Justice League Heroes
© Warner

Mania Grade: B
Platform: PS2
ESRB: T
Genre: Action
Players: 1-2
Online: No
Developer: Warner Bros. Interactive
Publisher: Snowblind Studios
Suggested Retail: $39.99
Graphics: B
Sound: B+
Gameplay: B+
Replay: B-
Fun Factor: B

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"Justice League Heroes"

Comic books are a part of our culture. They often inspire the imagination of children, and establish morality. There have been several series that have been around for many decades, with classic heroes to instil strength in those that read their works. There are two main companies the currently rule over all others, which happen to be DC Comics with their main rival being Marvel. Both of these companies have had a long history of released videogames, and quite frankly not many of them have been fun to play. There has also been a growing trend of good comic book games, since Spiderman 2 was released. DC has yet to make its own hit in the videogame world, but they are trying harder than ever to accomplish this. 

The storyline follows the members of the Justice League as they battle against numerous foes. Brainiac has assembled many different foes, though are often more so in the flunky class. For those that know nothing about Brainiac, he lead to events that destroyed Superman’s home planet. Brainiac has given each of these enemies extra power to complete his tasks, which is mainly to distract the Justice League so that he can accomplish his own covert goals. What he is doing remains a mystery to the League, but just like every villain does in the comic books, just when they believe they have won they reveal all of their information. 

Combat is extremely simple, where you have a weak attack, and a strong attack. These weak and strong attacks can be added to a combination to inflict massive damage onto your enemy. Each attack helps fill up a hero bar, and when it is filled up, the hero has extra damage added to their attacks. The bar will slowly diminish until it is filled up, which only happens if you are not attacking enemies. Beyond regular attacks, each character has their super powers, and that is where the game diversifies greatly. Here you can set up Batman’s Batarangs, or unlock Superman’s heat vision. All of these powers are used to defeat enemies, or strengthen your teammates. Beyond these attacks, you also have the option to defend oneself with a block button. What I love about the block button is that for each character it is slightly different. Batman will cover himself up with his cape, while Martian Manhunter will make himself transparent, allowing attacks to pass right through him. Probably my favourite of the blocks involves Wonder Woman, and she will deflect ranged attacks back at enemies. This is also used as a weapon, and can be quite important to surviving a level. 

This game follows more so the X-Men Legends style, as it involves a top down perspective while you gain experience to increase your teammates levels. You are limited to playing two characters at a time, which simplifies combat considerably. Doing this has allowed them to zoom closer into the action, and add much wanted detail to the designs of the levels. The levels are very interactive, as you can pick up and throw most of the environment around using the characters.  

There is a considerable amount of detail added to each level, where pieces of items you interact with may fall off when picked up. A few things I would like to mention when it comes to picking up items, with baskets of fruit, some of them would spill over onto the floor. When picking up bunk beds, the top mattress would fall off, and onto the floor. Probably my favourite feature of this was using super powers on inanimate objects, specifically Superman’s heat vision, which made metal objects glow with heat. When you pick up vehicles, like cars, you can only do so from approaching the middle of the item. When this is used on a vehicle, it affects how you attack with it and your overall range. Overall I love the items, and the set design of the levels, though I felt that they were a little longer than they needed to be. 

What I am not too much a fan of is that the AI of your teammate, as it leaves much to be desired. Often you may be playing as Wonder Woman, and rather than running into combat you may try and choose to reflect the attacks to defeat the enemy, and clean up the experience. Your teammate will run into battle, no matter the setting, which ruins this tactic. Another thing that I did not like involves how the characters available for play strictly rely on what is going on in the storyline. Yes, this keeps the storyline uniform, allowing for extended cut scenes, but not all of the characters are fun to play with. Some of the characters often die after only a few hits, so it can be difficult to play them. Perhaps my main complaint is that you cannot play Batman as much as you may want to. After playing the first level, you need to wait around four levels to be eligible to play him again. Depending on the level, it can take an hour to complete, so that disheartened me as a fan. 

In the end, Justice League Heroes is not a blockbuster game. It is fun, and it is a great DC comic game, but little things hold it back. One of them happens to be that Batman needs to use super powers to throw Batarangs, when that really is not a super power. The second thing involves how long the levels are. Thirdly involves how the graphics could be a little bit spicier. They have put plenty of thought into the game on how abilities work, interaction with objects, and those aspects are strong. I would love to see the battle system to evolve a bit more, so that it pulls away from being a button masher, so hopefully in the next game that is made a reality. Overall if you are a fan of comics, DC, or just fun games, you should be able to get a share of whatever you are looking for in this game. All and all, Captain Gordon gives Justice League Heroes a B. 

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? CaptainGordonEdward@Gmail.com