Instagram @The.TravelingNerd
LEGO DC Super-Villains reminds me so much of 2016’s Suicide Squad film — packed full of fun action, style and intriguing storyline. Unfortunately, this joker drops the ball gameplay wise when it comes to anything more substantial than bright colors and explosions. Obviously when you pick up a TT LEGO game, you’re not looking for a storyline that engrosses you more than just freely running through a licensed universe collecting golden blocks, breaking everything in sight! With every great LEGO game such as the creative LEGO Dimensions comes another LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Marvel, or, in this case, LEGO DC game that falls back on its laurels.
In Villains, the Justice League has been kidnapped by the Justice Syndicate, an alternate dimension Justice League from Earth-3, in a plan to assist Darkseid in world domination. To save the day, similar to the plot of Suicide Squad, DC’s villains must team up and save the day in the face of mixed egos. Unlike that Will Smith flick, it actually works with this humorous storyline. Also on the positive side, Villains has one of the best voice casts ever. Not only do you see the reunion of Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamil as Joker but also Michael Ironside is back as Darkseid, just to name a few. The only negative part of this premise is that with every Joker or Lex Luther there comes another Arrow’s Malcom Merlyn or Flash’s Killer Frost. Much of the story-mode has you saddled with the JV squad of baddies.
LEGO DC Villains also allows you to create your very own super villain who joins the Legion of Doom. The options are glorious and you will probably find yourself spending close to an hour perfecting your villain. Since everything from the haircut down to super power can be tweaked, I decided on the feared and ridiculed Salamander Man. Yet sadly after spending over an hour creating a near perfect bad guy with a thirst for flies and Batman.. he was not the star of the game and barely used through out the storyline. Plus, who’s going to fear my creation if he’s not given a voice; this was even mocked by Harley Quinn who kept referring to me as Dr. Doesn’t-Talk-Much.
Gameplay, though, is where Villains barely breaks from the tried-and-true LEGO mold. Game and combat mechanics are as simple as you’d expect; a single attack button, infinite lives, and childish platform jumping. Puzzles and finding secrets are way to easy, usually involving running around breaking everything. Even the jokes are written with the child in mind. Understandable, but if Pixar movies and Shrek can be pack a humorous adult and kid-“friendly” script, so can this.
Like LEGO Marvel games and Batman 2, Villains is an open world game with the usual interior locations or famous DC locals such as Smallville and Belle Reve. Similar to the cinematic universe, the map has Metropolis attached to Gotham; they even broke beta in game with the fact it’s always night in Gotham and daytime in Metropolis. Within the open world there are plenty of collectibles to find if completion is your main goal. Driving around is a ton of fun especially if you’re playing co-op, which can lead to some great team-ups.
Overall, LEGO DC Villains is fun, even if it feels like its been played before just with different LEGO’s. If you have enjoyed LEGO games, love DC comic lore and don’t mind some less “mature” gameplay, then you’ll definitely enjoy this. What really heightens this familiar LEGO formula is the all-star voice cast, which makes DC Super-Villains another essential LEGO play. 3.5/5 LEGO Gods agree!
-Lance Paul