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Lego DC Super-Villains PS Plus Review
Lego DC Super-Villains is an action-adventure game like the other Lego games in the series but focuses on the villains. It is available this month on PS Plus and feels a lot like Suicide Squad as it follows a similar plot but with just a much larger selection of characters. Lego DC Super-Villains stars you as a custom supervillain who happens to have the power to absorb other powers. Early on in the game you and Lex Luthor break out of prison and begin to gather up all the DC supervillains.
At the same time, the Justice League that was about to stop you suddenly goes missing, and in their place are the Earth 3 parallel universe equivalents. They call themselves the Justice Syndicate and while everyone else in the city thinks the Justice League is just on a mission, the villains know better. In an odd turn of events, it's up to the villains of the DC Universe to thwart the real villains. The plot setup feels a lot like the first Suicide Squad movie but with a much larger variety of characters and a much better execution of the story.
It starts out strongly but the middle part could have been trimmed a bit to keep the pacing of the story flowing better. The portrayal of the famous cast of DC characters was well delivered with subtle work done by Mark Hamill as the Joker and Tara Strong as Harley Quinn as prime examples. Overall, the 10 plus hour story with multiple endings was mostly entertaining in the same humorous fashion that TT games' other Lego games are. If you've played a Lego game in recent years, you'll be familiar with the gameplay in Lego DC Super-Villains.
Missions switch between open-world areas that act as a hub world and the linear structure levels that are closed off. There's a wide variety of playable characters ranging from well-known to more obscure villains that add up to a total of 270 but a fair few of them are DLC characters. You can even make your own villain with a pretty fleshed-out character creator at the start of the game. You can either build a character from scratch or use some of the presets from the already famous villains available.
Speaking of characters, they will have different abilities that play into the puzzles and the story levels. Killer Frost for example can use her ice to put out fires while Clayface can go into the sewers for alternate routes. Levels are designed to use these different types of characters to progress these puzzles however there will be routes that aren't accessible right away. The puzzles aren't very challenging though as they consistently have you pressing the same button to activate a villain's special ability.
The real puzzle is usually figuring out which character you need to swap to before the game just straight up tells you with portrait art. In that sense, the main story puzzles can be a little bit shallow but luckily the extra collectible items like the red brick search can still offer the occasional challenge. Even though the abilities of villains can vary they eventually become categorized into different types of villains and you'll see those abilities start to blend for a bit of repetition. After all, it's going to be difficult to make 270 completely unique characters.
It's most apparent in the combat where the attacks for each of the characters are essentially the same. Like other Lego games before it, you can still play the campaign of Lego DC Super-Villains with a friend in local co-op despite being so simple in terms of gameplay it certainly lends to the seamless couch co-op that the series is known for. Outside of the structured levels, you can explore the decently sized hub areas of Metropolis and Gotham just to name a few. They're amusing to explore, especially for fans of the franchises. You can even use this open space to summon vehicles although the controls weren't that great.
Ultimately the gameplay comes off as simple and familiar and it's not necessarily a bad thing. The Lego series has long been a child-friendly series that offers straightforward gameplay and easy-to-follow stories and Lego DC Super-Villains is no different. Much attention to detail was added to the already simple design of Lego pieces and characters have this shine to them and you can even make out some of the slight texture work on the arms of characters and it adds to the feeling that these are really just toys in a fantasy world.
The mixture of real-world effects like rainfall along with the Lego models just looks beautiful. Music and audio throughout Lego DC Super-Villains were well done as the audio design mixes in a bit of real-world ambient sound along with the effects of the Lego series that come together to make something great. There were many memorable songs with specific themes playing for each of the new hero or villain introductions. The villains throughout the game are performed by an elite class of voice actors that really do deliver here. There are a couple of top-notch voice actors that performed in Lego DC Super-Villains and the performances here are something you'd expect of a Triple-A first-party exclusive.
Lego DC Super-Villains continues the trend of the series providing a wide cast of famous characters to go through a simple but humorous story. Its straightforward gameplay is inviting to just about every age offering some of the best kind of couch co-op out there. Fans of the series will be sure to enjoy this entry with the absurd amount of quality put behind it. It may still be a children's game but like a lot of modern well-written children's cartoons that doesn't mean it's lower in quality or just for children.
Lego DC Super-Villains will be available to PlayStation Plus members until Monday, January 3.
DOWNLOAD LEGO DC SUPER-VILLAINS FROM THE PLAYSTATION STORE HERE.
Lego DC Super-Villains continues the trend of the series providing a wide cast of famous characters to go through a simple but humorous story. Its straightforward gameplay is inviting to just about every age offering some of the best kind of couch co-op out there. Fans of the series will be sure to enjoy this entry with the absurd amount of quality put behind it.
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