PSX 2015: LEGO Marvel Avengers Preview

I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU as some like to call it. The idea of a shared timeline for a whole bunch of movies is exciting, near unprecedented even. I’m going to stop myself there before I get too sidetracked talking about how great it is that comic book movies are finally able to be great after far too many years of being terrible. Now that’s out of the way, let’s get on to something else.

I love the LEGO games. It’s probably the completionist in me that likes to find every character, golden brick, and secret area from Hoth to Hogwarts. There’s also that part of me that played with LEGOs religiously as a kid. Add a childhood love like LEGOs to a lifelong love for video games and you’ve got a recipe for a series of games that my wife hates that I love so much.

The evolution of LEGO games has come a long way, with each iteration adding significantly to the franchise, from adding voice acting for the first time, to changing from a level design to having open hub worlds with challenges, missions, and collectibles. When I heard about LEGO Marvel Avengers, I wondered what they could do differently with it. They already had LEGO Marvel Superheroes (Which might be my favorite LEGO game thus far), right? How was this one any different?

Deep Respect

The main answer is a much deeper respect for the source material. LEGO Marvel Avengers (henceforth referred to as Avengers) is based on phase two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, covering the stories and characters from Avengers, Age of Ultron, Thor: The Dark World, Iron Man 3, Captain America, and The Winter Soldier. It also introduces content from Agents of Shield, however leaves out the more mature oriented worlds of Netflix’s Daredevil and Jessica Jones (though certain iterations of The Defenders are present in LEGO Avengers).

Each character is unique. LEGO games have always been famed for their 100+ character rosters, but many have been re-skins or just plain useless character used to fill out the roster. Avengers pays special attention to each and every character, even those that you might think would play a more minor role, giving each of them their own personality in walk, idle animation, abilities and attacks. The personalities are built from the movies and comics, so each Marvel character in Avengers feels distinctly like a LEGO version of that character. Our demo went through nearly every currently announced character, showing that none were simple palette swaps of the others. It made the the world feel engaging and diverse.

Travel the World, They Said

Avengers also expands the hub world, not only making Manhattan more expansive than in the previous game, but adding nearly 10 other hub worlds, slightly smaller, but each with their own set of challenges, collectibles, and secret areas to discover. Once again, utilizing the source material, SHIELD terminals can be hacked be Hydra agents for alternate rewards. Characters in the main Avengers have unique team-up abilities that change depending on which way you activate them (ie. Using Hulk on Iron Man will perform a different team-up move than using Iron Man on Hulk).

It was a lot to take in, and that was just a small fraction of the open worlds and character list. On the surface, it may just look like another brick breaking LEGO game designed to stimulate the minds of people who need to attack every object in sight just to collect the studs (guilty as charged). Underneath the hood however, there is more attention to every fine detail going into Avengers than any LEGO game before it. The team at Traveller’s Tales are not only LEGO fans, they are comic fans, and when it releases on January 26th, 2016, I think we’ll find that every little bit of LEGO Marvel Avengers shows the caring the have for the universe and the source material.

PSX 2015 On Site Gallery

PlayStation Experience 2015

The enormous autograph wall allowed fans to share in their PlayStation love.
Ratchet

Waiting in line to pick up his badge, Stephen gets a glimpse of his first PlayStation character!
Badge Pickup Desk

Heading to the third floor to watch the keynote!
Keynote

The hall was packed with PlayStation fans eagerly awaiting Sony's announcements.
Final Fantasy VII Remake

What a way to open the show! We were excited to get a glimpse at more of Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Battleborn

Randy Pitchford talks more about the upcoming beta for Battleborn.
Street Fighter V

Fighting fans rejoiced as more was announced for Street Fighter V.
PlayStation VR

The PlayStation VR offering was expansive, with two floors of virtual reality units ready for players to try out.
Dead Star

Dead Star is a competitive, twin-stick, MOBA style game, featuring 10 v 10 battles in space! Keep an eye out for our preview soon!
Destiny: Sparrow Racing League

Chandler previews Destiny's Sparrow Racing League ahead of its Dec. 8th release.
Dark Souls 3

This enormous fountain was a photo op that sprayed "blood" from the body of the fallen soldier.
Dark Souls 3

Here's the blood fountain in action.
MLB: The Show Trophy Bar

Want an easy way to grab a beer and play some baseball? MLB: The Show's trophy bar offered both!
Uncharted 4

No, the main game wasn't playable, but anyone missing the multiplayer beta of Uncharted 4 was able to play the multiplayer at this enormous booth.
PlayStation Vue

Not only were the games on show, but PlayStation's media features were given a focus too, with this booth giving more information on Sony's PlayStation Vue service.
PlayStation 4

Who can resist checking out a variety of PS4s, DualShock 4s, and that sweet PlayStation VR headset?
Abzu

The underwater game that evokes feelings of titles by thatgamecompany was playable on the show floor.
Helghast

Stephen is caught by some Helghast for being an ISA spy. Fortunately it was all just a misunderstanding and we were allowed to go about our business without further delay.
Disney Infinity

Disney usually brings their massive arch of Infinity figures, and they were showing off the latest additions to Disney Infinity 3.0 at the show.
RIGS (Livecast Stage)

The creators of RIGS talk more about the competitive VR game on the livecast stage.
RIGS (Livecast Stage)

The creators of RIGS talk more about the competitive VR game on the livecast stage.
Capcom Cup

Sunday morning the Capcom Cup gets underway!
Tim Schafer (Double Fine)

Tim Schafer sits on the livecast stage to talk about the games that Double Fine is bringing to the PS4.
Battleborn

A huge display showcases some of the characters from Battleborn.
Hob

Indie game Hob was popular despite being tucked along one of the walls.
Far Cry Primal

Fans got a chance to tame beasts in Far Cry Primal's first playable showing.
Abzu

Due to the lit up sign, this picture's exposure turned out pretty cool.
Destiny

Destiny's guardians wandered the show floor keeping guests safe from the darkness and waiting for a Gjallahorn drop.
Masquerada

Chandler is shown indie game Masquerada by one of the devs.
Randall

An enormous statue of the character from Randall looms over their booth.
Uncharted 4

Walking by the Uncharted 4 booth kept having us question if we were still in San Francisco.
Drawn to Death

An enormous notebook for fans to doodle on. Who knows, maybe David Jaffe will take future character inspiration from it?
PlayStation Network

The back wall was a showcase of the PlayStation Network and its media features.
LEGO Hulk Battle

It's Hulk vs. Hulkbuster in this fight of epic LEGO proportions.
LEGO Hulk Battle

It's Hulk vs. Hulkbuster in this fight of epic LEGO proportions.
MLB: The Show Trophy Bar

Because just one picture of the place where you can get beer at the show isn't good enough.
Livecast Stage

The livecast stage was host to a number of awesome events, talking to developers and showing off games.
RIGS

The RIGS demo station pitted two teams against each other in one of the most desired demos at the show.
Yoda

This giant statue of a Disney Infinity Yoda is bigger than Yoda would be in real life.
Destiny Sparrow Racing League

If only this Sparrow had an actual engine so that we could race around the show!
Destiny Sparrow Racing League

We're ready to race our sparrows for some loot!
Chandler and Kratos

Chandler met Kratos and somehow survived the experience!
Stephen and Ratchet

Ratchet's a movie star now, and Stephen just had to get a picture with him on the red carpet.
Chandler and Ratchet

Ok, Chandler decided to grab a picture with Ratchet too.
Atoi and Iota

Chandler and Stephen take a moment to visit with messengers Atoi and Iota.
Fat Princess

Fat Princess needed some protecting from the minions of darkness! Luckily Chandler and Stephen were on the scene with funny hats and menacing looks!
Kat (Gravity Rush)

Stephen had to ask Kat what manipulating the world's gravity was really like.
Uncharted 4

You've seen those Uncharted 4 trailers with the crazy vehicle driving? Turns out it was Stephen behind the wheel!
PlayStation Experience 2015

PlayStation Experience 2015 may have come to an end, but you'd better be certain that PlayStation LifeStyle will be on the scene to cover the show again when it comes back next year!