LEGO Batman: The Videogame (Xbox 360)

RRP £39.99
Lowest New Price
£26.94

Warner Bros. Interactive

Release date: Friday 10th of October 2008

RRP: £39.99
Editorial
Product Description

Take control of the Dynamic Duo, Batman and Robin, as you build, drive, swing, and fight your way through Gotham City capturing escaped villains and putting them back in Arkham Asylum where they belong.

Still as much fun as the other Lego games, still has same annoying flaws.
Review date: 2008-10-26 Rating: 8 out of 10

Following on from the success of Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Xbox 360) and Lego: Indiana Jones (Xbox 360) comes this Lego-inspired take on the Dark Knight and related characters. Unlike the previous Lego games, this one is not based on an existing story or movie series, although it does use Danny Elfman's musical score from the Tim Burton-directed Batman (2 Disc Special Edition) [1989] movie. That's no bad thing, as that track is awesome.

To start with you (and an optional second player) can only control Batman and Robin, although you can pick up different suits to enable you to do different special abilities. Also, both of these characters have batarangs as projectile weapons (which can be handy either for reaching bad guys who are hard to access, or to destroy items that are out of reach). Both also have batropes to help reach higher levels where on-screen icons and items suggest this action can be used.

The biggest interesting thing in Lego Batman is that, once you have completed a story as Batman and Robin, you can then go to the Arkham Asylum from the Batcave (between missions) and control the various villains such as The Joker, Harley Quinn, Two-Face and The Riddler (though there are many more). Each villain has special abilities, while some can also walk on toxic waste and in poisonous gas where other characters would be hurt or killed.

As in the other games, you try and collect studs to build up a meter at the top-middle of the screen and hopefully fill it to 100% to attain Super Hero (or Super Villain if you are playing one of the villain missions), as well as to give you currency with which to buy any character you have unlocked, or to buy any special ability unlocked if you manage to find and collect hidden red bricks (there is one hidden in each level). You lose studs each time you die and you only have a short time to collect them before they disappear when you respawn (you never run out of lives, as before), but you will lose studs irretrievably if you fall off the bottom of the screen.

There are also ten Minikit canisters hidden within each level. Essentially, you have completed a stage completely when you have successfully attained Super Hero or Super Villain status within it, collected the red brick and collected all ten Minikits. Some of these red bricks and minikits are not available in Story Mode and can only be obtained when you replay the stage in Free Play mode, where you can use any character that you have unlocked and bought from the computer terminals in the Batcave or Arkham Asylum.

It's fair to say that if you liked the previous Lego games then you'll like Lego Batman, especially with the added allure of playing as the villains. However, it is also fair to say that this game still has some of the same annoying aspects as the previous games, such as some annoyingly crap camera angles and the annoying way that if you fall off something and die then you are placed right at the very edge of whatever it is you fell off, meaning that you could easily fall off again and lose more studs. I even had one occurrence where I died by falling off and it put me back to a bit where I was constantly engulfed by toxic fumes, meaning that I had to admit that escape from this was impossible and quit the level! This doesn't happen often but it can make you want to scream if it ever happens while you are playing, and it can be quite galling that Traveller's Tales still cannot seem to do anything to rectify this after their experience making these Lego games.

As well as all this, you may want to consider whether or not it is different enough from the previous games to warrant a purchase. The graphics and sound are as good as could be expected to those familiar with the other Lego games, and the games are still funny, but it will be up to the player whether or not s/he thinks that this is enough to warrant shelling out for another Lego game.

One thing that makes its return after Lego Star Wars (it was dropped from Lego Indiana Jones) are bits where you get to control vehicles such as the Batmobile, the Batcycle or the Batwing, as well as various villain vehicles if you are playing one of the villain levels. These are fun, although (a) if you have a second player the action is sometimes a bit small, and (b) vehicles that use towcables are a bit of a chore when the time comes to release whatever's on the end of your towcable to destroy something (it's certainly not as straightforward as it was in Lego Star Wars).

So, to sum up, Lego Batman is fun, filled with puzzles, won't be one of those games you complete in a few hours (always a big plus), but is let down slightly by having some annoying flaws that really should not be a problem by now.

Reviews

not a patch on lego starwars
Review date: 2008-10-26 Rating: 4 out of 10

compared to lego starwars i found this game to be far less rewarding. You have the option of only playing as batman or robin and the controls are a lot worse than what i remember from lego starwars which was a brighter and more open game, where you could see ledges and wouldn't find yourself falling off every ten seconds.
The boss battles are also really badly done. They involve either shooting or punching the boss until they have no life left which usually either takes ten seconds because its so simple and unchallenging or it will take for ever because the graphics wont allow you to do what you want to.

The Best Lego Game So Far!
Review date: 2008-10-19 Rating: 10 out of 10

This is the latest Lego game, following on from the two Star Wars Lego games and the Lego Indiana Jones, and in my opinion this is the best one.
There are 30 levels to play through - from the perspective of the heroes (Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Commissioner Gordon etc....) and also as the villains. The villains are pretty much all included from the Batman universe. They include the Joker, the Riddler, Catwoman, Two Face, Scarecrow, Bane, the Mad-Hatter, the Penguin, Mr Freeze and more unlockable ones (two very secret characters are hidden in the game).
The heroes are based in the Bat-Cave, and the villains are based in Arkham Asylum. There are three main missions for both the good guys and bad guys, and each of these is broken up into 5 sub-missions.
Each mission isn't really part of an encompassing storyline, but they all kind of fit together and have a boss battle at the end of each level.
As with the Star Wars lego game, there are driving/flying/boating missions to complete so you get to use some really weird and wacky vehicles - the Scarecrow has a biplane, the Pengiun has a submarine in the shape of a penguin, and of course, the Batmobile is in there too!
In terms of gadgets, there are loads to play with. Batman has different types of suits for different tasks - the gliding suit for jumping large gaps, the demolition suit for blowing up impassible items. The Joker has a great trick hand buzzer that he uses to zap his enemies - you get to see the skeleton of the bad guy! Hilarious. You get to play with Batarangs, Mr Freeze's freeze gun, Bane's famous back breaker move, and the Riddler has the power of mind control and there are lots more to try out and have fun with - i won't spoil the surprise for you!
The levels this time are much more well thought out. Some real planning has gone into them and unlike the Indiana Jones lego game, these levels seem to be longer, and although anyone can get through them, it will take quite a long time to complete absolutely everything in the game.
The extras this time are really awesome. For anyone who is a fan of Batman - either the comics or the films - this game has something for everyone. There are lots of things to unlock including background information on the Batman universe - how each of the bad guys changed from being good, when the Wayne tower was built, what happened to the first Robin (Dick Grayson) and loads more which you will have to unlock yourselves!
The usual things we have seen in the previous lego games are here too. You can still collect all the minikits, the red power bricks and there is an equivalent Lego City level for both good and bad guys to enjoy. The 360 version has plenty of achievements to attain and these are easy to get into, but more difficult to complete unless you want to invest a bit of time on them!
Graphically this game has captured Gotham perfectly. It is highly detailed, polished and importantly gives the right forbidding 'feel' to the city. There aren't many glitches in the game either so you don't find yourself trapped in an awkward spot that means you need to restart the level.
As with Star Wars and Indiana Jones, this is great fun to play. There is plenty to make you laugh as usual with the cut scenes (and there are lots to look at in this game). It is one of those games that you can pick up and play for a half hour or so, or sit at for hours on end trying to collect and complete everything. So it will appeal to everyone, whether they are casual or hard core gamers.
Worth a quick mention is the music. Two themes are lifted directly from the original Tim Burton Batman film, and will be instantly recognisable, and the composer of these is the great Dany Elfman. This is a really nice touch and adds to the overall enjoyment of the game.
The co-operative play is back and is still as excellent as it has ever been. You can drop in and out of the game as the second player very easily.
Everything in this game is really well done, and you can tell that there was a lot of love from the developers when they created this game. There isn't much to find fault with, and in fact the only fault i found was the the computer controlled player. From time to time the computer controlled player stands in one place and won't follow you through the level (only in free play) and sometimes you end up back-tracking to go back to encourage them to follow you!
Who will this game appeal to then? Well, everyone who loved the other Lego games; Indiana Jones and Star Wars. But quite importantly this will also appeal to anyone who loves Batman from the comics, Batman on the silver screen or even the sixties tv show with Adam West! It isn't as dark and violent as the recent Batman films (Batman Begins and Dark Knight), nor is it as camp as the sixties tv show. The game takes the best elements of each style of Batman. The game isn't violent - it is cartoon violence - so there is no blood or guts on show here, which makes the game suitable for a young audience.

The only challenge now is for the developer to reinvent the Lego Games. They have done enough of the same ideas now, and although it is an excellent series there is a real danger that the next games could become stale. That would be a real shame.

But as for the Lego Batman game - buy it now! And have some great fun with it - i did!

Like Lego?
Review date: 2008-10-11 Rating: 8 out of 10

Put simply if you liked either lego star wars or lego indiana jones, or in my case both then you will like lego batman, not much has changed, the hero suits are a nice addition and in my opinion the vehicle levels seem a bit more well planned, there isn't really a story but a mini-boss at the end of each level is good fun. The graphics are standard for the series and there is loads to unlock and great with a friend. So if lego games are your thing then you can't go wrong with this installment

Product Details/Specifications

Recording label: Warner Bros. Interactive
Manufacturer: Warner Bros. Interactive
EAN: 5051600222823
Binding: Video Game
Release date: 2008-10-10
Platform: Xbox 360
Brand: Warner Bros. Interactive

Tech info, cast and quotes/trivia when available. Exclusions may apply with free delivery. Price and availabiltity subject to change

LEGO Batman: The Videogame (Xbox 360)

Reviews

Product Details/Specifications

Search

Similar Products