Strategy Guide Reviews

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Manifesto: Adventures in Strategy Guide Reviewing

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This week I have been working on reviewing the LEGO Marvel’s Avengers strategy guide, and I ran into one snag while running through one Hub. I traditionally do freeplay first, then the Hubs because they are so freaking huge. However, it became apparent to me rather quickly that I would need to find a character with a particular ability that I couldn’t get from the story missions. I picked one Hub world, opened the strategy guide to that world, and went to town.

Within seconds of starting the Hub world, I noticed a mistake in the strategy guide. I found a Gold Brick immediately upon entering the world, and this brick wasn’t in the guide. Huh, well, that’s not that big of a deal, right? Now where can I find this one character? Hmmmmm, I’m not seeing this area that the guide is mentioning. Wait, here’s another Gold Brick that’s not in the strategy guide. What is going on? That’s not where the Stan Lee in Peril is in this Hub! This is crap! I’m going to write a scathing review! RARRRRRRRR!

And then I realize I had the strategy guide open to the wrong Hub world.

Wolverine_Facepalm_!

I was in South Africa, and the strategy guide was in Barton’s Farm. There are zero similarities between these areas. It would have taken a miracle for me to find anything in the Hub world.

I’m a dumbass. I admit it.

Well back to reviewing the guide…with the correct pages open.

Monday Gaming Diary: Ready for the LEGO Marvel’s Avengers Strategy Guide

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297882cb-dbb1-4fa1-a840-64dcdcadab68_64b69a74-ffd2-42a9-969e-a53d00f56ae7_en-us_5_coverimageThis weekend I pretty much played LEGO Marvel’s Avengers nonstop to get the story mode complete as well as a few insights into the extras LEGO games are known for, all in the name of meeting an embargo for a review tomorrow morning. I need the strategy guide for this game, people. I need it so very badly. There isn’t just one hub world in this game; there are around 6 or 7. Sixish hub worlds with various collectibles, including the massive number of Gold Bricks.

The largest hub world is Manhattan, and my radar lit up with what seemed to be a thousand (but really is about 150) blips for Gold Bricks. Too much. It’s all too much! I didn’t even try to get a single Gold Brick in any hub world. I ran around to see what was available, freaked out, and then jumped back into a story mission.

The sad thing is that I thought Manhattan WAS the hub world. It was the hub in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, so it makes sense to have it return in Avengers. But then I pressed the touchpad button on the PS4 controller, and the prompt, “Go to space?” popped up. Space? Why would I go to space? Maybe Wheatley is there or something. I’ll go check. Then I beam to space and see the entire fucking Earth, where all of the story missions, including the secret ones (yes, there are secret story missions) and hub worlds are in fast travel view. Each hub world also has Stan Lees to rescue, Gold Bricks to find, character tokens to unlock, and Red Bricks. There’s a reason why I never achieved 100% in LEGO Batman 2 or LEGO Marvel Super Heroes. As much as I want to here, I’m not sure I will.

At least I won’t without the LEGO Marvel’s Avengers strategy guide to help me. And by help me I mean hold my hand and show me where every single one of those ever-loving Gold Bricks are, how to find Stan Lee, where every character token is hiding, and how to earn every single Achievement/Trophy. Oh right, and where do I unlock certain vehicles and character creation elements? Yes, even pieces to create new characters are locked as collectibles, Goddammit.

I’m ready for you, LEGO Marvel’s Avengers strategy guide. Please don’t let me down. I don’t want to set you on fire on YouTube.

SGR Coffee Break 49 – Prima vs. Piggyback vs. Future Press

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Keri and I sit down to tackle a question that came in from a fan. On this episode of the SGR Coffee Break, we look at the current big three strategy guide companies. Well, four companies when we roll the clock back a bit and include BradyGames. We look at the greatness that is Future Press while I cry that the Dark Souls 3 guide is not coming from them. We also look at how Prima Games, BradyGames, and Piggyback can make some really great strategy guides, and yet they can publish some soul crushing guides as well. Let’s hope we see more hits than misses when it comes to strategy guides this year!

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What are the Differences Between Paperback and Collector’s Editions Strategy Guides?

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More often then not as of late, companies publish two versions of strategy guides, a traditional paperback guide and a collector’s edition. In the case of publishers Piggyback and Future Press, they only publish a hardcover collector’s edition. But when there are two versions, what are the differences? Is there a difference aside from the hardcovers?

Well, sometimes, no. However, sometimes collector’s editions have extras that make the extra cash worth it other than looking pretty on your shelf. I pulled a number of samples I had of both types of strategy guides to show the various differences between them and what sort of extras a collector’s edition may entail. Simply put, not every collector’s edition may be worth it to you, but here are some examples of what you can find in these collector’s editions strategy guides.

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