4 5

Everything TT Games touches turns to LEGO before turning into gaming gold - and even The Avengers are no exception. Prepare to assemble the ultimate superhero team and Hulk-smash your way through the best bits of Marvel's Phase Two movies. As you've never seen them before...

Superheroes and LEGO has always been a recipe for the ultimate nerdgasm. It doesn't get much better than watching two pillars of your childhood collide in an explosion of colourful bricks, does it?

Nostalgic thrills and family-friendly kicks are never far away in a LEGO title, and anyone who calls themselves a gamer will know what to expect from developer TT Games' block-rockin' series by now.

Warner Bros Interactive

The studio takes some of the most popular franchises around, renders them in LEGO, and adds its own brand of goofball humour, charm and co-op magic. But all while handling the source material with the care and respect it deserves.

This formula worked a treat for the Marvel Universe when TT Games brought us LEGO Marvel Superheroes in 2013, and its follow-up (of sorts) LEGO Marvel's Avengers is essentially more of the same. Even Nick Fury with his patch over the wrong eye can see that's no bad thing.

The key difference between LEGO Marvel's Avengers and Superheroes is that it draws its inspiration from the publisher's cinematic universe, rather than its comic books. The action follows the events of the Avengers movies, with segments from the satellite films thrown in for good measure.

Warner Bros

TT Games' interpretation of the source material feels familiar yet fresh, as you smash and build your way through the movies' most memorable scenes - and get lost in a massive open-world Marvel Manhattan. Every block-busting battle against the minions of Loki and Ultron is coloured by the LEGO series' trademark wit and light-hearted japes.

The Avengers are the perfect fit for a LEGO game, given the series' focus on co-op play and the source material's team dynamic. Most missions require players to deconstruct hordes of bad guys, dabble in some light assembly work, and solve basic puzzles by combining two heroes' powers.

The latter is tied to the two-character combos that Marvel's Avengers brings to the LEGO table - a new mechanic that encourages teamwork and helps prevent staleness from creeping into the series' template.

And so Hawkeye can shoot Black Widow up in the air so she can gun everyone down - while Thor can smash his hammer against Captain America's mighty shield to create a shockwave that blazes a trail ahead of you. But it's the Thunder God's combo with Hulk that steals the show. Fans are sure to crack a smile as the move ends with the Green Goliath punching his teammate into next week.

LEGO Marvel's Avengers is full of fan-pleasing titbits like this, from the obligatory Stan Lee cameo (in his own Stanbuster suit, no less) to unlockable bonus features inspired by comics and celluloid alike. There's also a mind-bogglingly huge roster of playable characters (over 200, say TT Games) and more to come - with DLC on the way featuring new levels based on Ant-Man and and Captain America's Civil War.

As always, TT Games has really nailed the combat, and since that's what you spend most of your time doing in LEGO Marvel's Avengers, it's rarely anything less than downright enjoyable.

Warner Bros

It skilfully treads that fine line between authenticity and absurdity throughout, and feels every inch an Avengers offering when you're smashing a city block to multi-coloured rubble with Hulk, smiting your enemies with Thor's lightning, or soaring high above the battlefield as Iron Man.

The game excels when it sticks to the core build-and-smash formula that has proved a winning combination so many times in the past. But that's because its attempts to deviate from this aren't always a blockbuster success.

Case in point: there are a number of vehicle segments included for the sake of variety, but some are as painful as stepping on a LEGO piece in your bare feet. Many handle sluggishly, and this becomes an issue when you're trying to rack up a best time to unlock the bonus features.

Warner Bros

LEGO Marvel's Avengers also loses a fraction of a point for creativity. It's not so much that this is the latest in a long line of LEGO games - it's more that Marvel Superheroes showed greater ambition by telling an original story inspired by comic book lore. Sticking strictly to the films here means that, comparatively speaking, fans won't find as many surprises in store.

These niggles aside, LEGO Marvel's Avengers is another mighty adaptation from TT Games, with as much wit, magic and authenticity as its other brick-rendered offerings. LEGO Hulk, Iron Man, Cap, Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeye are sure to prove a smash hit with the whole family.

4 5

Platforms Available On: PS4 (Reviewed), Xbox One, PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U

Developer: TT Games

Publisher: Warner Bros

Genre: Action

Release Date: Out now

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