By John Walker on January 8th, 2013 at 4:00 pm.
STOP EVERYTHING. I’m in the middle of writing a feature about something or other but who cares because! BECAUSE! LEGO Marvel Super Heroes!
Oh good heavens, it’s my worlds all coming together in a thousand Christmasses. The infinite supply of utterly excellent Lego games from Traveller’s Tales collides with the superheroics from the House Of Ideas, and if it isn’t the best game ever I’m going to eat my own knees.
I’m aware I’m a little over-excited at the moment, but you see, in the last four months I’ve become just obsessed with devouring Marvel’s superhero comics. I’m way behind everyone else here, but catching up as fast as I can. (For instance, I only finished reading Alias’s run last night.) And as I not-so-subtly expressed, I was very disappointed with the super-weak Marvel Heroes beta. I’m just dying for a great game to see the Marvel universe come together, and the news that TT are developing such a thing has set my squee-drives to maximum.
Describing it as the “first instalment” in a franchise to feature Marvel characters, LEGO’s angle on this is to link it to their Marvel-based bricks. John’s angle on this is to team Spider-Man up with Jonah Jameson and smash bricks so coins come out!
It will have its own story, rather than being based on a film series (presumably the Avengers movie’s lack of a plot hindered any hope of Legoifying it – zing). Here Nick Fury (I bet it’s Ultimate Nick – everyone hates stupid original Fury now, the not-Samuel L Jackson-faced idiot) requests the help of Iron Man, the Hulk, Spidey, Wolverine and “other heroes spanning the Marvel Universe” to, well, save the Earth obviously. It’s under threat from a vengeful Loki (presumably sadly not Kieron’s Kid Loki) and a tummy-rumbling Galactus, Devourer Of Worlds. This will apparently take place in a plastic New York, as well as off-world locations.
As for who else might be appearing, Marvel’s VP of games production, the excellently named TQ Jefferson (he really should be a character too – perhaps the editor of a rival paper to the Bugle), says,
“If you’re a fan of Spider-Man, the Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy or scores of other Marvel characters, this is the game for you.”
There will be over 100 characters, in fact, with the tiny print in this press release reporting among them also are The Black Widow, Hawkeye and Deadpool.
But we have to wait until Autumn until we can have it! Autumn?! That’s a million years away! Frustratingly it’s being published by Warner, who have pissed around with the PC versions of LEGO games for a long while, not sent out PC review code for the last few despite many requests (and despite their being wonderful games), and failed to get the game properly on Steam until ages after release. Here’s an early suggestion to them to not mess this one up.
IS IT AUTUMN YET?
(You know what – it’s worth noting that RPS co-owner Kieron Gillen writes lots of Marvel books, and someone might think CORRUPTIONZ! at this post. Just to assure you, nope. John’s just this ridiculous. – Ed)
08/01/2013 at 16:04 SocraticIrony says:
Day 1 purchase, just because HULK SMASH has never fitted a game better.
08/01/2013 at 16:04 Lambchops says:
As long as Gambit is 90s X-Men cartoon Gambit and not rubbishy X-Men Origins movie Gambit then I’m sold.
08/01/2013 at 16:34 Drake Sigar says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYscJKMpN2E
Man that show kicked ass.
08/01/2013 at 16:43 LennyLeonardo says:
That clip is absolutely brilliant, thank you. There just weren’t enough crazy rumbles in the movies.
08/01/2013 at 16:04 GallonOfAlan says:
Excellent, especially if it expands the open-worldiness of DC Super Heroes.
Also, LEGO DR WHO
08/01/2013 at 17:54 Koozer says:
I hate to break this to you Alan, but…Megabloks do Dr Who sets. *sniff*
08/01/2013 at 16:06 DigitalRaven says:
Waitaminute, Lego Guardians of the Galaxy? You know what that means: LEGO GROOT!?!
Why is it not Autumn now?
09/01/2013 at 21:19 Prime says:
I AM GROOT!
08/01/2013 at 16:08 CaspianRoach says:
Why are LEGO games still being made. Is this a part of some secret coven that I don’t get that makes people enjoy these incredibly simplistic copy-pastes?
08/01/2013 at 16:12 GallonOfAlan says:
They’re still being made because they’re extremely popular. They’re no more simplistic or copy-paste that a fair chunk of the other games out there, not that either of those attributes are necessarily a bad thing anyway.
Also, if you have young kids the co-op mode is invaluable.
08/01/2013 at 16:16 mckertis says:
I dont think all LEGO games are necessarily copy/paste, yet i have absolutely no idea why would anyone play more than one of those in a lifetime. You’ve seen one – you’ve seen them all. They really should have stopped and did something actually worthwhile, instead of parasitising on children.
08/01/2013 at 16:25 GallonOfAlan says:
Yeah but – you’ve seen one Gears, Thief, Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, COD, etc., you’ve essentially seen them all. The LEGO games have just as much addition of new features between releases as any of those. If not more. The first LEGO Star Wars trilogy was pretty much just go-there-unlock-door, the second LEGO Star Wars game had RTS elements.
08/01/2013 at 16:35 John Walker says:
I’d be first in line to lament parasiting children, but the fact is these Lego games are all utterly fantastic. They are superficially very similar, certainly, but play any of them and you’ll realise why they’re individually worthwhile. Not least because of the significantly different ways a Lego Harry Potter, Lego Star Wars and Lego Batman play.
I always get annoyed that they don’t fix the stupid issues that have plagued the series since it started (vehicles are hideous, never letting you move the camera is stupid), but I’m afraid you’re just wrong – they’re really good games.
08/01/2013 at 16:42 Thirith says:
Also, calling them cut & paste jobs ignores the heaps of personality each of these games has had.
08/01/2013 at 17:35 mompkin says:
I was overjoyed when they finally added manual camera rotation in Lego LOTR, if only so Legolas’ target shooting events weren’t so hideously frustrating. I don’t know why it takes so long for these sorts of changes to be implemented, though! It’s the only thing that turns me off from the lego games.
08/01/2013 at 17:45 xenothaulus says:
@Thirith I feel they have lost some of their personality now they are using real voices. I am not a fan of the DC nor the LotR LEGO games for that reason.
08/01/2013 at 18:49 mondomau says:
@xenothaulus : Absolutely agree on the voice acting thing – I love the games but that totally ruined the magic for me. Combined with the LotR one using ‘real’ backgrounds and props, the Lego games are starting to feel like someone modded Lego characters into a movie/comic tie-in rather than the unique games they started out as. But eh, I’ll probably still buy this one because WOLVERINE.
09/01/2013 at 01:47 b901298 says:
Right, hat is now eaten – I said repeatedly this would never happen since Warner Bros own the LEGO games, Marvel are owned by Disney and are of course DC/Warners’ big rival. Now this is happened I can happily predict: LEGO MARVEL VS DC SUPER HEROES. It is GONNA HAPPEN NOW people.
http://dayzdev.tumblr.com/post/36771692833/dev-report-november-2012
08/01/2013 at 16:32 IGetPwnedOften says:
The similarities between the various Lego games is a good thing if you have kids, as they can jump straight in and have a good idea of what they need to do. Also, the new open world nature of the games is very good, especially in the LotR game. Besides, it’s all about seeing how they’ve translated the source material into the game that makes them fun to play; the LotR game is again a good example of this – the fact they used the actual dialogue from the films, how the cutscenes are used, and how whole levels have been designed around pivotal moments makes it a fun journey.
My seven year old son loves Lego games, especially Lego Star Wars 3 – he has over 200 hours played, three saves at 100% and over 500 billion studs collected on his primary save. That’s value for money right there :-)
08/01/2013 at 17:25 The white guar says:
Before all these licensed games came out there already were very good lego titles, such as Rock Raiders (rts), or Lego Racers. I enjoyed them a lot at the time they came out, but then again, I was twelve…is it a bad case of pink-nostalgia-glasses-donning?
08/01/2013 at 17:58 Koozer says:
A slimy slug has entered your base!
09/01/2013 at 02:58 drkeiscool says:
You’re air supply is running out!
08/01/2013 at 16:12 FurryLippedSquid says:
I’m with you. Crusty old cynics that we are.
08/01/2013 at 16:21 x1501 says:
Kids and casual gamers enjoy them, for one thing. They aren’t exactly targeted at experienced gamers such as yourself.
09/01/2013 at 15:18 MikoSquiz says:
I am also baffled. I’ve only played two (Star Wars and Indiana Jones), but there was nothing there apart from cute visuals. You could condense each into a 15-minute YouTube video without losing anything of value. Calling the gameplay simplistic would be flattery, and what there is gets stale faster than bread in the fridge.
08/01/2013 at 16:18 mckertis says:
” the super-weak Marvel Heroes beta.”
Maybe, but Marvel already has kids venue covered with Marvel Super Hero Squad games,
08/01/2013 at 16:21 CaspianRoach says:
I can’t wait for LEGO Minecraft to eventually come out and allow to actually, you know, use LEGO blocks the intended way — to build stuff.
08/01/2013 at 16:25 Bostec says:
It did right? that Lego MMO, but it got bricked because nobody played it.
08/01/2013 at 16:38 John Walker says:
Sadly they gave people no reason to play it. The MMO offered a really lovely two days of content, and then absolutely nothing else. Literally two days, and a monthly sub. And then they never even tried going F2P. Very odd situation.
08/01/2013 at 17:47 AraxisHT says:
It did go F2P, but it was a very cubs umber unfriendly model. It restricted free players to about 1/3 of the base content and didn’t have a way to buy more without subscribing. It was practically just a trial but was marketed as F2P
08/01/2013 at 20:45 wyrmsine says:
It also didn’t really have much to do with the core selling point of Lego, in that it ignored that people like to build things with it. The sandbox-building area was sort of an afterthought, and had no impact on the actual game at all.
I just wanted to put a 2×2 brick on an antenna and beat minifgs with it, then drive off in a cool racecar, maybe one that looked like a dinosaur. Because it’s, y’know, Lego.
08/01/2013 at 16:28 GallonOfAlan says:
They’ve tried that on several occasions – nobody was interested.
08/01/2013 at 17:59 Koozer says:
Does noone remember LEGO Creator? It was the only reason I ever got up two hours before school (and was still late).
08/01/2013 at 16:22 wu wei says:
I miss the old Nick Fury :(
08/01/2013 at 16:37 YogSo says:
Yeah, I just logged to disagree with the “everyone hates stupid original Fury now, the not-Samuel L Jackson-faced idiot” line as well.
Also, the Hoff (sorry)
08/01/2013 at 17:47 Mungrul says:
Ennis is taking his Punisher Max magic and applying it to Fury Max at the mo, and it’s great stuff. He also seems to be bringing his experience as a war comic writer to Fury Max.
Not quite as brilliant as his Punisher Max stuff yet, but getting there.
09/01/2013 at 21:23 Prime says:
Ennis. War stories and jokes featuring people sitting on toilets and/or wanking themselves/somebody else/a labradoodle.
The man can write some cracking stuff, granted, but I’d love to see him break out of the ultra-peurile rut he’s in.
08/01/2013 at 20:30 ninnisinni says:
Well I’m sorry but I just have to agree with John on this one. Then again, I know it’s just because I only really got into Marvel comics through the Ultimate universe ones, so…
08/01/2013 at 22:09 wu wei says:
Hey, I love Ultimate Nick Fury…in the Ultimate universe.
The whole “oh look, here’s Old Nick Fury’s son, who suddenly happens to look like Samuel Jackson when he shaves his head, and now he’s running SHIELD because Old Nick says so” crap was ridiculous though, especially since they’d already brought Ultimate NF into the mainline universe at one point.
09/01/2013 at 21:27 Prime says:
I also miss the old, white, cigar-chomping stone-face of Nick Fury. :( Although to be fair it hasn’t gone entirely (Secret Warriors is a great book); It’s just in danger of being lost to history thanks to the ‘moderately’ successful feature film they did this year.
08/01/2013 at 16:32 Berzee says:
“if it isn’t the best game ever I’m going to eat my own knees.”
I…I want it to be a good game. But I’m also very conflicted now.
08/01/2013 at 16:44 Simon Hawthorne says:
Let’s agree to hope that it’s the second best game ever. That way we get everything we want!
08/01/2013 at 20:58 luukdeman111 says:
So that means it’s only a bit worse than Deus Ex?
*grabs popcorn*
08/01/2013 at 16:35 GreatGreyBeast says:
I’m actually kind of glad it’s not till autumn, though sad also. They’ve been rushing these games lately – LEGO LOTR was full of bugs and even game-breaking issues that should have been found in playtesting (for example, at one point both Frodo and Sam need a helmet and a chestpiece to pass security, but there’s only two of each and it’s possible for one character to pick up both and you can’t drop the extra one… so you have to replay the entire level).
08/01/2013 at 16:38 TheTingler says:
The problem is more that they never patch them. Also if you buy them in the shops (as I have done, Zavvi was always ridiculously cheap, if late) then you have to have the DVD in at all times. What is this, the 90s Warner Bros?
08/01/2013 at 16:36 TheTingler says:
Right, hat is now eaten – I said repeatedly this would never happen since Warner Bros own the LEGO games, Marvel are owned by Disney and are of course DC/Warners’ big rival. Now this is happened I can happily predict: LEGO MARVEL VS DC SUPER HEROES. It is GONNA HAPPEN NOW people.
08/01/2013 at 17:44 AraxisHT says:
This was confirmed- not just rumored- confirmed ages ago. We just didn’t have the details.
08/01/2013 at 16:40 KikiJiki says:
Lego Deadpool?
LEGO DEADPOOL?!
LEGO DEADPOOL!
08/01/2013 at 17:51 RedViv says:
One would be mad to not include Deadpool in one of those newfangled electronic toys with a Marvel branding.
08/01/2013 at 19:38 3ergling says:
There is an actual LEGO Deadpool, y’know:
http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Wolverine-s-Chopper-Showdown-6866
09/01/2013 at 21:28 Prime says:
WANT.
08/01/2013 at 16:45 kevmscotland says:
No PC logo on the official page.
Bearing in mind they list 9 separate systems, seems odd to not have included it as a oversight like some people may suggest.
Possibly, like Lego City Undercover, this may not be coming to PC at all.
08/01/2013 at 17:03 John Walker says:
Their press release promises a PC version. I’ve also begun my campaigning of telling them not to ignore the PC this time already.
08/01/2013 at 17:10 kevmscotland says:
Excellent. Good work John. :)
I’m kinda hoping for a online cooperative element this time too!
08/01/2013 at 16:45 SF Legend says:
Will squirrel girl be playable or is she not included for balance?
08/01/2013 at 18:57 rustybroomhandle says:
way too op
08/01/2013 at 16:51 Duffin says:
Wee. It’s coming out.
08/01/2013 at 17:52 RedViv says:
Unless you are typing this in a special locality, I would suggest a change of pants, and a trip to the nearest doctor.
08/01/2013 at 16:51 byteCrunch says:
Standing on a LEGO brick even hurts the Hulk.
08/01/2013 at 16:52 obvioustroll says:
Lego Black Widow is HOT!
08/01/2013 at 17:01 FurryLippedSquid says:
Looks like Eddie Izzard…
09/01/2013 at 02:55 Dances to Podcasts says:
So you agree, then.
08/01/2013 at 17:27 JD Ogre says:
They’re going to have them talking, I’ll bet. :( [utterly ruined LEGO LotR and the second DC game for me - they were far funnier when they had to express everything with actions and muffled sounds you couldn't make out anything other than tone/emotion]
08/01/2013 at 17:27 Simplisto says:
I didn’t see this one coming. Warner Brothers is effectively supporting their film-rivals with this.
08/01/2013 at 17:54 RedViv says:
Money for everyone up there, fun for those down below. Nothing bad here!
08/01/2013 at 20:17 newprince says:
I play the LEGO games with my 6 year old, but man, they get old quick. Another issue is he wants to play them regardless of the source material, which is worrying. Then he’s not even interested in watching that stuff. It’s sad!
08/01/2013 at 20:21 eartsidi says:
my classmate’s mother-in-law makes $76/hr on the computer. She has been unemployed for 10 months but last month her paycheck was $12569 just working on the computer for a few hours. Read more here http://www.Cloud65.com
09/01/2013 at 16:18 Sparkasaurusmex says:
TT have really ruined what they had going by making the newer Lego games with voice overs. The earlier games (pre-Batman 2 and LOTR) were great fun and hilarious to see how they would send up the franchise licenses. But now they just use voices from the movies and it’s taken all the charm out of the games.
I think teams have changed at TT and the new “talent” doesn’t understand what made the Lego games so great.
09/01/2013 at 16:28 Thirith says:
I’ve only played the Lego Lord of the Rings demo, but I liked the absurdity of juxtaposing the Lego world and the movie voices in what I saw.
09/01/2013 at 21:30 Prime says:
This just made my – and my girlfriend’s – Most Wanted list for 2013.
And kudos for reading the Marvel comics, John! I’ve been a fan for over 20 years and am still reading as much as ever!