Captured on Nintendo Switch (Connected)

Dumb is the person who looks at a link game aimed primarily at younger players and instantly dismisses them as a bunch of old bums.

Sure, most of the time they’re absolutely right (we still have the occasional nightmare from when we played Hotel for Dogs on the Wii), but once in a while a licensed game will go above and beyond of its competitors and will offer real quality. .

DC’s Justice League: Cosmic Chaos is one such game. While it’s easy to write it off and assume it’s a half-baked superhero game designed to keep youngsters busy for a few hours, what it actually offers is a game of fun. entertaining action with a decently sized campaign and some really fun stuff. in writing.

The game’s plot revolves around Superman’s occasional villain, Mr. Mxyzptlk, who has come to Happy Harbor, Rhode Island (the location of the Justice League’s secret sanctuary) to disrupt the former member’s takeover. the Justice League Snapper Carr as mayor. Summoning his supervillain friend Starro and capturing Snapper, Mxyzptlk declares himself the new mayor and plans to take over Happy Harbor for his own mischievous acts.

Captured on Nintendo Switch (Connected)

It’s up to Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman to save the day, and the player can switch between all three at will during gameplay by switching between them with the d-pad. Naturally, they each have their own special abilities and moves, more of which are acquired throughout the game, but in the beginning Batman has his batarangs, Superman has his laser eyes, and Wonder Woman can use her lasso to lure enemies towards her. . .

Combat is generally pretty well handled and could probably be described as Diablo-lite, offering a similar isometric perspective as you hit waves of enemies, lower their energy bars, and collect loot as they’re defeated. A dodge move is useful for avoiding last-minute attacks, and the ability to switch characters mid-battle makes it easy to juggle each hero’s unique powers and activate, for example, one of the moves Superman’s most powerful specials while Batman’s recharges.

It’s barely reinventing the wheel, but it’s also not sloppyly handled, with standard attacks landing with just the right degree of satisfaction. What’s more, the five difficulty levels, ranging from ‘History’, where combat is a breeze, to ‘Heroic’, which will challenge even the most experienced players, should ensure that it’s all about fun. ‘a game that will please more than just children despite its caricatural aspect.

DC Justice League: Cosmic Mayhem Review - Screenshot 3 of 5Captured on Nintendo Switch (Connected)

Driving this point are the many unlockable outfits, which can be acquired by collecting comic pages scattered throughout the game’s open world. to the costumes they first wore in their initial incarnations. Many of these outfits will likely be lost on younger players, but they’ll appeal to longtime fans of the comics, making it all the more clear that this isn’t just a game for kids.

All that fan service would be for naught if the game itself wasn’t entertaining, but the huge range of quests and side quests are ably backed up by genuinely well-written and entertaining dialogue that should appeal to young and old alike. . We’re afraid we’re getting into spoiler territory, so we’ll give an example of the game’s animated intro (slightly jerky).

At one point, Mxyzptlk asks Superman what his favorite food is, to which he enthusiastically replies “pretzels”. Mxyzptlk then quickly turns Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman into giant pretzels, prompting Superman to apologize to his friends, explaining that “pretzels are my kryptonite”. This causes a frustrated Batman to remind Superman, “Kryptonite is your kryptonite.”

DC Justice League: Cosmic Mayhem Review - Screenshot 4 of 5Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Offline)

The often amusing storyline is performed by an all-star cast, with Nolan North (Nathan Drake) as Superman, Vanessa Marshall as Wonder Woman (having played her in previous animated films) and the veteran Batman’s animated Deidrich Bader taking on the role of the Crusader capped off again. The main villain, Mr. Mxyzptlk, was supposed to be played by comedy legend Gilbert Gottfried, but he died last year, so the character is played by Dana Snyder (better known as Master Shake on Aqua Teen Hunger Force) which absolutely nails the performance.

So it checks out the fun box and the fun box, but Cosmic Chaos isn’t a perfect game, especially when it comes to performance on Switch. Framerate is all over the place and is constantly rattling and stuttering, especially when exploring the open world’s largest area Happy Harbor. Things get a bit better when you fight indoors, but it still doesn’t threaten stability.

Switch to handheld mode – which, by the way, we sometimes had trouble doing as the game sometimes didn’t realize we weren’t using the Pro Controller anymore and wouldn’t accept Joy-Cons until that we release on Switch OS – and the performance improves ever so slightly. Unfortunately, however, sharp flattened images become more blurry, which is a particular shame given its dark style.

DC Justice League: Cosmic Mayhem Review - Screenshot 5 of 5Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Offline)

It’s also a shame that there’s no co-op in the main story mode. There’s an ‘Instant Action’ mode that allows two players to play together, but we found it a little silly, with no real progress to speak of (it even unlocks all of your skills and costumes, which means that there’s really nothing to play for). With co-op in the main story, this could have been a viable new alternative to Lego games.

Despite its flaws, anyone looking for a single-player adventure that appeals to everyone in the family could do a lot worse than Cosmic Chaos. An average player will complete their story in around 10-15 hours (depending on whether you watch all the dialogue and accept all the side quests), and it’s written well enough to make you want to keep playing. Too bad the acting is not as neat as the script.

conclusion

DC’s Justice League: Cosmic Chaos is a fun fighting game with a variety of difficulty levels wide enough to appeal to young gamers and older superhero fans who aren’t above watching funny cartoons. . Its glitches and lack of cooperation let it down, but what you get is an entertaining game that will last you a decent amount of time.

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