[REVIEW] Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet

Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet is a 1-2 player co-op game (4 players can play the mini-game challenges portion of this game) that is developed by Griptonite Games and is published by THQ and has an E-10+ Rating from the ESRB. This game has some similarities to the LEGO game franchise, but is not entirely the same as the LEGO games.

The story starts out being Thor’s birthday and some of his fellow heroes are off to buy him a present at the store. After realizing they had a mix up and received the wrong package they turn around just in time to see the villians taking off with their package. This begins your adventure and throughout you will battle a number of different enemies and villians. Those being: The Skrulls, Abomination, & even the Planet Eater himself; plus many more.

You also have a number of different allies to choose from throughout your journey. Each has a special “class” that allows you to do different things. Iron Man is a tech class and he can control robotic type things. The Hulk can smash through hidden walls with his strength. Thor, elemental class, can open “rifts” to get to unreachable areas. As for combat, it’s very basic. You have your main attack button, jump button, and your Heroic attack button. So if you’re entering this game looking for some kind of advanced combo system, please don’t…you will be disappointed.

The A.I. can be frustrating at times if while you are trying to complete environment puzzles. You may be trying to leave one character on a button so that the other character will go up a platform to the next level, but then your A.I. companion wanders off and drops the lift back down preventing you to get to your destination. I would suggest playing with two players because of this, but playing single player also has it’s advantages as well. In single player you are able to swap between characters if one of them gets knocked out. This allows you to go heal your other character, which is not possible in two player. In two player, you have to hope that your buddy doesn’t get knocked out trying to heal you.

There is also places within each level that, once you beat that level, you will have to go back and replay to get all of the collectibles a la LEGO style. Once you go back to free play mode on a level you are able to choose any character that you have unlocked. You will have to use a varitey on each level to be able to obtain all of the collectibles. There are also different types of levels throughout the game. There are free fall sections which have you trying to miss debris while trying to get the collectibles. Another one requires you to jump on a laser gun and protect your base from enemy attack. There is even a Donkey Kong style level that you have to jump barrels to reach the top of the level.

Throughout the game you will also unlock special “feats’ for each character. Each character normally has 3 feats, such as defeat 50 enemies with a special attack or collect a certain kind of infinity gem. Once you complete these feats you can unlock a bonus costume or even a new challenge in the mini-games section. There are various types of challenges as well. There is a survival mode where you have to last for so long, a shooting mini-game, and others as well. I did not find hardly any of them to be too challenging alone, but if you get stuck find a couple of friends that will help you out because they can be completed with four players (especially the one where you are trying to shoot the bombs before they are thrown at you).

The achievements side of this is what you should expect from this kind of game. There are collectibles, completing all the various feats for each character, difficulty, and storyline achievements. There are a few that require you to actually try for, but overall this is an easy game to complete all the achievements.

So, if you like the LEGO-style games you will probably enjoy this game. I liked it for what it’s worth. It is meant to be a kids game, but it’s not as bad as some of the other kids’ games out there. The storyline isn’t anything spectacular, but again…it’s a kids game and it’s funny at moments. It is entertaining though. If you’re looking for something to play with your kids or something for your kids to play this is a pretty decent game to get (also if you’re just trying to raise your gamerscore).

Story: 4.5/10
Gameplay: 5.5/10
Sound: 6/10
Graphics: 5.5/10
Achievements: 5/10

Final Rating: 5.3/10