Parent's Guide: LEGO Marvel's Avengers - Age rating, mature content and difficulty

What is LEGO Marvel's Avengers?

LEGO Marvel's Avengers is a light hearted, block smashing adventure that sees the popular Avengers series given a LEGO makeover. With hundreds of characters to play as, loads to see and do, full drop-in, drop-out, same-console multiplayer, and plenty of slapstick fun, the game lets you play through the most memorable parts of Avengers Assemble, and Avengers: Age of Ultron, along with additional levels and small hub worlds based on Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Thor: The Dark World.

How do you play LEGO Marvel's Avengers?

With full support for two player co-op, LEGO Marvel's Avengers is a pick up and play game that works great on its own, but is even better with a friend. Each of the levels sees you beating up baddies, solving basic puzzles, and smashing up everything that looks even vaguely LEGOy, before rebuilding it into something much more useful at the touch of a button. Each character has their own range of special powers, which can be used in the levels to access secret areas, uncover collectibles, and solve puzzles. Whether you're smashing through walls with Thor's hammer, blowing up silver LEGO with Hawkeye's explosive arrows, or flying up into the sky as Iron Man, each hero has their own uses, and you'll need to work together with your friend, or an AI companion, to complete the levels.

The game also features a number of more free form hub worlds, which house dozens of collectibles, quests, and challenges to complete. The biggest of these is Manhattan, a LEGO recreation of the centre of the Marvel universe, which is as impressive in its scale as it is packed to the rafters with things to do. You can split up, or work together to find the hidden gold bricks, character tokens (which unlock characters), and vehicle tokens (which do the same for vehicles) - or help out the residents of the hub with their many problems, whether it's an old lady having her bag stolen (you are a hero, after all), or helping a nervous scientist track down a dozen cats as a result of an accident with a cloning machine.

How easy is LEGO Marvel's Avengers to pick up and play?

The LEGO games have always been famed for their ease of use, and LEGO Marvel's Avengers is no different. While each character has their own moves and abilities, and many of the game's puzzles revolve around making use of certain a specific ability - like using Iron Man's laser to melt gold LEGO - the game does its best to make things go smoothly. If you try and use an object only a certain character can use, you'll simply shrug, and a picture of the character you need will appear above your head. Other, more complex items have a box pop up, which, when smashed, will explain how (and who you need) to use it. As the main part of the gameplay is mostly mashing buttons to beat up bad guys, this is pretty easy to pick up and play, and most children should have no issues, especially when playing with an older sibling. With no lives to speak of, and no punishment for dying (you simply reappear exactly where you left off), there's little kids will find too complex here.

With nothing in the way of sex, bad language, or violence, LEGO Marvel's Avengers is fun for all the family. While the game does feature mild cartoon/slapstick violence, as characters can punch, kick, shoot, and attack each other with a variety of weapons (or just their bare hands), enemies simply glow red upon taking damage, and collapse into their constituent parts when destroyed.

Age Ratings

Format Reviewed: Playstation 4