Lego Batman: The Video Game

LEGO BATMAN: THE VIDEO GAME

My Review

Not too long ago the gods of plastic sent us LEGO Indiana Jones. And to me seem to be a huge improvement over the LEGO Star Wars Games. With its puzzles, and unique character abilities. Now they give us, LEGO BATMAN.

If you played any previous LEGO game then you understand the concept. You and a partner, (Local co-op or AI only) plow through a city, destroying most everything in your path in a wave of colorful destruction. At time the screen stutters as if watching a rainbow explode. Along the way you drive vehicles, kick LEGO people's ass and build objects to continue your progress. And none of these things change with LEGO BATMAN.

You have to start out and finish an entire chapter of the game as Batman and Robin. There levels almost all seem to be beat up style gameplay. The puzzles are almost non-existent. Usually if you are confronted with an impassible barrier, you have to find “suits” that allow you to do special abilities . Batman can place bombs, or glide, while Robin can use Technology and has underwater equipment.

To me however the most fun I had in the game was playing as the villains. Each Chapter has you playing as one unique Villain (Penguin, Riddler, or the Joker) and then each level has a partner that is different. Some of them like BANE and Clayface have super strength. Other times you may have a character who can walk through toxic waste like Poison IVY or the CROC.

These levels usually more likely to have puzzles, and sometimes they can even confuse you as to what you do next. The Batman and Robin stages usually end with a Boss Battle with one of these characters.

Also every chapter seems to have at least one Vehicle level. This levels are usually way shorter, and easier. Sometimes they can be fun but a lot of times I would rather be on foot. The vehicles control the same as they have in every LEGO game. Like Crap

The levels in the game are actually Unique for th Heroes and Villains. You may see where they are interlocked, but its always a different portion of the same area. After completing each level you can go back into it in free ply mode and collect Tanks and Civilians you may have missed because you did not have the correct character. In Freeplay you are allowed to pick any character and your roster is fleshed out with several other characters that have other abilities. Freeplay mode is the only way to collect all the special items.

There is lots of stuff to unlock. Vehicles, new characters, and even new levels. I found myself going back to play the game over and over. If you are fan of the classic lighthearted Batman, or just the LEGO games in general, then you should give this one a try. If not a fan of LEGO... this is not the game that will change your mind.

I give this one a B

Feeling Robbe

Much like the property, the LEGO games have always had the tried-and-true building blocks.  Simple controls and enjoyable combat mixed with poor AI and ridiculously designed puzzles.  With the release of LEGO Batman, these building blocks seem to have become more tired-but-true.  While it still offers plenty of light-hearted features, it's time for Traveller's Tales to take apart the formula and add a few more blocks before releasing the next copy.

There are plenty of territories that a LEGO-based Batman could have explored, but it mostly deviated into its own original telling.  Most of the elements were taken from the animated series and action figures with a sprinkling of homages to the films and television series.  It wouldn't be incredibly hard to create a bread-and-butter plot revolving around the Dark Knight along with his cohorts and villains.  This is certainly the case with LEGO Batman.  A ton of classic villains escape from Arkham Asylum and create a grand scheme to take over Gotham before the caped crusader begins to take them down one by one.  A clever twist in which the tale is told from the villains' side is a welcome addition.

The basis of the gameplay from the Heroes' side revolves around Batman and Robin switching outfits action figure-style in order to traverse each of the three chapters, split into five parts each.  The player moves the dynamic duo through each level's set of middling puzzles, smashing little LEGO henchmen on their way to the next boss encounter.  A few distractions can be found in the form of minikit pieces, red blocks which provide unlockables, and plenty of studs, the currency in LEGO games.  Overall, the same sort of things you've been doing throughout every other LEGO game.

On the flip side, on the Villains' side of the tale, things are a bit more limited to which character you can control.  While Batman and Robin are switching out costumes left and right, Clayface is only able to double jump with super strength and the Joker can use his joy buzzer to defeat enemies or start specialized machinery.  The potporri of villains is excellent, and only made better when going through each level on Free Mode, wherein you can play as any one of dozens of characters along with several randomly selected companions.  This helps bump up the replay value by giving you access to even more minikits and red blocks.

Despite the amount of replayability, I found myself blazing through each level, collecting every collectable I could, almost too swiftly.  This could be a boun for the game, since it doesn't necessarily wear out its welcome.  The only thing the developers should learn is to include online cooperative play, just as they did with the Complete Saga.  Leaving it out of LEGO Indiana Jones was a one-time excusable, but the time is now.  No more, Traveller's Tales.  Please.

I enjoyed my time with LEGO Batman, but the formula of LEGO games is quickly beginning to show its age, just as it did with LEGO Indy.  It's an alright game for as much as you can squeeze out of it, so if you enjoyed the past LEGO games, I can recommend giving this one your time.  I will certainly play another LEGO game, if only in the hopes that they address the inexcusable problems the franchise has been having.

LEGO Batman has really went under the radar with all these great games coming out. I saw some images and all it really looked like was just another LEGO game, that has some LEGO cred in it,but I've always had a little space in my heart for LEGO games and despite the poor humor and frustrating puzzles this game is pretty great.

The puzzles are very annoying some are really hard and some can be quite easy.Your sometimes wander around for 10-20 minutes at a time wondering what in the world to do next.Until you finally find out that the anwswer was just right up under your nose, which is the worst part.You feel horrible after that if your playing this in front of a group of people and you miss an easy puzzle like that...come to think of it, why would you even be playing this game in front of a group?I was embarrassed when I told my mom that I was playing a LEGO game.She just kinda gave me the oddest look.

Now I haven't played LEGO: Indiana Jones yet but I played the first LEGO games I did kinda chuckle at some of the lines.But on this one the humor was just plain bad.I guess that haven't realized that people falling down in LEGO form isn't exactly funny anymore and when Robin gives a funny look, it just makes me frown.It's like he's saying "Hey Batman, I'm trying to be funny so try to laugh.".The humor is really bad and poorly done in this game.In the LEGO Star Wars games the humor was cheesy but was still kinda enjoyable.

I also fount this LEGO games story a lot shorter than the others.Most of the others were just kinda long and very easy.This one is kinda hard but very short.It's only 5 chapter, all of which take about 20 minutes to beat.Do the math and you easily got a very short game.

The combat is still very easy and extremely simple.You only got two attack buttons, you can attack with one button and grab with another.The only reason I say it's kinda hard is because the puzzles are so baffling.If you don't use a walkthrough then it might take you a couple of days to beat.I used a walkthrough so I beat it in under 3 hours.

The story is ok, your Batman and the Riddler and Two-Face is going crazy making Gotham city a mess and you have to stop them.At the end of each level you have a boss fight you have to fight and they are all very easy.They throw in a lot of enemies...kinda.They put in a lot of enemies but only a few are in the story.

This game adds some cool little gadgets and suits to the mixture.My favorite suits are the magnet shoes one that Robin has and the red suit Batman has that lets him walk through very hot stuff.


First of all the Joker should have been more involved in the story and so should Penguin.I was disappointed they didn't have anything to really do with the story.Although the Riddler/Two-Face story isn't really bad.The two actually make a really good tandem.That makes me wonder if in the next Batman movie, they can hopefully bring back the Riddler and keep Two-Faces character going.Gah, I'm really going off my review topic, I apologize.
Singleplayer:4 stars

Multiplayer:There is still no online co-op!Why?Well at least they kept some offline co-op which is good because my brother doesn't have his PS3 yet so we could still play together offline.I still sometimes hate the camera because I won't be able to walk a little ways off while my brother is crushing plants earning us little coin thingys.
Multiplayer:3 stars

Re-play Value:There isn't really any re-play value for this game.The story isn't brilliant and the gameplay get's repetitive quick, and there is no re-play value added because of the multiplayer.If they would have only added co-op...
Re-play value

End It!All-in-all this is a rent to anybody that either likes LEGO games or is kinda interested in them or possibly people that are fans of Batman should check it out.But only a rent though, there is no re-play value to really make you have fun with this for more than a few days.

After enjoying Lego Indiana Jones quite a bit over the summer and having fun collecting absolutely everything in it, it was a no brainer for me to grab Lego Batman. After all, Lego Batman was every kids hero growing up in the 90’s and no one ever made a good Batman game. What gives? Finally, as cliche as it may sound, a good Batman game has arrived. Not as good as it could be, but it’s enjoyable.

If you’ve played any of the other Lego games (Star Wars or Indiana Jones) then you know what to expect here. Batman is built off the same engine and plays pretty much identically. Traveler’s Tales really does need to go in and modify the downfalls of the engine, but it’s not unplayable as goes with the others. In fact, you’ll even see many of the same things you saw in Indiana Jones including a whip for Catwoman and the infamous elephants. You can tell the feel/animations are pulled straight from the other game.

But really, lets look at what Batman brings new to the table. There are 3 main stories again, each consisting of 5 levels. This time, the stories are “original”. I quote that, because they really aren’t anything special and they are totally predictable, but we aren’t following along a movie this time. On top of those 3, there are 3 additional villain levels. I’m halfway through the second one of those, but they take place at the same time as the Batman ones, you just get to see what the villains are doing at that point in time before their face-off with Batman.

There are of course a ton of characters and power-ups to unlock. This game brings 2 new unlockables to this game. First is unlockable vehicles and second is unlockable suits. Batman and Robin both have several (6 I think?) suits that allow them to perform different abilities. For example, Robin has one that allows him to walk up metal surfaces and Batman has one that allows him to glide. On top of that, you can purchase suit upgrades which are gained through levels.

Mini-kits are back in which you collect 10 pieces per level to unlock things and on top of that there is a hidden red brick in each level. These are actually quite difficult to find, but are similar in fashion to the mail/mailbox in Indiana Jones. They unlock things like score multipliers or other easter eggs.

Achievements look pretty standard. There’s some for beating the different stories, unlocking things and the whatnot along with some character specific ones. Freezing people as Mr. Freeze, scaring people as the Scarecrow, etc. The full 1000 won’t be to difficult, but will definitely take some time to find all those things.

All in all, a good time. Not to difficult, so don’t come here looking for a challenge. It’s a good time and the Batman universe is enjoyable to explore as Batman and friends. It features all the same downfalls as the other Lego games (mediocre camera, mediocre controls, some overly un-obvious puzzle layouts, etc) and it’s about time some of these things get fixed really. But if you’ve enjoyed any of the others, or you’re just a Batman fan looking for a good time, you’ll have fun here.

Lego Batman is the fifth part in the popular Lego (insert popular LucasArt franchise here) series. With the lack of under the hood maintenance to the lego formula, this iteration comes with built-in problems that anyone who's played previous games should expect. Lego StarWars was a success because it told a mature story in an innocent point of view, and Lego Indiana Jones was great because the films had so many iconic scenes to imitate. So what does Lego Batman do? Nothing really, it tells a generic original story, then expects you to care.

You'll be doing the exact same stuff in this game, solving puzzles, punching baddies until they explode, and collected random stuff fr unlock ables. I've been playing games for a long time, and I found the puzzles to be a little more challenging then they probably should be. So the younger demographic may have some issues in several parts of this 30 level journey.

The decision on picking up Lego Batman revolves around two questions. Do you like Batman? Did you enjoy the past Lego games? If you checked yes to both of those questions, then It looks like a Batman purchase is in your near future. Otherwise, avoid. This isn't a bad game, but it wont change your opinion on the Lego franchise. On a side note, the lack of online co-op in 2008 is inexcusable.

Steven Beynon

GamePortrait.com

I'd put three and a half, but I'm a really big batman fan right now, so I dunno whether I should count the half.
I'd recommend it to Batman fans, anyway...
So..Sound, how about?
 The sound is actually pretty good. I remember not actually playing the game, just listening to the music. I really enjoyed it. It's not very usual that I take very much notice of muisc...
 It's kinda cute... The fact that it's all told by lego storylines..Fan art is a lot easier, they're lego! Although, one would wonder, is it because they thought it'd be cool, or is it a shortcut? Ah well, the story comes across anyway..
 Hm, a complant, there are no instructions in the game. Okay, yes, I'm sure there are instructions in the MANUAL, but I wouldn't know.. No instructions on gameplay..
 Yes, the controls..My ONLY complaint about Lego Batman's controls would be the slowness at which they climb the ladder, but hey, that's just me being very impatient. Free play was a blessing at this point..
 Oh, another complaint. The fact that you have to go back to complete levels. Yeah, no... You gather nuts (money..at least I think they were nuts..) and you buy more characters with more abilities, then you go back and try to complete the level and get all the canisters in it, as well as collecting all the Joker cards. It's harder than it sounds..
I wouldn't say there's very much replay value.. However, after you complete the game, there are minigames to be unlocked and played too, so it doesn't quite lose it's appeal after finishing the story.
It's a fun game, it'll keep you amused, but doesn't last for very long.. If you could get it cheap, then yeah, maybe buy it. As I said, it's short though. Do they rent DS games? If so, and you want to play it, try renting it. It's fairly easy to complete..

Lego Batman : An action/adventure/co-branding venture game based on, or rather satirizing, the Batman universe by making every character and object composed of Legos.

Story : There’s a breakout at Arkham Asylum and every Batman villain that matters (and 2 or 3 that don’t) manages to escape, banding together into 3 groups with vile plans for Gotham City, and only Batman and Robin can stop them. Being that this is a Lego-themed game and thus Legos aren’t capable of thirsting for vengeance or having deep, psychological trauma, all that nonsense about Bruce Wayne’s parents dying or the villains’ assorted cases of dementia, much less any trace of character depth or intrigue that may have been present in the Batman mythos is thrown out the window in favor of Robin acting like a child. There’s the occasional nod to the 90s Batman movies and the theme from those movies will be beaten down into your skull throughout the entire game, but otherwise the storyline is originally conceived for this game.

If you’ve played any of the Lego games in the past, you have a general idea of what to expect from Lego Batman. Either two players or you and a dimwitted AI partner join forces to beat up a lot of criminals, smash a lot of furniture and not collect all the unlockables required to achieve 100% completed-status of the game, all with the safety of knowing you have infinite lives and no penalty for death, making completion of the game more of a formality than a test of skill. At the same time, this is a niche market that these Lego games have somehow cornered, the deliberately easy game that’s fun, charming and accessible for the whole family, except for perhaps the 15 year old angst-ridden Halo freak of the family, but he need not worry since the other 90% of the game market is targeting him anyways.

By reading this review, you may have a smoother play experience with Lego Batman than I did, and here’s why.

The game’s biggest failing is that the puzzles are not well designed. A good game puzzle should make sense within the contexts of reality and logic, and the player will rack his brain for a good while on it before finally reaching an epiphany and solving the issue, leaving him or her with that proud sense of accomplishment because they didn’t need to go to Gamefaqs! Batman and Robin can change costumes at certain pods, with different costumes granting different abilities that, for the most part, serve a single, solitary and isolated purpose, from Robin walking on a certain shiny metal to Batman breaking a specific colour of glass. Likewise, each villain has a specific set of individual powers.

Oh, I neglected to mention that there are 2 different campaigns, one where you play as Batman and Robin, and one where you play as the villains. I didn’t realize this either until I accidentally flipped a switch in the Hub that is the Batcave and found myself in the Arkham controlling The Riddler and Clayface.

Pretty much every section of Lego Batman has some kind of puzzle obstacle. Most of the time, you’ll be able to piece together how you get across by what suit of armour the game asked you to give Batman or Robin, or to apply the absurd but cute Lego video game logic of break a bunch of things, then hold a button so your character assembles something new. There’s something distinctly satisfying about smashing a series of tables and cabinets and using the remains to assemble the skeleton of a tyrannosaurus rex that you can then ride like a horse and trample over everyone in your path. But some of the puzzles are rather abstract and illogical, with the solution either hidden away or not making any sense. Take the Batwing sequence; in one area, you’re required to fly past a pipe to move forward, but none of your weapons have an effect, including the mines you found out earlier that the Batwing can wield. You’re supposed to shoot this out-of-the-way gun turret in the far corner, and then shoot the debris until it resembles some kind of station that Robin’s vehicle can use to pick up missiles that can break this pipe. The on floor levels can be worse since they were designed with the intention that players can revisit them with other characters sporting different abilities to explore previously inaccessible areas in an attempt to gather 100% of the collectables (which no one will care to do anyways). Because of this, a series of red herrings is scattered throughout the level, giving players the wrong idea of how to approach a puzzle to progress. This is made worse with the villain sequences, because you’re never really sure what are all of the abilities of any given character. For example, scattered throughout the game are windows with a green question mark on them, where a Lego Man sticks his head out and only lets The Riddler pass. Well you’d assume only The Riddler can access these areas, the game gives no indication that Scarecrow or Catwoman can also somehow sway the Lego Man that spends his days inside that window. Several of the boss fights also have obscure solutions, like how the game gives no indication that you can only damage Mr. Freeze from behind, but being as how you have infinite lives and I just gave away the solution, this shouldn’t be a problem.

Alas, I just corrected a portion of the game’s faults with my own review, so I’ll give this game a slightly higher score if just because you can now enjoy it more than I did. It has all the features, strengths and flaws of the last Lego games but with a handful of dud puzzle sequences, so if you’ve played those games then your buying decision may as well be based on your previous experience. There’s a lack of online play here, but this really isn’t the type of tactical military shooter that demands online play so much as it is the Mario Party type fun for everyone or fun when smashed with friends-type of multiplayer experience. I’d recommend the other Lego games over this one, but…

Pros : …the difference between other Lego games and Lego Batman is that while your girlfriend probably thinks Star Wars and Indiana Jones are lame, her current crushes on Christian Bale and Heath Ledger will make her more likely to open up to a Batman-based game.

Cons : I would’ve preferred if the game was based on Batman movies as to poke fun at them. Batman And Robin is a goldmine of parody-potential.

3 stars