LEGO DC Super-Villains: SHAZAM Movie Pack 1 (Xbox One) Review

By Sandy Kirchner-Wilson 04.06.2019

Review for LEGO DC Super-Villains: SHAZAM Movie Pack 1 on Xbox One

Following on from our review of Lego DC Super Villains Warner Brothers has released a new DLC chapter for the game bringing to the game DC's newest big screen hero, Shazam! The movie has seen relatively large success, and is being hailed as a new start for the DC movie universe. This story DLC is the first in a line of Season Pass content that Travellers' Tales is working on to expand the game, with a second part of Shazam! planned among other character stories. Let's take a dive into this Lego adaption and see if it's as electric as expected.

'SHAZAM,' the words a wizard said to Billy Batson at just 14 years old and turned him into a superhero with the powers to rival Superman. This origin story is what the focus of the first level of this DLC is, and it presents it as a comic book, complete with white borders and bombastic sound effect bubbles. This aesthetic suits Lego incredibly well, and helps to distinguish the Shazam story from the rest of the game, which uses big budget cut-scenes.

The story voiceover is presented from Shazam's viewpoint, looking back at his past, and reflecting on his first battles. The voice work is great, and has very little noise when paired with the Lego touches, like Shazam's penchant for ice cream, and the results are pretty hilarious. It's a crying shame Shazam won't see his own Lego game release.

This DLC does a great job of showing off his specific powers, with a well-crafted little level full of puzzles that while not hard, do their best to make players think at least a little bit. Unfortunately this DLC chapter is just a single level. It is incredibly satisfying to find that there were no bugs present in it, and that the general level of polish and detail was fantastic, plus the DC Lego set boxes in the environment were a really neat touch in the toy shop - it certainly brought out a dumb smile and warm fuzzy feeling.

Screenshot for LEGO DC Super-Villains: SHAZAM Movie Pack 1 on Xbox One

The visuals throughout are fantastic, with some great "theme-ing" and Easter eggs. It is set at Christmas time, and has some funny festive visual gags and highlights like baubles and Christmas trees, as well as a ton of smash-able objects like presents. There is even a Santa Claus walking around - and don't forget As well as the aforementioned comic scenes that are so colourful and endearing, that they really felt at home in Lego's universe. When paired with the vibrant sound design full of effects and bombastic music it creates a nice superhero atmosphere letting the player feel invincible.

As for the overarching gameplay, if you liked the core gameplay, all of the same quirks and mechanics are in this DLC. From puzzle solving to punching out some dudes it's all very smooth and easy. The entire DLC level can be played in co-op with one person assuming the role of Billy and the other his friend, as they sneak through a toy shop trying to avoid confronting the boss character who is hunting them. It's incredibly easy to complete without dying as it features the default Lego difficulty level.

It's a shame that the DLC wasn't used to increase the challenge presented for players who had completed most of the original game. During the level it's clear that they wanted players to play through more than once to collect every collectable of which there is the same amount as any other Lego level, with mini-kits, studs, goldbricks etc… and upon completion the free play mode is unlocked which adds a bit of replay value to an otherwise fairly short affair. All in all, for as short as the level is there is a decent amount of playable content as well as a host of unlocks and new characters to play as.

Screenshot for LEGO DC Super-Villains: SHAZAM Movie Pack 1 on Xbox One

Cubed3 Rating

6/10
Rated 6 out of 10

Good

This, admittedly, fantastically made, but incredibly short DLC chapter, will be great for fans of both the game and Shazam!, the movie. It's a hard recommendation based on its relatively small replay value, but if purchased with the season pass fans have lots of great content to look forward to! Fun, but ultimately could have been a lot more...

Developer

Traveller's Tales

Publisher

Warner Bros.

Genre

3D Platformer

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  6/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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