Justice League Heroes

With the formation of the famous Justice League barely coming together in the CW’s Smallville and a fantastic animated series bringing in new fans, it was just a manner of time the Xbox would get a game featuring DC Comics’ finest collection of heroes. Justice League Heroes brings together our favorite heroes to fight against a new growing threat that just happens to include a roster filled with some well-known super villains in a game that might feel like a dungeon-crawler with super powers instead of swords and sorcery.

It was a calm day when all of the sudden the tranquility is broken by a meteor that strikes Earth and the impact gives birth to a dangerous new threat. Suddenly, major cities across the world fall victim to an alien invasion, one that seems to attract dangerous foes such as Brainiac and Doomsday just to name a few. It isn’t too long before the Justice League finds out about this and sets out to put a stop to the invasion as well as discover the source of the threat. Together with Superman, Batman, the Green Lantern, Zatanna, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Martian Manhunter (as well as backup members like Aquaman, the Green Arrow, Huntress and Hawkgirl) they set out to do just that.

First off, the Xbox has seen this type of game before with Marvel’s X-Men Legends series and seeing as the game is developed by Snowblind Studios (who has brought us the hack and slash RPG classic Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance) Justice League Heroes feels like a hack and slash without most of the deeply involving RPG elements. Still, we are talking about this Justice League, and a game that allows us to switch between the likes of Batman and Wonder Woman is awesome in my book. While the game’s story arc starts off by forcing you to pair up the team’s starting lineup, we get to pick our heroes later in the game so if you want to jump into the next level with Superman and Huntress, you can do just that.

Unfortunately, seeing as the game coincides with the release of a similar game featuring a more than generous lineup of Marvel Comics heroes with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Justice League Heroes’ character list will seem a bit flimsy. By the fourth level, you’ll be wishing for a comic book-styled cameo to add more variety aside from the option to purchase optional costumes and so-so secondary characters. Wouldn’t it have been cool if they incorporated characters from the Teen Titans or, just for laughs, include the Wonder Twins from the old 1980s Justice League cartoon?

These are small gripes really compared to the game’s weakest element … the action itself. Each character has a set of punches that start feeling the same (unless you’re the Flash who throws lighting-fast punches) so you will be thankful for each hero’s unique abilities and powers. Secondly, fighting off swarm after swarm of bad guys gets old fast. These are the things that work against a game that doesn’t offer much in terms of role-playing elements aside from upgrading powers.

What does work for the game are the super powers that give each character an edge in combat that adds some much needed variety to the fights. It’s great to see Superman pick up a taxicab as if it was a crate and smash it into an enemy robot or watching Zatanna turn enemies into white fluffy rabbits. You can upgrade different aspects of your character’s powers so if you want to make the Green Lantern’s protective bubble a lot stronger you can use your upgrade points towards doing just that. The game also features a number of mods you can collect and use in the Boost feature that adds more damage to your power attacks. Even the game’s story, written by veteran comic book writer Dwayne McDuffie, is excellent.

Another element of the game that makes this game such a treat to play are the boss fights at the end of each battle. It’s just a blast having to take on an assortment of villains you would normally find in games featuring a single character. You’ll be facing off against Brainiac (who will give Superman and Batman a real workout) and the likes of The Key, Gorilla Grodd, Queen Bee and Doomsday as well as a few others. Teamwork is the key to defeating these bad guys and while you can switch between your super pair you can even have a friend take the role of the secondary character. If one of your characters buys the farm during a level, don’t worry, head back to a checkpoint that they will be instantly revived.

On the graphics front, Justice League Heroes looks really good on the Xbox. The character models alone and their individual powers will not fail to give fans of the comic books and animated series something to smile about throughout the game. Even the cutscenes look good, although I would have loved to have seen the cutscene incorporate each alternate costume you unlock and use in the game. It’s strange to see Wonder Woman fighting off enemies in her alternate toga costume and then switch back to her usual costume during cutscenes. This is a small complaint, really, considering the fact that the visual effects look great and the destructible environmental objects just more than make up for it.

The game’s sound is also equally effective in putting gamers into the DC Comics universe since the sound effects are nicely detailed throughout the game and the voice acting and dialogue are handled perfectly. Ron “Hellboy” Perlman, for instance, handles the voice of Batman, and the Green Lantern is handled by Michael Jai White and they do a great job of bringing each character to life. The other cast isn’t bad at all and mostly it’s thanks to the great dialogue. There’s even a great score to accompany the action and cutscenes that is cinematic and definitely sounds great on a good sound system.

Justice League Heroes is far from perfect thanks to its somewhat repetitive battles, but with a fun cast, a great story and a handful of excellent villains, this is the game comic book fans will enjoy. Personally, I wouldn’t have minded extra DC Comic characters joining the fray (Robin and Plastic Man just to name a few) but then again you can’t go wrong with a game that does our favorite league of extraordinary super men and wonder women justice.

Gameplay: 7.5
Pummeling henchman after henchman does get tiresome but at least each character’s powers add some variety to the combat. For the most part, each hero’s powers are well represented and it’s always cool to watch Superman toss a truck right on top of a bad guy. The levels start feeling the same so you’ll be thankful for the boss fights at the end.

Graphics: 8.2
Holy sharp Xbox visuals, Batman, the Xbox certainly gets sharper textures and thanks to 720p support, the game looks particularly amazing. The backgrounds really do look good but the star of the game is the character models and the flashy visual effects.

Sound: 8.2
The sound effects are nicely detailed throughout the game so expect to get an earful of explosions, objects breaking into dozens of pieces and Superman’s heat vision burning through an enemy. The voice acting is actually pretty good (Ron Perlman as Batman … who can ask for a better sounding Batman?) and the dialogue is actually very witty at times. As for the game’s score, it just plains rocks and never gets old.

Difficulty: Medium
The number of drones, robots, henchmen and alien bad guys you’ll face will certain give your mighty pair something to worry about and there are times when you will be greatly outnumbered. The real challenge comes in facing off against the level bosses that are composed of Doomsday, Gorilla Grodd and the Queen Bee.

Concept: 8.5
While not as impressive as Marvel: Ultimate Alliance’s lineup of heroes, Justice League Heroes does manage to bring a good lineup including unlockable heroes like Hawkgirl and old-school Flash. Even the number of recognizable super villains will give fans something to cheer about throughout the game.

Multiplayer: 8.0
You’ll want to play this with a friend seeing as the game tosses a large number of enemies at you at once and you will definitely appreciate some help with some of the later boss fights. Now the only real problem is agreeing on who will play Aquaman.

Overall: 7.7
At last, a game that features Superman and Batman that isn’t awful. Justice League Heroes for the Xbox features just the right cast of DC Comics heroes and, while the action can get slightly repetitive in places, the cool super powers and great story will keep you more than busy. If you’re a Justice League fan or like a decent brawler, give this game a try.