Who doesn’t love LEGO, right? Regardless of your age, you’ve likely played with the fun little bricks at some point in time, and, of course, recent years have seen the world of LEGO marvellously transitioned to a slew of popular video games. And now, it’s time for some of the greatest villains in DC Comics to be given the spotlight.
This isn’t the first mash-up of DC and LEGO, mind, but LEGO DC Super-Villains is the first time that the bad guys are put front-and-centre to the extent that the player is put in the middle of these no-good sorts as they look to get up to all kinds of mischief and mayhem. Yes, when LEGO DC Super-Villains opens up, you get to create your very own supervillain to play as. Granted, initially the choices for the various elements that make up this created character aren’t exactly vast, but more and more items, abilities, and attires become available as the game progresses.
Loitering on the plot for a little while now, and LEGO DC Super-Villains immediately throws you into the action alongside Lex Luthor. From there, it soon becomes apparent that the Justice League has seemingly vanished, replaced by the slightly wishy-washy Justice Syndicate. Striking while the iron’s hot, Lex and The Joker head up a vast array of supervillains who are looking to take advantage of the Justice League’s absence. In addition to controlling your custom rogue, you also get the opportunity to take control of a literal who’s who of DC villains as you take on plentiful missions across certain familiar DC locales. Twists, turns, building, and bashing lie ahead, as LEGO DC Super-Villains does its best to grab your attention from the get-go as it drags your screaming through this erratic, exciting world.
Where the gameplay is concerned, the main story of LEGO DC Super-Villains does sag just a tad at certain points, but the general narrative is a largely enjoyable one to play through, with teamwork-driven tasks often around the corner for these nefarious bad guys. The fundamentals are all fairly fluid, even if one or two elements may be a tad tough to get to grips with (err, driving!), and the murky corners of Gotham City or the vibrant visuals of Metropolis never looked so good. As far as the LEGO games go, none look quite as magnificent as LEGO DC Super-Villains. Similarly, the sound is phenomenal, be that the musical beats, the crashin’ ‘n’ clangin’ sounds, or the stunning voice cast involved here. Putting a smile on the face of longtime DC fans, you’ll be delighted to know that the likes of Mark Hamill as The Joker, Tara Strong as Harley Quinn, Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor, and C. Thomas Howell as Reverse-Flash are just some of the stellar names delivering jaw-dropping vocal performances in this release.
LEGO DC Super-Villains is the best LEGO game to come around in years, and fans of the previous efforts will see this as an absolute must-have. An intriguing, entertaining main story, an impressive free mode, and a multitude of Easter eggs for eagled-eyed fans make this a joy to pick up and play – whether you’re a youngster or simply young at heart. Being bad never felt so good.
LEGO DC SUPER-VILLAINS / DEVELOPER: TRAVELLER’S TALES / PUBLIISHER: WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT / PLATFORM: PLAYSTATION 4, XBOX ONE, NINTENDO SWITCH, PC / RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 19TH
