Summary
Developer: TT Games
Publisher: Warner Bros. Games
Platforms – Xbox Series X (Reviewed)
Review copy given by Publisher
The LEGO Batman series has returned from TT Games and Warner Bros. Games. Legacy of the Dark Knight captures everything you love about the series, or just in general, any Batman game, and combines it all into one. We are here to give our impressions on the game from its gameplay, funny cutscenes, music, its performance overall, and more. Let’s dive in.
To start LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, not only are you introduced to the game by learning all its combat mechanics, but it’s also the early parts of Bruce Wayne’s life before he is Batman. The game has a slow start because you see the early days of Bruce Wayne’s life when he trains with The League of Shadows and becomes the hero of Gotham City, and forges a new family of allies with Jim Gordon, Catwoman, Robin, Nightwing, and Batgirl.
As mentioned, LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight features an open world full of activities across Gotham City. There are crimes to be stopped, trials to be done, and collectibles to be found. The main missions of the game are linear, which is completely fine, but even they are somewhat explorable for collectible items. The story consists of five chapters, each with multiple missions.
When you progress further into the game, you unlock more characters that also come with their own abilities that will help you eventually get more collectibles in Gotham City. You will also run into more of the popular villains the DC universe has to offer, such as Poison Ivy, Joker, and Penguin.
Story Impressions
This iteration of LEGO Batman feels like it brings everyone together from the Batman universe, but the story almost feels rushed. It goes by pretty fast; if you only focus on the story, it can take around 10 hours. Since it’s a LEGO game, how much in-depth could you really go anyway? What I can say is that the cutscenes. It’s at a point where it feels very cinematic. What helps is the iconic Batman music brought into it and the voice acting for every character.
The story is everything you’d expect from a Batman game. It has a lot of similarities with the Arkham series from Rocksteady Studios. As LEGO Batman, you are trying to become the hero of Gotham and take down any threat trying to take over the city. It’s worth mentioning the many references throughout its story.
Combat Is Very Fun
You read that right, the combat is fun and easy to get used to when fighting waves of enemies. The combat takes a lot from what we know in the Batman Arkham series, and that would make sense since the developer of those games got credited in LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight. It’s not exactly like the Arkham combat system. I’d like to say it’s a simplified version of it.
Whether you are using Batgirl, Batman, Jim, Robin, or Catwoman, they all have special abilities that make them unique for fighting and solving puzzles. There isn’t a dull moment when fighting enemies. Each boss fight is different, and I’ll give props to TT Games for making each major fight unique, whether it’s against Joker, Penguin, or Poison Ivy. Nothing is ever difficult, especially if you choose the classic mode.
There is so much to unlock to improve your combat with WayneTech across each character.
Where LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight shines the most is in its cutscenes and dialogue throughout the entire game. It features the LEGO humor we all know about and sometimes turns serious scenes into something funny. The conversations between each character mean something, and the voice acting is some of the best we’ve seen in LEGO games or across games in general.
I was worried about how the voice acting and dialogue would be throughout its story, but TT Games nailed it.
Gotham City
If you’ve never visited Gotham City before in any game, Legacy of the Dark Knight will leave a great first impression. One thing I’ll mention is how shocked I was to see the water. Normally, water in a LEGO game wouldn’t catch your interest, but I was surprised by how detailed it was and the rain when traveling around the city.
The best part about this game is traversing Gotham City by either using a vehicle like the Batmobile or by flying around in the sky using the cape. We also can’t forget the music that plays throughout the game using classic Batman soundtracks.
Performance
What I feel like held back the game for me is its performance on Xbox Series X. I found at times that while driving around Gotham City, there were frames dropping, and when trying to go on certain platforms, the character in use wasn’t properly going on them. The strangest issue I came across once was that Batman was walking by himself while I had my controller on, and it wasn’t dead. My controllers were not being responsive to the game, and Batman kept walking in circles.
Verdict
Overall, LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is a fun adventure through Gotham City, taking on familiar DC villains, solving riddles, free roaming, stopping crimes, and more. It’s by far one of the best LEGO games to release, and it sets a standard of what a LEGO game should be.
There are so many clever references throughout the game as well and will be appreciated by fans of DC.
