Lego Batman: The Video Game Review (360)

All the fun of Lego, without the mess or the imagination!

I’m only 5 minutes into Lego Batman: The Video Game and it’s already pestering me. As soon as I start, it displays out of reach unlockables and clearly visible ‘secret’ areas, demanding that I must return to the area at a later date in order to gain access. It enrages my impatience. It violently digs its nails into my OCD and claws away. It’s like dangling a deliciously sweet carrot in front of a donkey with no back legs. It’s fair to say that if your need for perfection extends to beyond the psychopathic, this may not be for you.

Fortunately this need for completion served as a driving force for me, and I’m glad I stayed onboard. The Lego franchise has consistently delivered great projects in the hard to reach market of family entertainment. When Lego Star Wars was released, I was convinced it was going to bomb and leave remnants of a video-gaming joke, mainly because;
A)I was a teenager and virtually all positive energy was banished from my soul, and
B)It just seemed ridiculous combining a much loved film franchise with child friendly choking hazards.
So I simply refused to play it, waiting in glee to watch it fail like the pessimistic douche I am. Only after a short stint on Lego Indiana Jones did I manage to see why the Lego series was such a hit, and Traveller’s Tales have decided to use previous instalments to draw up a checklist in order to make Lego Batman a sure-fire hit in the series.

Basic, yet incredibly enjoyable platforming action? Tick. Despite combat consisting of nothing but button mashing, there’s something ultimately satisfying about shattering criminals into tiny pieces. Combat is broken up by various different puzzles which should prove simple to those with three digit IQs. Some rely on certain characters abilities, like Joker’s electric handshake to start up broken machines and Poison Ivy’s blocky figure used to seduce guards and get into locked areas (Guess we can’t judge, we don’t know what makes plastic bricks tick). Others force Batman to destroy useless junk in the environment and build it into items and gadgets to help you progress, cementing Batman’s position as Gotham City’s Black Knight and recycling pioneer.

Loads of replay value and tons of collectibles? BOLD tick. Previous instalments had always been criticised on their short lifespan and begged for the player to replay through levels with different characters in order to receive 100% competition. The game tries to entice you to return by planting many collectibles in the levels which, as said before, have a horrible sirens’ call about them. These include mini-kits which build a small figurine for no good reason other than to look pretty, suit upgrades which help you practically stroll through the games action based bits and collecting huge amounts of studs, the plastic in-game currency that shows that even huge fictional metropolises are crumbling economically.

Even if the replay value doesn’t tickle your fancy, there’s no need to feel cheated out of your money.

Even if the replay value doesn’t tickle your fancy, there’s no need to feel cheated out of your money. Lego Batman is twice as long as other Lego games, with one half concerning the heroes fight to save the city and the other focusing on the villains escape from Arkham Asylum. Although it doesn’t really offer much in the way of adding more substance to a devilishly simple story-line, it does bat away criticisms of game length and manages to spice up gameplay a bit with the villains new techniques (The Penguin being able to set forth an army of exploding clockwork penguins certainly has its moments).

Unique charm and renowned dry humour?
…
…Ah…

This is where Lego Batman falters. By simply focusing it’s attention on a character’s universe as a whole and not rooting itself to a specific movie franchise leaves the developers with nothing to reference or parody. Because of this, characters have a nasty habit of falling amongst clichés. Robin constantly exhibits the ‘Wacky Sidekick’ persona all too often, often by tripping over things, running into things or just dancing at inappropriate moments. In fact, 95% of the humour comes from gags aimed at pointless calamity that is more welcome in a silent movie and makes the game fairly patronising and sometime bewildering for the older players the series has tried so hard to draw in over the years.

I’m not entirely sure the visual aesthetic helps with the overall tone, either. Perhaps this was the aforementioned ‘parody’ element and I’m a bloody dimwit for not picking up on it until now. Despite the cute and colourful characters taking central stage, they are surrounded by a grimy and repressive Gotham City. The darkness of tone overrides many comic elements and quashes many small touches which left the series so unique to begin with. Perhaps if Batman was greeted with a camp, over-the-top theme-tune like the Adam West 60’s TV show I would have loudly guffawed and sat through each cut-scene grinning more manically than the Joker, but instead a sweeping orchestra embezzled the entrance of the Dark Knight, leaving a very serious tone to proceedings.

Lego Batman is no way a bad game. It’s still one of the greatest reminders that platformers aren’t dead and is one of the best children’s games to come out in a long time. It just doesn’t manage to draw in the effortless charm that the Star Wars or Indy instalments have done, and gameplay wise, doesn’t do enough to differ itself with said games. Kids, have fun with this and have a play while you still can, because your parents are going to be very preoccupied with Batman: Arkham Asylum later this year, and I can’t blame them.