Look out Nintendo and Sony; iOS and Android games are officially a serious mobile gaming medium. And comic book games are blowing up left and right on your tablets and smartphones. The latest from Marvel, Avengers Initiative, features you as the Incredible Hulk taking on some of the Marvel Universe’s most dangerous at-large villains. Check out the trailer here!
Avengers Initiative is available now for $6.99, and look for our review next week!
The Avengers aren’t the only superhero team with a new mobile game; the Justice League recently made their mark on the mobile market, unfortunately, it’s about as half-assed as Warner Bros.’s attempt at building a Justice League film.
Justice League: Earth’s Final Defense
Developer: Netmarble
Platforms: iOS & Android
With the Justice League now the flagship DC title and the faces of the (not so) New 52, it makes sense to further the momentum with a video game. A video game that could be released as absolutely soon as possible, and, if you’ve been keeping up with The Comics Console, you know we love nothing more than a rushed superhero game!
From the start, Justice League has a great presentation. The art is not Jim Lee inspired, but it’s interesting enough to be cool. Starting off, you get one of the big three at your disposal. As either Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman, you’ll punch and kick your way through 20 stages against DC’s nastiest nemeses. My favorite thing about this beat-em-up: no damn block button! Who needs strategy when you have Kryptonian DNA? Actually, Superman is kind of a wuss in this game, taking just as much damage as his best friend and new girlfriend from the same identical cannon fodder. The gameplay is as exciting as a a game of Rock’em Sock’em Robots.
For more money, you can unlock Flash and Green Lantern, but the experience isn’t really enhanced by the addition of these characters. And yes, only five of the big seven are playable, but other characters like Supergirl, Robin, Raven, and several others are available as attachment cards which give your character special attributes. But rarely do any of these enhancement characters show any significant advancement to your abilities. It’s still just punching guys in the face a lot.
The cel shaded graphics are mediocre as far as iOS games go, and yes, all the heroes resemble their New 52 reboot look (Here’s a question: If this new League is suppose to be a rag-tag group of dysfunctional heroes, why are all their costumes so uniform?). The opening music is exciting in a Justice League Unlimited/Super Friends way, but the rest of the sound design is as plain as the graphics.
Come back next week for our review of Avengers Initiative! For more of The Comics Console, click here!
Andrew Hurst
andrewhurst@comicattack.net