLC with lasers and explosives), Cull Obsidian (DLC), Amadeus Cho/Totally Awesome Hulk (DLC with Thor-like abilities using purple lightning), and Hulkbuster (DLC and twice the size of any other giant). Extra work was put into Thanos in the DLC bundle. Due to his size, he can destroy things on contact. His gauntlet allows him to fire from a distance. He will sit on his throne while flying or idle. His B-ability pushes enemies through an endless loop between two portals.
There are 30 Super Strong characters. These are a little harder to spot when they aren't as big as the Hulk. They can still smash walls, pull on one of the double-handed levers, and pick up vehicles by pressing the B-button. You can still grab people and hold them as you jump around. These include: Black Bolt (with his sonic voice), Captain Marvel/Captain Marvel (No Mask), Drax, Horus, Medusa (with the hair to back it up), She-Hulk or Red She-Hulk (who likes to smash walls headfirst), American Chavez, Attuma (with faster swimming potential), Ayesha, Blue Marvel, Chipmunk Hunk (who sends actual chipmunks at people), Gorgon, Heimdall, Hulkling, Luke Cage/Luke Cage Noir (which can use a camera), Wonder Man, Starhawk (DLC), Warmaker (DLC), Mister Negative (DLC), Silvermane (DLC), and Molly Hayes as a really young and small gal (DLC). There are three unique characters that have additional work made to them. Doctor Octopus is equipped with his extended arms that retract in his backpack when a situation demands it. His Y-ability includes trying to smash his partner with those arms. When he isn't doing anything, one of his drones will pop out and wander around. Sandman is someone who sinks in the ground doing his special, hovers over land when running, turns into sand when gliding to the ground, turns into a cannon when aiming at targets, and occasionally knocks over his own sandcastles for fun. Squirrel Girl doesn't fly or summon a giant mech like in the previous games. Instead, her animations have improved by sending squirrels at enemies that crawl up their bodies, hopping across the landscape while running, wags her tail, and occasionally buries a nut when you aren't looking.
There are 10 Transformation figures. These have the ability to grow or shrink. They are incapable of flight or other abilities when huge. The ones who can shrink can enter into fuse boxes and sneak into vents. While idle, most will have their suit malfunction causing their head to shrink while large or cause them to tilt over when it grows while tiny. These include Giant Man, Wasp (only shrinks), Ant-Man/Ant-Man (Classic), Fin Fang Foom (only grows extra large), Ant-Man (DLC), Giant-Man (DLC), Stinger (DLC and can take selfies), and Wasp (DLC and can take selfies). Extra work has been done for Ms. Marvel who can access transformation pads, turn into a ball (or a small one that still works on roll pads when shrunken), pull double-handed levers, and take selfies.
There are 10 Music figures. This means that these figures can force people to dance around them while playing music from a device they pull out. Any interruption will cause the item to fall onto the ground as a solid object that can be pushed around. Star Lord and his other versions with the grey top & ravager outfit in the DLC will put on his headset and tape player. There are around four songs that can play from Guardians of the Galaxy. He is the only character (other than Stan Lee unlocked after rescuing every member and Egghead in the DLC) that can use a gravity mine. He automatically equips his mask while in-flight, underwater, or when you press the LB-button. He occasionally hits himself in the head with one of his guns or tosses a white orb over his shoulder when you aren't looking. Black Knight plays between two songs, including Greensleeves. Howard the Duck will jam on his guitar. Triton pulls out his voice amplifier to play between two different songs and occasionally hangs onto his pole like in a broadway musical when you aren't looking. The pie-tossing Aunt May pulls out a phonograph. Gwenpool does not generate a visible meter but does hum a little tune. Rawhide Kid plays the banjo. Teenage Groot from the DLC puts on his headset and tape player and goes through around four songs that can play, including from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Technical Heroes
There are 40 Magic-users. This category gets a little messy because there are so many different types of powers, to which some can overlap, that you can't really expect to know which characters can perform every action. So first I'd like to explain what each one of them does. Telekinesis is required to move objects without physical interaction. Some who know the magical arts are capable of drawing a rune by connecting various lines together without overriding or reaching a dead end. If you make an error in judgement, there will be a little bit of resistance with a bright red tint to your spark. Push too far and you'll find the spell breaking into a bunch of miscellaneous items like flowers, hats, carrots, and handsaws. Some can generate a portal that connects between two points. With the proper intellect, mind control is another possibility. This is only possible when you find someone with a question mark above their head. It is possible to "chain" to more than one character. If you do not move them, they will flap their arms like a chicken or sit like a dog as seen in previous games. Perhaps one of the hardest abilities to identify is time manipulation. Objects will generally be highlighted in green and can be "cycled" using the analog stick into three states: past, present, and future.
Time Changers: The only obvious one that the game will suggest for this type of action is Doctor Strange. He is personally wearing the Agamotto Amulet that shines out a faint green glow when approaching anything that can be manipulated. All of his actions, including attacks and grapples, very much resemble that from the film. His personal shield is a symbol of the sanctum and his cloak will fly out to attack people when you counter with the B-button. However, there are others that can do the deed: Adam Warlock, Hela (who you can hear laughing after countering enemies), Kang, Korvac, Morgan Le Fay (who can't fly but can fall with style), Terminatrix, The Collector (who also likes to toss action figures at people), and The Grandmaster. Extra work has been put into the Enchantress with her extended trail of hearts and slight humming that occurs when she is in possession of another being. You'll occasionally see her pulling out a teddy bear and kissing it before tossing it back through a portal.
Portal Makers: Those that can create portals usually provides them their theme color. Some examples include the sword-wielding Merlin (blue), device-using Ravonna (yellow), Blackout from the DLC (violet), sling-wearing Mordo who likes to toss a skeleton head through a portal when you aren't looking (red), and Nico from the DLC (magenta). I've noticed that Nico can also manipulate time and occasionally freeze enemies if you let the AI take over. Others who aren't that expansive to their abilities but can at the very least create a portal include Iron Fist (who other than Steel Serpent is the only person who can use Chi), Wong (who ironically cannot use runes in the game), the very bubbly Clea, Dark Star, Dormammu (who can also grow), Nova (DLC), and Ebony Maw (DLC). Extra work was put into Nightmare from the DLC Bundle. She can summon an alicorn to ride in the air, occasionally juggle a skeleton's head while idle, and throws out projectiles that leaves behind a trail of evil-looking skeleton heads.
Mind Control: At first glance, it might be hard to know that any of these are capable of controlling another person. But if you think about it, these characters are uniquely qualified to do so. These include: the robot with an emotional face as a stomach Arnim Zola, the dog who chases his tail and shoots purple Cosmo, the mischievous Loki/Loki (Classic), vampire Morbius, Mysterio whose illusion sometimes shows a papercut fish in his "fishbowl" helmet, The Ancient One, the one who refuses to fly without his chair The Presence, the one who phases through everything Vision, Wiccan, Nosferta (DLC), Uranian (DLC), Venus (DLC), and Viv (DLC).
Recognized Heroes
When you do a count for all the ones listed above, you come close to 150 characters. What about the other ones? Well, that's the problem with this game. There are only about a handful of characters that don't do anything. In addition, there are certain "powers" that aren't shown in the character cards like the ability to swim faster underwater or glide. So I'm going to do my best and lump some together when I can.
Idle Creatures: Some characters introduce something curious whenever they aren't moving. Black Panther will get excited like a cat when a mouse scurries across the floor. A little spider will come down in front of Kraven. Both Killmonger and Black Knight have a raven appear at the top of their weapon. Black Knight does have a lot of extra features like how he gallops while running and uses a ball & rope when hooking onto things. Unfortunately, he cannot hold out his lance while riding a horse.
Glide: Some characters have the ability to glide. Medusa, Ms. Marvel, Sandman, Spider-Man 2099, Stingray, Moon Knight, Morgan Le Fay, Gwenpool, Cloak (DLC), Yondu, Yondu (Classic), and Kraglin (DLC). I've already mentioned a few of these, but I wanted to highlight that Yondu (Classic) from the DLC bundle is sporting his "prototype" fin from The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Like in the closing cutscene, you can see Kraglin timidly using the same techniques.
Knights: Some members hold some interesting shields that can still be useful outside of puzzles. The Black Knight (Sir Percy of Scandia version) can actually engulf his blade and shield in fire. Taskmaster lights up his little stud in his shield and Sif moves very quickly with her shield in-toe. Many might not notice but in addition to Agent Coulson using his giant gun from Marvel Avengers film, he can also pull out his electronic Captain America shield like in the Agents of SHIELD series. He also still admires his Captain America card on occasion.
Counters: I have tried my best to squeeze what counters people have as I name them, but there are some animations I wanted to bring out here. Wasp (DLC) will grow huge and sit on people. Maximus will place his gun down and overload it. Hellcow - long story filled with moos - has glowing horns when charging and grows wings when flying. Kid Colt throws dynamite practically everywhere. Torg juggles people on his feet and Kingpin crushes people with a giant bear hug. Colleen Wing performs some fancy footwork, even performing splits during a ground smash, when attacking. Living Mummy uses his yellow artifact for his abilities. Bullseye (Old West) will shuffle a deck of cards before throwing them at everyone.
Special Mentions
- Crystal is an Inhuman that has the ability to cast random elements at foes. Her "beam" will automatically adjust to melt ice, extinguish flames, or power junction boxes. It is possible to freeze enemies, push them around frozen, or watch them fall to the ground if they aren't already there. She can swim faster underwater and use her Earth element to dig up items.
- Groot actually has two forms but uniquely uses a stolen time device from Kang to switch between the two. He can do plenty of damage with his vines as a smaller figure or convert himself into a giant ball in his larger form, complete with the glowy pollen seen in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie.
- The flexible Ms. Marvel has a wide-range of abilities including shrinking, growing, stretching her arms, pulling double-handed levers, taking selfies, and inflating herself into a ball. However, she is the one person who is uniquely qualified to transform into various shapes when a platform requires it.
- Rocket Racoon oddly cannot fly unless you choose the DLC version. He can assemble a gun that shoots electricity or throw grenades. The most interesting thing for him to do happens when he isn't moving. He drops his gun on the ground when it doesn't work, kicks it, and then attends to his hurt toe. However, the gun does fire a valid bullet that can easily kill a civilian.
- Agent Venom is in a weird spot because although he is a webslinger, he doesn't exactly hold the same abilities as Spider-Man. His tendrils, on the other hand, can pull out a couple of guns and fire rapidly in all directions.
- Ghost Rider is pretty cool with sparks flying out of his like Dormammu. In addition to throwing flaming skeleton heads, he uses his traditional chain as his ground smash.
- Any of the goblins like Goblin 2099, Green Goblin, or Hobgoblin have a very interesting ability to throw skeleton heads that laugh while en route. While the futurist one uses wings to fly, the other two will pull out their gliders to fly around in.
- J. Jonah Jameson seems ordinary enough with his ability to throw newspapers at people, but he has a special power too. He can construct his desk, sit in his chair, and slam his fists down while shouting "Parker!" loud enough to break any glass nearby.
- Koi Boi may not seem like much with his ability to talk to fish (to which you never use) but his power is strong enough to break glass. He will also flop around like a fish on land and swim faster underwater.
- MODOK is pretty interesting with how he is always hovering around in his chair. He tends to drop it down on unsuspecting people too. He can fire a mental laser and generate a fancy shield around him. MODAM, the alternative female version of him, has the additional ability to fire rockets.
- Nakia from the DLC bundle is such a fascinating character. She wields her ring blades like in the movie, hooks both rings around an opponent before pushing them over, and occasionally balances one of them on the tip of her spear when you aren't looking.
- The entire premise behind Moon Girl in the DLC bundle is awesome. She is a little genius equipped with all kinds of gadgets from her ability to skate across the landscape, attack enemies by extending the springs in her wardrobe, and activating a propeller when she flies.
- Ego might seem interesting at first with his ability to turn into a giant sphere on command, but his inability to destroy anything while in that form is kind of disappointing. At least he can transform while jumping in the air.
Summary
Review: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 is a culmination of mechanics and gameplay from a decade worth of Lego games. This climax of a series is filled to the brink with characters, levels, stories, and worlds all shoved together in a convenient and enjoyable city made by a myriad of villains. The game encourages you to thoroughly explore the areas, take your time photographing your exerts, and have fun solving puzzles from high above in the sky to down below underwater. There are also a wide-range of downloadable packs filled with awesome characters, interesting levels, and a couple of new vehicles. Unfortunately, the developers attempted to add some ambitious changes to the combat that were not entirely enjoyable. You will need to engage opponents with specific tactics to circumvent their invulnerability. Bosses also need to be meticulously countered by using elements found in the environment. Their downfall cannot be brute-forced. Despite the number of little annoyances you might find, there is more than enough substance to justify getting this game for a good time.
3-15-2023