Lego DC Super-Villains Review

*Reviewed on Nintendo Switch*

I've played Lego videogames for almost 11 years now, and with each new iteration the developers bring something new to the table- something unique to that game. When the games shifted to an open-world hub format, I started to notice that the design for the levels themselves started to get worse, as more development went into the open world. I'm incredibly happy to report however that this was not the case for *Lego DC Super-Villains.* I smiled through almost my entire 40+ hour playthrough, enjoying everything this game has to offer.

First of all, one of the coolest parts of *Lego DC Super-Villains* is the fact that you design your own character and then that character is a large part of the new and original story. The customization options are astounding, going as far as changing the colour of every part of the character, to even changing the type and colours of the characters powers! Your options are slim when you first start the game however, as you gain more options to change your character's appearance as you unlock more characters. You also don't have the options in the beginning for many powers, as you unlock more as you play through the story, much like an rpg. This is fantastic as it has never been done before, and having your own character interact with people like the Joker or Batman in the story is simply awesome.

Speaking of story, *DC Super-Villains* has the best story of any Lego game- period. I've never been so drawn in to the story of a Lego game my whole life, and I always wanted to know what would happen next. There wasn't anything incredibly emotional or epic, but the story was unique and interesting- something that hadn't really been done before. Something that aided this was the fantastic voice acting. All 162 characters have their own voice actors, with voice talent including Mark Hamill, Gilbert Gottfried, and Laura Bailey, as well as many others. Some voice actors also play multiple roles, and in most cases you can only notice if you're listening for it. Speaking of the characters, you can tell that a ton of passion went into each one. Every character feels different from each other, all with their own unique animations, powers, throw attacks, and look. They even each have their own short bios! This is something that I feel has been lacking from past games, where 2 or even 3 characters can feel the exact same. I cannot explain how fantastic I thought this was. Even more obscure characters like Terra and Kite-Man radiate passion. Even tiny blink-and-you'll-miss-it animations are added in that would make a fan of that character giggle with joy. There are a couple strange exclusions however, as both Black Mask and the Mad Hatter are missing from the character count. I'm not sure why this is, as there are much stranger and more obscure characters in the game while these two are pretty notable and popular. I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed by their absence.

*Lego DC Super-Villains* feels like a passion project from its core. The characters aren't the only aspect of the game oozing with small details. The open world is expansive, and incorporates locations such as Gotham, Metropolis, Smallville, and Arkham. Though I would personally prefer a much larger version of just Gotham and Arkham (because I absolutely love the design of Gotham), I understand why they made a bunch of smaller worlds and spliced them seamlessly due to it being *all* DC villains. The detail in every area is extraordinary, as every portion of the world has hidden places where not all players would go and small references that not all would recognize. Landmarks range from known areas such as The Daily Planet, Arkham Asylum, and Wayne Manor, to smaller areas like Gotham Cathedral and Clark Kent's house, even to tiny areas like the ally that Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered in. The world feels real and as if created with a lot of care. The levels themselves now are much more fun too, as opposed to past games where I felt they lacked good design. There are less collectibles in the levels, and this surprisingly doesn't affect much except for post-game play (which is already lengthy). I didn't mind going back into them to find more minikits or red bricks.

The hiccups in this game are the same as all the other Lego games. It is prone to glitches, especially when more custom characters are created, and it does tend to crash, though I've noted less than past games. These are unfortunate black marks on an otherwise stellar game, and I wish *Travelers Tales* cared more about polishing their games. This won't be a trouble most of the time, but when these crashes or game-breaking bugs occur they can be pretty annoying. Another small problem I have when it comes to gameplay is that you can only cycle in one direction when changing characters. This is used with the right bumper only, as the left bumper is reserved for the camera feature (which I have to say isn't an entirely bad trade-off). The triggers are used to roll, which I found pretty useless as you hardly ever roll, if at all.

In the end, I **really** enjoyed playing Lego DC Super-Villains and I highly recommend picking it up for yourself. The game oozes passion and creativity, and it was tough for me to put down. I feel the price is fair for the amount of content, but it definitely wouldn't hurt to get on sale. My rating for this game is 92/100. If you are a fan of the DC universe or maybe just one character, this game is totally for you.