The evil Kang has conquered time and space and is bringing Marvel universes from different time periods together to create one big city called Chonopolis.  Now modern day Manhattan is next door to Asgard, Roaring 20’s Manhattan (complete in black and white), 2099 Nuevo York, and even an alternate timeline New York where Hydra has taken over.  It’s utter chaos and it’s up to Marvel superheroes from different time periods to team up and save the day!  You’ll play as classic Marvel characters like Spider-Man, She-Hulk, Doctor Strange, Thor, and more, as well as meet up with alternate timeline versions of characters like Cowboy Captain America in the Wild West and Spider-Gwen.  It’s the wackiest LEGO super hero adventure yet!  LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 is available for nearly all current game consoles, but reviewed on PS4 here.

At heart, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 is like any other in the block building series. Sock enemies, bash blocks and build new LEGO structures, drive vehicles, use teamwork, and solve puzzles. Collect LEGO studs to buy new characters to use in Free Play, and find hidden gold LEGO bricks to unlock cheats and other goodies. You can even rescue LEGO Stan Lee in every stage. Just like the others, a second player can join in and hop out at any time for some co-op fun.  Other neat things you can do are purchase pink bricks from Gwenpool to unlock cheats, and even create your own superhero and edit their appearance and special powers!

Between levels, you’ll explore the huge hub world of Chronopolis.  The nice thing is that even though it’s a big place, it’s easy to get around since every area is so different, no two landmarks look alike.  Also, since most of the characters you play as can either fly, swing on a web string, or at least summon a jet, getting around quickly is also a snap.  You can do all sorts of side missions here, like battle criminals, take on missions, and find hidden goodies.  When you’re ready to tackle the next stage, just follow the clear studs, look at your radar, or spot the arrow on the screen.  See?  Very easy to get around.

The only problems I had with the game are fairly minor.  Sometimes goals and objectives can be a little unclear.  Usually Wasp will pop up to give you hints, but it can be a little inconsistent sometimes.  Also, like other LEGO games, it can be a bit buggy.  One time I got stuck in an endless death loop and had to start the stage over, for instance.  And finally, it’s helpful to have previous knowledge of the Marvel characters, at least to make sense of the story and which powers each hero has.  If you’re a big Marvel fan, you’ll love this game and some of the references are so obscure that I bet even the most die-hard Marvel nuts will learn about a new character or two.

Kid Factor:

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 is rated E-10 with an ESRB descriptor of Cartoon Violence.  You can punch, shoot, and zap bad guys, but they just fall down or go to pieces when defeated. They make it perfectly clear that everything is made out of LEGOs, so violence isn’t really that bad. I’d be OK letting any kid play any of the LEGO games, personally. If you’re comfortable with your kids watching the Marvel movies, cartoons, or comics, they’ll be OK with this game, too. If you are defeated, you just appear right back where you were with a minimal loss of studs, so it’s not too frustrating. Even though the game has tons of spoken voice, reading skill is still helpful for the menus and tips. If a younger player does need assistance, another can join in at any time. Which is always recommended, as LEGO games are more fun with a friend anyway. Plus, kids love super heroes, but there isn’t a lot of super hero games made for kids.

WB Games sent me this game for review purposes.

Tags: Game Reviews, Movies with Children, Television