A New Era for Lego Batman
The first new Lego movie tie-in in four years is also the first proper Batman game in over a decade. This latest release pays tribute to the movies, comics, and video games that have shaped the Batman universe. It’s a significant moment for fans who have been waiting patiently for a fresh take on the Dark Knight.
The Evolution of Lego Games
Back in the Xbox 360 era and the early part of the last console generation, there were often two new Lego games released every year. These games were known for their fun co-op experiences and endless bugs, which were a byproduct of the rapid development cycle. However, the current state of big budget games shows how much longer they take to develop now. It has been four years since the release of Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and long-term developer Traveller’s Tales is once again at the helm.
While this isn’t really doing anything new (it’s the fourth standalone Lego Batman game, and he’s been in three others), it is slickly made and the contrivance of the story is weird enough to be interesting in its own right.
A Unique Storytelling Approach
The premise of the game is neither entirely original nor a direct adaptation. Instead, it’s an amalgam of many different versions of Batman, primarily the movies, but also TV, animated series, comic books, and other video games. The opening few minutes of the intro manage to encompass elements of The Batman, The Animated Series, and Tim Burton’s 1989 movie, making knowing calls to scenes and lines of dialogue while blending them all together as if they were one continuity.
The story is an odd idea and, as you can imagine, there are a lot of things that are left out, as the game tries to keep everything family-friendly and juggle multiple sources with very different tones. It doesn’t always work, especially as it means you end up with some implausible co-op partners (most of the first third of the game involves only Commissioner Gordon and Catwoman). However, the developer’s obvious love for the source material frequently saves it.
A Journey Through Batman’s History
The game tackles the movies in more or less chronological order but often runs the plots of multiple films by the same director concurrently. So, after a lengthy sequence riffing on The Killing Joke, the Jack Nicholson Joker makes it all the way to the end of the Batman/Batman Returns levels, before inexplicably transforming into Heath Ledger, ready for later in the game.
Character Selection and Gameplay
Despite all the variant costumes, there are only seven unique playable characters, each with very different special abilities. The problem with taking the movies as the lead is that Robin only appears in two of them, and Nightwing not at all. However, the game relies on comic book and animated series references to fill in the gaps, especially in terms of wackier villains, such as Condiment King and a version of Kite Man influenced by the Harley Quinn show.
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