Lego Batman
Platform: Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 3, Wii, PSP, DS, PS2

There is a season for all things, so they say. A season to plant, a season to reap; a season for growth and a season for recession. Judging from Hollywood’s latest antics there’s also a season for the true comic book adaptation and the kind-of re-imagining of some classic heroes.

With Batman currently right in the thick of his grungy, Miller-based makeover it would be a great time for Warner Bros. to release a new Batman game, right? Something like a cross between Splinter Cell and Burnout?

Story:

This isn’t that though, obviously. This is another one of those Lego games from Traveller’s Tales. It doesn’t even share the same plot as the Dark Knight films, or a close bastardisation of them. That’s probably a good thing. Heath Ledger’s fantastic performance would have lost some of its tragic, poignant edge if Warner Bros had tried to equalise it with a virtual block of plastic.

The story of Lego Batman then is something wholly new, though not wholly original. In fact, it’s pretty much the same plot as all the comics fans will have seen before.

So, yes, the Joker has organised another prison break from Arkham Asylum and all of Batman’s most evil, demented and blocky enemies are back out and on the streets – ready to do some Bad Things.

One thing that’s immediately obvious though, other than the fact that Arkham Asylum really needs to renovate its security set-up and maybe move out of that old Gothic Castle in favour of something more secure and less Rocky Horror-alike, is that DC’s Rogues Gallery is actually quite weak. The Joker, Riddler, Poison Ivy and Catwoman – these are villains we know, love and respect.

Hell, even Mr Freeze has managed to survive the appalling Arnie-portrayal and become a decent villain in the comic books.

The rest of the baddies in the line-up though are less imaginative and more hopelessly, insultingly gimmicked. Foes like Clayface just don’t feel enjoyable or rewarding to defeat thanks to their boring design. The Mad Hatter for example has no super-powers, just a Lewis Carroll-inspired wardrobe and a penchant for failed bank robberies. In the comics he might be able to survive thanks to good writing, but as a mute character he feels like unenjoyable filler that won’t be recognised by most gamers.

Not all of this is the game’s fault of course – these baddies are DC’s, not theirs. Then again, Traveller’s Tales didn’t have to use all of them in the game. There are plenty of decent arch-nemeses to foil, so why the crowd has to be diluted like this is beyond us.

Gripes aside, the game sees both the evil and plain annoying wings of the Batman baddies dividing themselves up into three groups and trying to go about their evil ways. The Riddler, Penguin and Joker lead each of the teams on their various bank heists and rogueries and it’s up to Batman and Robin to restore safety and order to the city of Gotham.

Gameplay:

The gameplay behind Lego Batman is the same as any other Lego game from Traveller’s Tales, to be honest. If you’ve played Lego Indiana Jones or any of the multiple Lego Star Wars games, then you pretty much know what to expect.

Lego Batman is essentially a 3D platformer built around a hub-centric level system. As the game starts you, playing both Batman and Robin, are plunged into your first mission to defeat Clayface and must launch an attack on Gotham Bank.

The levels are mainly linear the first time you play them and you’ll have to spend a good deal of time switching abilities and characters to make your way through the three scenes that form the first level.

Mission complete, you’re promptly plomped back into the Batcave and it’s here that the true, hardcore appeal of the game is opened up. Once in the Batcave you can tackle the three separate campaigns in any order, first in Story Mode where you characters and abilities are preset to fit a plot, then in Free Play where you can choose what characters you want.

The option to choose your characters may seem stupid at first – why play a level again anyway, right? Well, the answer is simple: Collectibles.

Not all characters in the game have the same set of abilities and special moves, though there is a fair deal of overlap. Batman and Robin are great all rounders, but neither of the heroes are super-powered and therefore can’t heft dumpsters over their heads, use whips or brainwash enemies.

If you want to open up hidden areas and harvest all the collectibles, you’ll need to replay levels twice at least with different characters.

As always, there are items aplenty to collect too. Every move you make will litter the levels in Lego studs for you to spend on unlocking extras, cheats and tips from within the Batcave or Asylum. Then there’s the mini-kits and special bricks that can be put together to form new items.

Expect to be doing a lot of building too – there are plenty of puzzles in Lego Batman and while none of them will stump you for aeons, you’d be over-confident if you didn’t anticipate at least momentary bafflement on a regular basis.

Where the game starts to differ from its predecessors though is in the details and how exactly the characters can play. In Lego Indy for example, the characters were pretty much set from their selection and there was no option to swap their powers later on. In Lego Batman though that isn’t entirely true and Batman and Robin can (and must) swap powers on a regular basis by changing their suits.

Swapping suits however is handled a little ham-handedly and, though Lego Batman is a world that doesn’t really have to actually make sense in the strictest sense the idea that Batman and Robin have hidden special suit-changer machines around Gotham is enough to break the suspension of disbelief for us.

Worse still, each platform only ever lets either Batman or Robin change into one other outfit. This, combined with the linear nature of the levels, means that a chance at making deeper puzzles is pointlessly discarded. Instead of having to figure out that Batman will need his Sonic Suit or Robin will need his Tech Suit to progress, the game just throws the correct suit at you usually before you’ve even found out a puzzle was supposed to be there.

Conclusions:

There are a few companies out there that enjoy remaking slightly tweaked or re-skinned versions of the same game, over and again – but there are only a few games that can do it and still keep it fresh. Nintendo does it with Zelda, Mario and Metroid (and is losing its knack if you ask me). BioWare has done it with KOTOR and Mass Effecct.

Traveller’s Tales is now trying it too with Lego Star Wars (in all its iterations and forms), Lego Indy and Lego Batman – and frankly the cracks are beginning to show.

The gameplay is tired, dull and repetitive. There’s nothing here we haven’t already seen and what there is, just isn’t as funny as it all used to be because we’ve seen it too many times. It’s very much gaming by a formula – and this is a formula which has been done into the ground.

Overused and underwhelming, Lego Batman isn’t really all that bad a game and if it’s your entrance to the series then you may get a laugh or two out of it though it is by far the weakest in the franchise. If you’ve played any of the previous Legos though then now is a good time to move on.

Gameplay: 5
Features: 4
Graphics: 5   its all lego’s???
Replayability: 6

Overall: 5/10