Summary
TheLego Batmanseries is a fascinating outlier in terms of games regarding the LEGO property. It is far less film driven than the majority ofTraveller’s Tales-developed LEGO games, such as the contemporaneousLEGO Star Wars,LEGO Indiana Jones, andLEGO Harry Potter.
Even withThe Dark Knightreleasing the same year asLEGO Batman: The Videogame, the game instead was more focused on the greaterBatmanfranchise. While this “franchise” effect allowed the character’s setting to be explored more in depth, it also expanded the focus to the greater DC world, with mixed results. Here, eachLEGO Batmangame will be ranked by how enjoyable the overall experience is.
The world ofLEGO Batman 2is more expansive than its predecessor, but in some ways that can hurt it more than it helps. The open-world aspect largelyrevolves around fighting characters, often in a rather repetitive way, to unlock them.Villains typically get hit thrice, and then become unlockable for a sum of studs. LaterLEGO Batmangames would get a bit more creative with the unlockables, and the earlier game made unlocking the villains a more fun experience, with most of them being gained through villain-oriented levels.
This game signals a clear desire to phase in more of the DC Universe, in terms of its title and scope, but actually playing the game proper showcases that it had some trouble balancing this along with both the elements from the previous game, and allocating everything in an entertaining way. That said, this game does do a fun job of showingBatman and Superman as rivalsand friends. In addition to introducing an open world, this game also debuted proper voice acting inLEGOgames, setting the stage for future installments in the greaterLEGOseries.
LEGO Batman 3manages to moderate the open-world elements ofLEGO Batman 2, by mostly relegating them into the Lantern Worlds. Other areas are a bit more compact. What makes this game a definitive improvement over the previous entry is that the missions to unlock characters are a bit more varied. Even with the expanded roster that is far less Batman-focused than either of its predecessors, the overall experience of collecting everything feels like a bit less of a slog than it did before.
The game also manages to do a decent mixing and matching of the playable heroes, allowing for more variety than the previous game, which near-exclusively focused on Batman and Superman.Many Justice League membershave more prominence in this game. While not every character gets equally-allocated screen time, it feels like this game approaches the whole “DC Superheroes” concept a bit better than the game that actually has that in the title.
For what this game lacks in an expansive roster and more modern specs, it makes up for with how succinct and enjoyable it is overall. It’s mainly just Batman and Robin fighting against 15of Batman’s enemies, each of whom are operating in teams of five towards a certain nefarious end. Certain levels, namely those of Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, and The Joker feel tailor-made for the foes faced within. It is the most Batman-focusedLEGO Batmangame to date.
What puts this game over-the-top, however, is the villain mode. Many Batman villains have powers that are less available to the heroes, even with their various costumes. These are displayed in an entertaining manner with a variety of levels taking place in between the various encounters our rogues have with the heroes. They even have their own hub, with Arkham Asylum acting analogously to the Batcave. While laterBatmangames by no means skimped on the villains, this game has an interesting side to it that the majority ofLEGO Batmangames that came after did not explore. With one exception, of course.
A Fun New Twist
LEGO DC Super-Villains
It’s good to be bad… Embark on an all-new DC/LEGO® adventure by becoming the best villain the universe has seen. Players will create and play as an all-new super-villain throughout the game, unleashing mischievous antics and wreaking havoc in an action-packed story.Set in an open-world experience within the DC universe, the Justice League has disappeared, leaving Earth’s protection to their counterparts, who have proclaimed themselves as the “Justice Syndicate”. It’s up to you and a crazy group of misfits to uncover the intentions of Earth’s new, strange, wannabe superheroes. Joined by renowned DC Super-Villains: The Joker, Harley Quinn, and countless others from the Injustice League, players will set out on an epic adventure.
The aforementioned villain levels were described by game director Arthur Parsons, as inspiring thisLEGO Batmanspin-off. Major heroes in the Justice League are largely absent for most of the game, instead being replaced by Earth 3’s Crime Syndicate, who take advantage of the reputation Earth’s heroes have to accomplish covert acts of evil.
In the Justice League’s absence, theLegion of Doomtakes on the Crime Syndicate, recruiting many powerful members along the way. Overall, it’s clear Traveller’s Tales have vastly improved their open-world development chops. The locations they focused on are all very visually defined, and the missions conducted in them have enough variety so as not to become monotonous. There are also “boss” characters, which, while somewhat similar to the repetitive fights inLEGO Batman 2, are both varied and used sparingly enough to not feel as repetitive.
Despite its overt focus on the villains, this game does at least give the heroes a bit of time to breathe, with the Justice League and Legion of Doom temporarily allying to face a greater threat. While not every game needs to focus solely on the villains, hopefullyfuture LEGOBatmaninstallmentswill make those characters a focal point in the vein of the first game, because it worked really well inLEGO DC Super-Villains.
