Tuesday, October 14, 2008
News Player's Club: Lego Batman review
Posted by Garrett Martin on Tue, Oct 14, 2008 at 9:32 PM
Lego Batman
Released Sept. 23
Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, DS and PC
Developed by Traveller's Tales
Published by Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment
Batman is the third cultural touchstone to get the Lego videogame treatment after Star Wars and Indiana Jones. It’s a better fit than the previous two, with a richer, deeper body of source material to tap. It also shares more of a focus with the series’ primary game-play mechanic, which is pretty much just busting stuff and handing Lego dudes their blocky asses through a variety of foot- and fist-based techniques. Oh yeah, and vehicles. You can’t have a Lego game without ’em and Batman’s got a ton, from the Batamaran to the Segway Personal Batsporter. So it’s basically a perfect combination of franchises, right? A surefire recipe for endless hours of fun, no questions asked?
Well, not quite.
Batman might be a better subject for a Lego game, but after the different Star Wars iterations and last summer’s Indiana Jones installment, the series is getting a bit moldy. Lego Batman is precisely as funny and charming as the other games (i.e., pretty damn funny and charming), but also plays exactly the same. It’s still a button-mashing brawler in the Double Dragon/TMNT mode with an endless stream of stooges to brutalize on your side-scrolling path toward the level boss. Sure, it’s cool that the bosses include less famous comic book villains such as the Man-Bat and Killer Croc, but that recognition doesn’t make up for the repetitive game play. There’s also still a strong collect-a-thon component, with countless coins and other bonuses to hunt down. This provides replay value for the completists, but otherwise is just a distraction. The multiplayer mode's the way to go, as at least then you'll have a real human to interact with while mindlessly punching henchclowns in purple leotards.
Lego Batman preserves the worst aspects of its precursors, such as the repetitive game play. The camera’s third-person perspective is still a bit fuzzy and hinders accurate jumps. Your little Batman will fall down a lot of bottomless chasms and drop into numerous gigantic vats of poison. The meager puzzle-solving elements rarely offer more than a momentary diversion. And although you regularly unlock new playable characters, the basic skill sets remain the same, obviating any need for strategy. These issues don’t ruin the game, but they certainly don’t help.
It’s odd that such details undermine the game play, as its greatest strength lies in the narrative and character details. The best part about the Lego Batman, however, is seeing the characters rendered in adorable Lego form. The story retains the quirky, tongue-in-cheek humor found in Lego Star Wars and Indiana Jones, and there are a few insider treats tossed in for the comic book fans. The presence of third-rate villains such as Clayface and Killer Moth make up for the lack of a giant penny in the Batcave. The clever use of the Batman mythos makes the game a must-play for fans of the comic or cartoon. It’s a shame the game play isn’t as inspired as the storytelling.
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