|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Information
Videos | Title | Views | Length | Date Added | | 31 | 0:42 | 9/18/2008 | | 10 | 0:49 | 9/18/2008 | | 19 | 0:42 | 9/18/2008 |
| 18 | 0:49 | 9/18/2008 | | 20 | 1:07 | 9/18/2008 | | 26 | 0:31 | 9/18/2008 | | 26 | 1:10 | 9/18/2008 | | 20 | 1:00 | 9/18/2008 | | 16 | 1:44 | 9/18/2008 | | 11 | 1:44 | 9/18/2008 |
Reviews Heroic Buttkicking Included!, December 3, 2006 Rating: 7.5/10 By zeroinitiate Justice League Heroes is an action RPG that lets you take control of your favorite Justice League members as they fight battle after battle in an effort to save the world. As you can expect from a game from Snowblind Studios, developers of the Everquest spin-off Champions of Norrath, it applies the familiar isometric, dungeon-romp formula that has become a staple of console action RPGs over the years. Combined with the superheroics of the DC license, the end result is an adventure that will appeal to both comic book fans and gamers.
The story begins with two of DC’s Big Three: Superman and Batman. Responding to a call from the Martian Manhunter, the introduction lets you play as one of them as they team up to fight a small army of robots. While it's logical that the story should open with these two, it also allows players to get a feel of the diversity of the characters and how varied the gameplay can be. On one end, you have arguably the most powerful superhero of all time, Superman. On the other, you have someone who has no powers at all but serves as a prime specimen of the human body, Batman.
Their differences are obvious from the start. Superman is more powerful, both dealing and withstanding large amounts of damage. He can rely on his brute strength to defeat his foes. Batman is more agile. His combat movements have a certain finesse to them and, to compensate for his lack of powers, he uses a variety of gadgets to dispose of his enemies. The point of all this description is this: each character feels unique. The game manages to deliver a satisfying rendition of each superhero by making differences not only in their abilities, but in their movement as well. Some of the tweaks are minor while some of them are as distinct as night and day. What's important is that they're there. You won't get the "re-skinned" feeling often, where an existing character model is simply duplicated, repainted, renamed and given new powers to fill up a roster.
Each mission is played by a pair of heroes. Initially, you won't be able to choose which pair it is so the difficulty can vary. Each character has a light and heavy attack, which you can use to create combos. Taking a cue from X-Men Legends, the standard air launcher button combination of chaining two light attacks followed by a heavy attack is present here. A block button is also present, which is useful for the heroes who can take it. For the others, avoiding getting hit is better. You can jump to avoid some attacks. The results of pressing the jump button twice varies for each character. Some fly, some glide and some simply double jump. Super powers are available by pressing one button to open a menu, then pressing another button that corresponds with the ability you want to use. You can also grab objects, such as poles, fire hydrants, mailboxes, etc. Cars are optional projectile weapons, if your character can lift them.
For the most part, the controls are responsive. The problem actually lies with the character you can't control: your partner. Since each mission is done in pairs, playing the game solo can have its rough spots. First, pathfinding can be a problem. Your partner will often run into a corner and won't be able to back out of it. Although he or she will teleport to your location when you get separated far enough, it still means that you can't rely on their presence one hundred percent of the time. Without your partner, your combat effectiveness is instantly halved. Another issue is AI behavior. Although you can set how they will act during combat, whether aggressive, defensive or somewhere in between, doing so won't mean they'll always behave that way. This problem becomes glaringly obvious during the game's boss fights. They're already long and tough by default, so having a misbehaving partner only increases the agony. Fortunately, you can play the game cooperatively. A second player can join at any time as long as your in-game partner is alive. Death is solved by simply running into one of the numerous checkpoints. Provided that the AI behaves itself, gameplay can become a smooth affair, thanks to the checkpoints. You don't have to concern yourself with a lot of manual saving and reloading. Prepare to do a lot of backtracking though, especially if you're playing solo.
You'll find a lot of references to the comic book world aside from the characters themselves. The story is written by Dwayne McDuffie, whose impressive comic book credentials include being a writer/producer for Justice League Unlimited. His extensive background add credibility to the game's story. With that mentioned, it's worth noting that the game uses a different voice cast than the cartoon. It's not really detrimental to the game's overall quality since the voice actors do an exemplary job of portraying the characters. However, given my exposure to the cartoon series, I just found it a little unsettling. Other comic book references include alternate costumes, new characters and, naturally, DC villains and settings.
Graphics are above average. The game's colors look diluted, making the characters look less cartoonish but with a sleek, three-dimensional smoothness. The camera has three angles, near, far and something in between. Regardless, the camera is almost always directly above your characters, which is a shame if you want to see more of them other than the top of their heads and their shoulders. While you can manipulate it manually, it's a little bothersome to have to adjust the angle all the time. Other than that, everything is rendered well. The familiar backdrop of Metropolis and other DC locales are recognizable. The characters themselves look good and animate fluidly. The game's audio is standard fare and feels heroic enough. You'll get orchestral backgrounds and rock-inspired tunes to listen to.
Overall, Justice League Heroes is a good game. It takes DC characters and settings and combines them with the goodness provided by console action RPGs. If you're a comic book aficionado then this is something that you should definitely get. You've got the heroes, the villains, the story and all sorts of unlockable content to dig through. If you're a gamer, then the DC spin in the action RPG context might interest you, so at the very least, it's worth checking out. If you've ever wondered what it's like to play as Aquaman out of the water, this is your chance.
Similar Games
Buy It
From eBay:
From Amazon
|
|
|
|
|
Add to Collection
