Lego Batman

"I know! Let's take out the Star Wars License, and throw in Batman!"

Okay, so the title might be a bit harsh, but that basically describes the game. Granted, there are no lightsabers, and to the extent of my knowledge, no character in this game has ever been played by Harrison Ford.

Now, before I start in on this, I want to say this: I did enjoy the game. I'm a fan both of the Batman and of the LEGO games. However, I honestly was a little disappointed by this.

Graphics: 7/10
Not really much to say here. They're pretty much the same as in previous LEGO games, which is a mix of the good and the bad. The characters look very nice, and they flow fairly well. The backgrounds are also pretty cool, although I could have done for a bit less static backgrounds.

Sound: 4/10
I wanted to give this a good score, but I really couldn't. I mean, I have no issue with the music or sounds, but...I couldn't ever really get into the music. You know how some games have the music that you just get into, that really adds to the game? LEGO Batman doesn't. Honestly, the background music seemed to be just that - background. I never really noticed it, except when the characters were changing costumes. Other than that, the music was kind of lacking.

Gameplay: 5/10
Gameplay is solid, but somewhat irritating. I could rant about parts of this forever, but I'll try to keep it somewhat manageable. For starters - combat is simplistic (which is to be expected, I suppose) and fun, but can at times be downright irritating. For example, why bother even giving the characters guns/Batarangs/Razor Card if they're basically useless in combat? Granted that they're needed for puzzles (more on those in a minute), but that seems to be all they're needed for. The enemies swarm you, making it impossible to use your range weapon. Beyond that, you can be flush with an enemy, facing them, punch, and still miss. And, because they're swarming you, you're likely to die a couple of times because when you're taking damage, you can't attack, jump, move, or really do anything. Puzzles are overly simplistic - I'd have to say that at least 3/4s of them consist entirely of either activating Batarang/Gun targets or pushing a block. And the rest aren't much more complicated, relying at best on the creative use of some of the various suits. Speaking of the suits - the Hero Missions relied too heavily on them. I'd honestly have loved to have just played through a level as the Batman without having to switch his costume four or five times. And, at least one of the costumes is used only in one level, then never touched again. Kind of irritating. As far as the levels themselves go, both the Hero and Villain missions were disappointments, but for different reasons. In the Hero Missions, I would've loved some levels as Bruce Wayne and Tim Drake, or the inclusion of other members of the Bat-Family. I mean, come on - Nightwing, Batgirl, and Azrael are all in the game. Why not include some of them in story missions? Playing through every Hero Mission with just Batman and Robin was repetitive and dull. Honestly, they could have even thrown in some levels as Commissioner Gordon. The Villain Missions, at least, had a bit more diversity, but had some other issues. While I didn't like playing the same two characters over and over in the Hero missions, I disliked using characters for only one level in the Villain missions. Also, the lack of boss fights in Villain Mode was bothersome. I was looking forward to fighting the Batman as the Joker, for example, but that never happened. Also, there should have been more Villain exclusive areas. They same areas were recycled too many times, and that was irritating. Finally, the character Creator thing was a disappointment, too. In the other LEGO games, you could at least choose the characters weapons. In this, you can't. You can't even give the characters a cape unless they're wearing a costume that has a cape with it! That's irritating beyond reason.

Story: 6/10
I was also kind of disappointed here. The story was okay, kind of from the comics, kind of from the old animated series. However, the lack of the cut-scenes from LEGO Indiana Jones is upsetting. While the Comic Book "Panels" are kind of neat, it would've been wonderful if the cut-scenes had been included instead. Beyond that, the stories were usually quite laughable, and again, simplistic.

Replayability: 6/10
Modes like Villain Hunt are okay, but short. And they unlock several cool characters, which is good. And one big issue is that once you've beaten Villain Hunt mode, they don't keep a record of your fastest time, so once you've unlocked the characters, there's no incentive to play it again. But the fact of the matter is that since you can only use the characters in Free Play Mode, and you can only select one of them, some of those characters might never see use. And speaking of Free Play Mode, while it's fun to unlock all those extras, the fact is that since you can't unlock most of them until Free Play Mode, they're only useful in Free Play Mode. Also, it's kind of tedious to play through missions over and over because you miss one unlockable, and you just can't find it. Also, on that note, the Minikits are kind of lame. Whereas LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga had just as many levels, it also had one Mini-Model on every level. However, this has thirty levels, and Fifteen Mini-Models. Would it really have killed them to put one Mini-Model per level, rather than splitting them? That said, the Mini-Models are pretty impressive. However, as stated, the levels can get pretty repetitive, and unfortunately even the newly accessible areas in Free Play Mode don't really make up for the fact that you're stuck playing the level again to unlock everything. Also, some of the characters are just ridiculously expensive, and honestly, until you unlock the Bonus Multipliers, you're never going to afford them unless you don't buy anything else. Beyond that, odds are you won't have the money for the Multipliers unless you don't buy anything else, because those are really expensive too. That system's a bit self-defeating, and it's really obnoxious, especially since it can take around twenty missions to even afford the multipliers. Meaning that you'd have to play through missions after you've unlocked everything in order to purchase all of the characters. That really could have used some work, and it feels like that system is only there to make the game longer.

Final Rating: 5.6/10
I want to stress that this isn't a bad game, per se, it's just not the best. It could have used more polish. However, basically something you can beat in a single afternoon, unless you're trying to get 100%, which will take a ridiculous amount of time that most people probably don't even have.

If you're a fan of the LEGO games, it's about average. If you're a fan of the Batman, you're likely to end up disappointed. I'd have to say Rent it first, and only move on to Buy if you're a perfectionist who likes spending countless hours trying to get 100% with no real bonus for doing so.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 10/27/08

Game Release: Lego Batman (US, 09/23/08)