Lego Batman

Okay first of all, I’m not a fan of the Lego games. They’re tiresome and boring. Watching my house mate play through Lego Star Wars and Lego Indy, felt like torture for me. So I’m assigned to review this game and you may be expecting me to rant about how rubbish it is. Thing is, I can’t. Not because it’s to please the developers, publishers, the bosses of Ready Up or gamer fans who may hunt me down with knives and pitchforks at first slating. Truth is that I was even surprised myself to find out I actually enjoy playing Lego Batman!

One of the great factors of Lego games is that it allows players to just go totally mental and smash everything to Lego smithereens. Smash up lampposts, smash up bins, smash up crates – smash smash smash! All the while it contributes to the major type of gaming that the series lives on, “collecting”. Picking up the Lego studs which is your currency in the game that allows you to purchase unlockables. You can buy new characters, vehicles and crazy gaming toggles to amuse your fighting adventures. There are many mini kits to be collected in the game too and this will keep people who love to complete 100% quite busy. This game is a danger to the obsessive compulsive!

So Lego Batman has bought a new feature to the series. The new batarang mode (weapon throwing system) allows you to target up to four items or villains and attack from afar. Either marked by Batman’s or Robin’s official logo this works pretty similar to The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker’s boomerang function. Works pretty well in my eyes though I admit you won’t really be using it as much, I stick to the good old punch sorts out a baddie in no time.

Among the levels you’ll find various located platforms where Batman or Robin can change into a different suit. These new suits give the characters a new ability whether it’d be to place and detonate bombs, walk up metal walls with magnetic boots, shatter the glass Lego pieces with a special gun and plenty more. Typically you’ve got to expect that where you find these suits, they are what you’ll need to progress through the level. Now the game levels seem quite short designed but personally I find it well fitting. One of my main reasons for not liking Lego games before was because of the awful back tracking you had to do. In this case Batman is much more linear and relaxing, I think Traveller’s Tales have accomplished to not test the gamer rage of the younger players this time around.

My bad perception of depth in the Lego world had me spawning constantly but this forgiving title just smiled and encouraged me to keep trying. Though it makes me wonder what’s the point with the life meter? Dying makes you lose your collected Lego studs but those like me who don’t care on collectables; well I’m in for an easy ride with reaching the end of the chapters.

Lego Batman sees the new input of Lego driving action and who could forget the awesome Batmobile and Batwing! Both vehicles are equipped to shoot and boy, are we having some action packed mayhem in Gotham City. It’s a little helpless but sometimes there was a lot more destruction to the city than intended but hey, it was necessary as we’re zooming around capturing villains before towing them in to the police. (Remember Lego games are about plenty of smash and crash). One thing I’ve got to criticize is that they could have added some sort of mini-map or side screen pointers to help navigate around!

Considering Batman lives in the dark sinister Gotham City, having Lego adapted to it seems an odd choice but they’ve balanced it well. It’s a light, friendly and yet still has the slight grim appeal (take a look at the screenshot below). Of course there’s some great humour put into the Gotham Lego environment for example, I could not stop laughing at Mr Freeze’s level, the theme of the cold was humoured with ice cream statues in the background and the fact that I was able to drive an ice-cream van that played music as it travelled!

Well I don’t want to give too much away on the game but I’ll let you know this. It doesn’t get any cooler than to be able to play as the many villains in this game with their own side stories. The Lego game has got a new twist to longevity. Definitely not so boring now!