Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Legos and The Dark Knight? I'm THERE!

Ever since Lego Star Wars was released a few years ago, the runaway success of combining ABS plastic building bricks and popular character franchises to create fun yet challenging pick-up-and-play video games has been undeniable. Lego Star Wars II: The Classic Trilogy, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga and Lego Indiana Jones have all sold hundreds of thousands of copies across multiple platforms, and each release has had many gamers, old and young, salivating for more.

I'm happy to report that Lego Batman is no exception. And if you know me, that means a lot.



As something of a Batman aficionado, I pride myself on the modest collection of Bat-stuff that I own, from Pez dispensers to limited edition figurines. But one of my favorite areas of my tribute to the Dark Knight is my Batman Lego sets, which started appearing on store shelves last year. These are some of the coolest Lego sets around in my view, and they include a variety of awesome vehicles and excellent minifigures.

Naturally, when Lego Batman: The Videogame was announced, I was delighted. I already spent countless hours playing through both the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, along with both of my sons, but as a Batman fanatic, nothing could compare to playing my all-time favorite character in Lego form.



UPS: Developer Traveller's Tales (TT) has stuck to the tried-and-true formula that made the previous Lego titles successful. Run around in an enclosed (but not tiny) 3D environment as your favorite Lego character, beat up on badguys, break stuff made of bricks and build various items and vehicles to solve puzzles and eliminate obstacles. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Additionally, TT has improved on some gameplay elements from previous titles as well. In Indiana Jones, your character lacked a Lightsaber, which left them open to attacks from projectile weapons, and without any effective blocking combat could get pretty frustrating at times. In Lego Batman, while still not armed with a laser-sword, Batman and Robin both wield Batarangs, which can be locked onto up to five targets on screen and then released. These can stun or eliminate enemies, as well as destroy some objects, often helping solve puzzles. Thus, you can enter an area populated by gun-wielding enemies, lock-on and buy yourself some precious time to close the gap between you and them.

Also new to the series are the 'Tech-suits'; Batman and Robin are well known in comics for the use of gadgets and technology to aid in their crusade against crime, and Lego Batman keeps this tradition alive with Tech-suits. At key points in each level, you will find glowing areas on the ground, indicating that you can build a Tech-suit station there. Once built, the station will allow Batman or Robin (depending on the emblem the station displays) to swap their current outfit for another. These enable special abilities such as Magnetic Boots (walk on metal surfaces), Hazard Suit (immunity to fire and toxins) and Glide Cape (my favorite), which allows Batman to glide across gaps or down to lower areas. Better still, while Batman or Robin wears a Tech-suit, they still retain all the other abilities they previously had, including their batarangs, grapple guns and combat skills.

Batman and Robin can 'grapple' enemies when they are close; pressing the 'Z' button (on Wii) causes them to grab the nearest enemy and hold him up by the collar. Pressing 'B' after this will result in a slam to the ground or punch to the head. Another awesome improvement is that enemies go flying in all directions when they are hit or kicked. It's purely cosmetic, but so much fun to watch!

Various other improvements include better collision detection, shorter load times and minor graphic tweaks.

Lego Batman is also the first Lego Franchised game that has you playing as a villain in half of its levels. There are fifteen Batman and Robin levels, and fifteen villain levels, for a total of 30 (not counting bonuses). To put this into perspective, both of the original Lego Star Wars games and Lego Indiana Jones included only 18 levels (again, not counting bonus levels).

DOWNS: A couple of the same issues that plague the previous Lego games are present in Lego Batman. Sometimes the environmental models don't show depth very well, so it can be easy to jump from a platform and miss the next one entirely. Goals or solutions to puzzles can be obscure at times, which can lead to frustration, especially for younger players. These are minor gripes, but nuisances nonetheless.

RECOMMENDATION:
BUY, BUY, BUY! Okay, I'll settle down, but seriously, if you liked the other Lego titles at all, pick this one up. If you've got kids and you are looking for a fun way to play along with them, Lego Batman is the solution. If you're a freak, like me, you'd better not still be reading, but on your way to buy Lego Batman today.

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