Eight Takeaways From Our Hands-On

We recently got some hands-on time with TT Games' third stab at telling a new tale in the Marvel universe to see how things are shaping up for Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2. We played through the first level and got to take some of the new characters for a spin, including Spider-Gwen, Drax, and Groot.

Here are our big takeaways:

The Guardians Of The Galaxy Are Front And Center This Time
While the last Lego Marvel game centered on The Avengers while roping in a huge cast of Marvel characters, the Guardians seem to be the motivating force this time. The game begins on Xandar, with the Guardians trying to repel an assault from the game's main villain, Kang the Conquerer.

Time Travel Plays A Big Role
Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 is all about time travel, which is fitting given Kang's knack for playing around with timelines in the comics. Expect to bend time during battles with bosses and to solve puzzles, such as slowing down the action to gain a strategic advantage.

The Game Plays Basically The Same As The First One
Like the first game, you're running through levels as various characters, using abilities to fight enemies and solve puzzles in order to progress. 

Every Character You Control Has More Unique Abilities
We played around a lot with the Guardians and like the first game, each character has their own ability and unique animations. However, those abilities have also been expanded with functional emotes. For example, Star-Lord has his trademark gravity grenades and can fly around and shoot baddies with his blasters. However, he can also use his Walkman to make all enemies and friends in the area dance, allowing him to walk past them without getting into combat.

We Still Don't Know What The Open World Is Like
The first Lego Marvel Super Heroes featured a sprawling version of New York City for players to run around in. It's unclear if we're returning to NYC if there will be a wider series of environments to explore with 2.

Expect More Fan Favorite Characters
Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 isn't just bringing back the big names from the first game. We're also going to see some fan-favorite characters, like Spider-Gwen, who can stop to take a selfie in battle. You can upload that selfie to the internet, too!

Movement Is Still Clunky 
One of the biggest issues with TT Games is the clunky movement of their characters. Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 doesn't seem to fix that. While movement was mostly fine, it still felt like my character was wobbling everywhere.

Battles Are Chaotic
The battle sequence we partook in as The Guardians of the Galaxy was frenzied, with loads of enemies on screen and so much action it was hard to see the characters we were controlling at points. This was rather frustrating for the demo but could also be something that's easy to get used to during the full game.

For more on Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2, check out the latest trailer.