When Lego Marvel Superheroes was released several years ago, it caught alot of people, including myself by surprise. Never before had a LEGO game amassed such a HUGE list of characters for you to unlock and find throughout the huge map, and never had these characters each have their own unique abilities. Sure, you could argue that every LEGO game contains what I mentioned above, but with Marvel Superheroes, it felt special. Whereas the normal LEGO game would have a big list of familiar characters who have certain abilities that all are very similar to some of the other characters, Marvel Superheroes took it to the next level with each superhero or villain feeling like its own special skill set. For instance, Green Goblin flew on his surfboard and allowed you to chunk bombs down on foes and Magneto was able to utilize his magnetic ability to solve puzzles. They did an outstanding job of making each character you unlocked feel unique and special, like you had just achieved something greater than just unlocking another character identical to the one you previously unlocked.
So, does the developers know how to make it happen twice? For the most part, yes. While LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2 does feature an equally large array of heroes and villains to unlock (as did the predecessor), they don't all feel quite as special as most of the ones from part one. That being said, there are still a few tricks up Marvel Superheroes 2 sleeves to please the masses. You will go around Chronopolis (Marvel Superheroes 2's version of Metropolis or NYC) which is the hub area in search of gold bricks and characters and of course studs for the most part of your experience. Spanning plenty of levels and missions, the game does offer quite a bit of activities for players to accomplish. And yes, once again, 90% of those character's you manage to unlock still have to be bought again by using your precious studs. Not only that, but some of the characters are outrageously expensive and not at all worth the pricey admission fee. But, I'm sure most will agree, they will do it anyways to get the 100% completion prize.
The game's story is all original and parts goofy/parts exciting. Kang the Conqueror is the baddie this time around and let me add that he is one heck of a boring and annoying antagonist. His irritating announcements will be heard all throughout Chronopolis via his speaker systems for the early part of your game. He will repeat the same obnoxious lines over and over or at least until you destroy them all. Back to the story, Kang has found a way to rewrite history and actually go back in time and awaken some ancient villains and disrupt the flow of time. He is on a quest to resurrect all the villains who are either dead, imprisoned or occupied by revisiting that time and space when they existed and get them to join him on his conquest to wage war on the Avengers and eventually make Chronopolis his custom playground. It falls on the Avengers and also the Guardians of the Galaxy as well as many many more heroes to find the Nexus fragments which Kang has scattered throughout Chronopolis so they can alter the time and space back to norm. You will have to go through quite a few story missions as well as some neat side quests to complete the story and each location you visit will become a new location added on to the main Chronopolis hub area. The likes of Venom, Carnage, Vulture, Attuma and many many more will be foes who you can face and potentially unlock for your personal collection.
There are tons of activities to do and complete as you explore Chronopolis. A lot of them have been seen before and do not offer anything new, but there are enough varying varieties to please fans of this procedure. It will take you awhile to reach that 100% goal. And while I was very much impressed with the 100% prize for Lego Avengers and Lego Marvel Superheroes, I must say the prize for this game is rather disappointing in comparison, especially since it will take up quite a bit of your time to accomplish. I won't spoil the surprise but don't say I didn't warn you!
There are several new features in the menu as well. Each hero or villain you unlock will be listed as a character card under the main menu screen and on the back of these cards is a detailed summary of their history and their first comic book appearance. This will really educate ppl (it sure did me) about the origins of their favorite characters and bring the light the relevance they contain from being a part of this game. Its a really neat feature that I would love to see more of in future titles similar to this. Another nice new feature (if, sometimes obnoxious) is the replacement of the first games Deadpool side mission announcer role. This time around, the apple doesn't fall very far cuz its Gwenpool, who will be hosting your side ventures and she will also task you with finding Pink Bricks (which, in a nutshell are the same thing as Red Bricks from the first). Each Pink Brick will unlock the ability to purchase game changing options such as Studs X 4 and Big Head Mode.
The game still feels like it doesn't quite bring as much to the table as the first one did. Where this one has a few unique characters who possess awesome abilities, the first had MANY. Where this one has quite a few story missions, the first one had TONS. Still, the sequel is worthy of its position to an astounding game and will please those seeking more after the first one and Lego Avengers. It never does seem to get old flying around with Doctor Strange destroying things or grabbing a taxi and hurling it at an enemy with the Hulk. HULK SMASH!! The game is legitimately a lot of fun and I recommend it to any who either love LEGO games or couldn't get enough of the original or Avengers.