The star of the Dark Knight , Batman (not Christian Bale), is now the star of yet another video game. This time the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder are set in a Gotham City made of Legos. Lego Batman is latest in a successful line of Lego games from Travelers’ Tales Games and Warner Bros Interactive . This installment follows the same recipe that has worked in the previous Star Wars and Indiana Jones games – be heavy on the characters, make it simple enough for anyone to play, and give the more advanced user the opportunity to play through the game a second time thoroughly to collect all of the extras stashed throughout the game.
We were lucky enough to get to play Lego Batman at E3 and spend time with the developers as they told us all about the game. Since that day, I have been anxiously anticipating the release. If you are familiar with the Lego games from before, then this game should really be exactly what you expected. You will need to use the strengths of the various characters and their power suits to maneuver through Gotham City. One of the most exciting factors of the game is the ability to not only play as the heroes, but the villains as well. The Joker , Penguin, Scarecrow, Catwoman, and Killer Croc headline the list of bad guys that includes an Arnold-less Mr. Freeze. Beating the various levels unlocks the different characters just like in the other games before. Also using the Batwing on just about everything in site is entertaining as you progress through the game.
This game boasts the drop-in/out two player mode which allows you to play alone and have someone join you or leave in the middle of the game without disrupting the gaming experience. I asked the developers at E3 if they were going to allow online co-op and they told us back then that it was not a feature that would be included in the game. This is a disappointment for me because I look for new games to play with my friends online and this could be a fun experience figuring out the puzzles with your friends that live far away. The camera is somewhat improved as well, so the lack of online co-op is really the only big issue I have with the game.
Free Play is where the game is most fun for me. Being able to go back through the game with the freedom to use a larger selection of characters allows you to reach places and secrets that you are not able to reach with the default characters on the story mode playthrough. Many of the characters are very similar to others and are almost interchangeable. Batman is very similar to Nightwing for example. So this allows you to pick the characters you like and still have a “full” team that can reach the out of the way parts of the levels. This also allows you to go back to the levels that utilize the sweet vehicles like the Batmobile or Batwing if you so desire.
This game is fun for fans of the Lego branded games, fans of Batman, and fans of games that are simple to sit down and play with very little learning curve. The simplicity of the game is a gift and a curse as it may turn-off hard core gamers, however the ability to go back through and recover every single hidden item may make up for that. Another great perk to this game is the price point. For the Wii , PS3 , and Xbox 360 the game is $49.99 us, $10 cheaper than most new releases. The PC, PS2 , DS , and PSP versions of the game each are less than $30.
Batman fans will appreciate the recognizable levels like Arkham Asylum, the important peripheral characters like the loveable butler Alfred , and the amazing music by Danny Elfman from the original 1989 theatrical release. So if you are still needing your Dark Knight fix until the DVD release, this should be an ample dose of Batman for you.
