The Lego series of video games imparts a strange reaction in people, myself included. In fact, for awhile, I never even entertained the idea of playing one, even while one of my friends owned Lego Star Wars for the Xbox 360. Just didn’t occur to me to play it. Then one day, my friend and I decided to give the game a whirl. And why not? It’s got Legos, Star Wars and co-op. Seemed like a recipe for some reasonably satisfying entertainment.
Over the next few visits, we did not stop playing until we had conquered it.
To say that I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. The games are loads of fun. So much so, in fact, that it prompted the purchase of the Lego Indiana Jones game when I had access to a Wii and the Gamefly rental of Lego Batman. I never got to finish the Indiana Jones adventure, but rest assured, it’s in my queue for the PS3.
At first glance, any of the Lego games don’t look like all that much. The graphics are certainly smooth enough, but remember, the entire premise rests on using blocks for almost everything. So though the textures, resolution and mapping are quite impressive, the overall feel is still… well, blocky. This is not an actual problem though. Starting out, the game seems a little childish. Make no mistake, the game is clearly geared for younger audiences… to an extent. I’ll get to that extent in a bit. As you continue playing, you start to notice small things, like quality sounds taken directly from the source movies, impressive game flow and the most important aspect: incredibly fulfilling gameplay.
All of the games rely on the same basic principles. You advance from one stage to the next, fighting off enemies, discovering interactive pieces, building and manipulating items and using both yourself and your partner to overcome any number of obstacles. What is truly incredible about these games is that they manage to balance almost everything one could want from a game into one great package. The stages increase in difficulty, and admittedly, some of the later puzzles require some real brain juice to figure out. The real treat is the creativity put into the puzzling. It never gets truly difficult for the gaming or puzzling veteran, but it can be a bit challenging at times, requiring both players to work in tandem to come to a solution. Some require players to physically alter items or building, some require the players to split up and accomplish separate goals in order to adhere them and progress. Others require switches and levers, while others deal with vehicles or beasts. You begin to see how fun and different the various levels can be. On top of that, the action, while very simple, is fun. Because they’re all Legos, it’s not so violent and that plays well in the world they’ve created. The combat is essentially boiled down to a button mashing affair, but each game expands further on this by allowing either blocking, several methods of fighting, or in Batman’s case, some sweet combo action. It’s odd, because there’s no real reason why that particular aspect should really be enjoyable, but it is somehow. Not incredibly so, but not bad either.
Another resoundingly effective aspect to these games is the humor. The writers (creators) for the games have given each iteration an incredible sense of humor and it’s surprisingly relevant. It’s silly, cynical and topical. It’s really hilarious stuff IMO. Even more-so when they insert funny bits that parody other movies, video games or pop culture. Allow me to illustrate a parallel for you. The Lego series of video games is to gaming what Pixar studios is to cinema. Both are geared for a younger crowd but very much appeal to adults and an older audience. Both provide rather balanced entertainment experiences but don’t necessarily hit on any major genre points. Just good, clean, relatively simple fun.
So let’s touch on the Batman experience, specifically. The refinement in this iteration is impressive. The graphics are clean, colorful and smooth. The combat has been enhanced from previous games, by offering combo bonuses as well as the ability to throw your enemies. In addition, both Batman and Robin brandish projectiles (Batarang and whatever lame thing Robin throws), which you can use to lock-on to various enemies or objects. So there’s some surprising depth to the combat, despite the relatively simple execution. The puzzling is also enhanced. Most of the puzzles require a specific suit, that either Batman or Robin must employ, in order to progress. For example, Batman can get a glider suit to glide over to a switch and allow Robin to cross a gap. Robin can get a magnet suit that allows him to walk up certain metallic surfaces and interact with a switch or button to allow certain actions to Batman. The combination of the various suits plus the Lego building creates for some really nifty puzzles and really cool boss fights.
The game is divided into three large episodes, each spanning 6 levels. Each level is composed of several screens, or stages, and at the end of each level, you fights a different Batman villain. This is good old fashioned fun and even more-so for those of us who love the hero and the animated series that aired when we were growing up. True to fashion, the game is chalk full of humor and silly antics. Again, perhaps a bit childish, but for my money, really entertaining and a welcome component of the game. The replay value is actually relatively high, despite the short-ish play time necessary to finish the game. This is because there are all kinds of things to collect in each level, many of which you can’t access until you’ve unlocked “Free Play” and return with a specific suit. It requires some thought and plenty of dedication to remember certain locations but it’s fun to do, overall.
In the end, unless you’re really averted to games that don’t bear an ‘M’ or even ‘T’ rating, then I say to give this game (and any Lego title) a chance. You’ll find a really well-balanced and finely tuned experience. It’s a ton of fun to grab a friend, sit down and go adventuring. Even solo (which is actually how I ran through Batman), it’s a blast. BOOM! POW!!
Overall Score (out of 100): 85
Graphics/Presentation: The graphics never really wow, but that’s partly because of the Lego context. Try focusing on the actual presentation and you might find yourself rather impressed, I know I did.
Gameplay: Wonderfully executed and fun from start to finish. The best part of the game and what makes the entire Lego series shine. A solid mixture of combat, puzzling, platforming and vehicles.
Story/Narrative: Each level has you chasing a villain who is doing standard villain things. There’s no real story to speak of, which is unfortunate but not a huge hindrance.
Sound/Music: The sounds are spot on and comical. Like the music, many of them are taken directly from the films or culture they’re emulating, which provides an awesome gaming ambiance. Music follows suit.
Replay Value: Pretty high considering all the unlockables and hidden items to go back for. Won’t last forever though, as treasure hunting loses it’s excitement relatively quickly. The game itself is rather short, clocking in at around 15 hours or so for the first play-through and about half that any subsequent time.
Website: http://games.kidswb.com/official-site/lego-batman/
Metacritic: http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps3/legobatman
Happy New Year. to all of you guys.