When Marvel was handing out super hero names, it's easy to tell who was at the front of the line - Hulk and Iron Man sound pretty tough, Thor is named after a thunder-wielding Norse god, and even Wolverines have a vicious reputation. And then there's Ant-Man, possibly the lamest sounding super hero in existence. Sure, the little insects may be able to lift fifty times their body weight, and some species are poisonous, but they can generally be brought to their knees by a the swift application of a boot. We're not convinced Ant-Man's power to shrink himself down to, well, ant-size, is likely to come in that handy in the grand scheme of super hero-ing either, unless of course you're planning to take on a particularly vicious house plant. Although we do have it on (somewhat questionable) authority that Marvel's Ant-Man film is great though, so maybe he's not all that bad.
But if there's one thing we do like, it's free stuff, particularly when the freebies in question are for one of our favourite games of this year, LEGO Marvel's Avengers. That's why those playing on either a PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4 (with no mention of the oft forgotten PS Vita) will want to be sure to check out the "Marvel's Ant-Man Character & Level Pack", a free download that does exactly what it says on the tin, giving you a bunch of extra characters and an extra level to play through, all for the low, low price of free.
He doesn't even look much like an ant in that costume?
According to the press release that landed in our email inbox this morning, the level makes use of Ant-Man's "ability to shrink in size but increase in strength" with a "theatrical-based level" based on the film, and narrated by Michael Peña, who plays Luis. Included alongside the level are eight new characters - Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Ant-Man (Hank Pym), Yellow Jacket (Darren Cross), Hope Van Dyne, Luis, Scott Lang, The Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) and Cassie Lang - and Ant-Man's noble steed, Ant-Thony (Ant-Man's Flying Ant). At the time of writing, it looks as though the Ant-Man download is exclusive to PlayStation platforms for the time being - it's not even available as a paid download on the other formats, although whether, and when, it comes to the Xbox and Wii U versions remains to be seen.
Still - even if your platform of choice means that you can't get your hands on the Ant-Man freebie, it's still well worth picking up LEGO Marvel's Avengers for a spot of brick-smashing, enemy-bashing, puzzle-solving super hero fun with a friend. And if you are a PlayStation player, you really should hot-foot it over to the PlayStation Store and grab your free add-on!
