8.6

LEGO Batman

Holy LEGO Batman! That’s probably the best way to sum up the latest blockbuster epic to arrive on the PlayStation 3 which stars one of the world’s most favourite superheroes, Batman the Caped Crusader. Continuing from the popular LEGO game franchise that included the amazing LEGO Star Wars and the considerable weaker LEGO Indiana Jones, just where does LEGO Batman sit in the grand scheme of things?

Fortunately for lovers of this genre or for lovers of superhero games, LEGO Batman sits squarely on level with LEGO Star Wars, maybe even a touch higher due to the amount of Batman content available in the game. With almost 70 years of Batman history, the game successfully brings forth the best elements from this mythology and incorporate a healthy dose of adventure, excitement and best of all humour. Seeing Clayface trip over Batman is priceless or Batman give a catlike Catwoman a bowl of milk is magic moments in gaming.

You immediately know that you are in for a treat early in the game as Batman’s Rogue Gallery (his major villains) have escaped from Arkham Asylum and it’s up to Batman and his partner Robin to re-capture his foes. Easy said than done and fortunately the gamer has access to a variety of Batman gadgets to assist in the process.

After playing the game for a considerable amount of time, this current game is clearly reminiscent of  the Batman Animated Series and match that with the orchestral music of Danny Elfman from the original Batman movies starring Michael Keaton and you are definitely in for a wonderful treat. Best of all, gamers of all ages can have a go at this game as he puzzles can be set to adaptive learning, ensuring more experienced gamers will also have a challenge.

Although the gameplay is similar to LEGO Star Wars or Indiana Jones, it’s the characters that make this game so entertaining and the plethora of Batman references. The essence of the gameplay is to control your LEGO Batman and Robin and interact with the gaming environment to capture these rogue villains. You can also create LEGO items as you solve a plethora of puzzles and challenge dangerous (well… not really because if you get killed, your LEGO falls apart and you magically reappear) villains such as Mr. Freeze, Catwoman and the Joker. The combat is quite simply but still satisfying as you punch your way through a plethora of henchman and eventually incapacitate the villains you capture.

In relation to dying, you do lose the coins that you have collected through the level but you generally reappear in the same spot. If you are playing as a single-person, you need to swap between Batman and Robin in order to successfully solve the puzzles, however as a two-player game, it’s equally as satisfying as you both throw Batarangs and change costumes in order to proceed through the levels. There are various costumes littered through the gaming environment that allows the player to change what their character is wearing, for example, Robin can change into a Robin costume that allows him to scale metal walls, thanks to his magnetic boots.

Although you could control vehicles in the previous LEGO games, nothing is more satisfying than using Batman vehicles as you race along land, sea and the air. The Batboat was the trickiest vehicle to control. The game makes good use to cutscenes to progress the story and although there are 15 missions available to play as Batman and Robin, gamers can also complete 15 other missions as the villains. Interestingly enough, the villains missions were actually a tad more interesting than the heroes but that’s probably my dark side taking over. Crashing through police barricades or controlling giant robots is what villains are all about.

As you are not limited to just two or three villains, playing as a villain allows you to control a variety of characters, each with different and entertaining abilities. Once you have finished the Story mode of the game, you can then play the Free Play mode which allows you to toggle between multiple characters and access areas not available to you in the single-player mode and does allow you find other clues that you may have missed the first time.  

In terms of gameplay, the biggest frustration is being stuck on a level as the game really doesn’t give you too many clues as to what to do next. You generally need to explore and LOOK around the gaming environment to attempt to work out the next clue. My second boss battle with Mr. Freeze took me a little while to figure it out as I was attempting to throw batarangs at the switches, however in turn, you needed to defeat Mr. Freeze but each time you tried, he would freeze you and smash you to a dozen pieces. That changes your reasoning, thinking that there are other things to do.

Graphically, LEGO Batman looks amazing in high definition graphics with vibrant colours and extremely sharp graphics. Match that with a real authentic Gotham City feel and it’s almost as if you are visiting this fictional city. The characters move with a LEGO like grace and it’s almost like watching a LEGO movie, needless to say, it’s a thoroughly entertaining experience. The only downside with the graphics is that sometimes the camera angles do not move and you cannot see what is happening but fortunately this only happens every now and then.

Musically, the score of Danny Elfman makes this quite an engaging game and is probably the most memorable Batman music, hence the use in the game. Although none of the characters talk, apart from “Mr. Bean” type talk, they all mumble which adds to the enjoyment and humour of the title. At the end of the day, the sound effects go hand in hand with the gameplay and graphics.

In conclusion, LEGO Batman  is a thoroughly enjoyable game that could be played by gamers of all ages and it’s definitely an improvement over LEGO Indiana Jones. This is one for lovers of the LEGO games or for those who want to see a good superhero game. Good game mechanics, great graphics and best of all, it's oozing with Batman references.