User blog:LoveWaffle/"LEGO Marvel Super Heroes" Announced

If you couldn't tell from the title, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes has been announced, and will be released sometime this fall on just about every currently-supported console. According to the press release, the game's plot goes like this:
 * LEGO Marvel Super Heroes offers an original storyline in which Nick Fury calls upon Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Spider-Man, Wolverine and other heroes spanning the Marvel Universe to save Earth from such threats as the vengeance of Loki and the hunger of Galactus, Devourer of the Worlds.

As for those "other heroes", the press release lists Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Deadpool, and even Loki and Galactus as playable characters. These LEGO games, however, are known for having an absurd number of playable characters (granted, many of them are more or less palette swaps), so I doubt these will be the only heroes we can play as in the game. Of course, the villains and henchmen we fight in the game will be made playable, as well as supporting characters who don't play that big a role in the game's plot. However, what I do find a bit odd is the lack of any of the Fantastic Four. They may not be the biggest property right now (that would be the Avengers, and all 6 of the film's roster is part of the announcement), but the Fantastic Four is an iconic property nonetheless. While we do get the quote from TQ Jefferson that mentions the Fantastic Four, it doesn't necessarily mean any of the Four themselves will be included in the game. Remember how last August saw Marvel try to back the film license to many Fantastic Four-related characters without the team being put on the table. Furthermore, I vaguely remember Capcom representatives mentioning legal reasons keeping any of the Four from appearing in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, so maybe they won't appear in the game after all. And if they are, their exclusion from the press release says a lot. Using LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes as a model to make predictions about this game, I suspect the game will take place in an open-world environment similar to that of Gotham City, with the ability to quickly change between characters for certain tasks. I, for one, would really enjoy this, since the open world of LEGO Batman 2 was one of my favorite parts of that game. As a fan of all things concerning superhero movies, being able to fly around Gotham as Superman with the John Williams Theme playing and then landing to hear Danny Elfman's Batman Theme begin to play...that's going to be hard to top. The other option might be something closer to what's in most other LEGO games, like LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, where there's one small, central hubworld (I'm guessing the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier) that's used to access levels associated around one character. This structure was actually used in the original LEGO Batman, where each set of levels was focused around one villain (namely the Joker, the Penguin, and the Riddler), with the various levels that make up the set being focused on a lesser villain (i.e. Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, Scarecrow, etc). I could picture this working for LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: each set of levels based on a certain hero and the levels in that set have us fighting some of that hero's rogues gallery who turn out to be working for Loki. For example, we'd get a set of levels focused around Spider-Man that has us go up against Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus, who are part of Loki's scheme. Although I'd still prefer the open-world, I wouldn't mind that set up at all. So what do you all think? Are you going to pick up this game when it comes out later this fall? Is the LEGO style to games not for your liking? Would you prefer a different kind of game, like a Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3? Let me know!