Lego Batman is the first DC Lego game. It must have been popular because there were 3 Lego Batman games, then the DC Villains, plus appearances in the Lego Movie, as well as his own films.
The game is essentially split into 3 short, original stories, but featuring Danny Elfman's musical score from the Tim Burton films, which is where the general inspiration also comes from. The cutscenes have no dialogue but often have humour with the gestures. The stories revolve around: Two Face and Riddler; Catwoman and Penguin; and The Joker and Harley Quinn, but many other characters make an appearance such as Mad Hatter, Clayface, Manbat, Killer Croc.
If you don't know much about the villains, the loading screens tell you about them, then there's some additional texts to unlock using the Batcomputer in the main Hub area.
Once the main storyline is over, you unlock the corresponding Villain campaign. Bad guys have their own levels with only some recycled parts. They have different abilities too so you aren't just using the same techniques. When any level is complete, you can play in Free Play where you can switch into some of your unlocked characters. Most of the secrets can only be obtained by replaying the levels with different characters.
With the main story, you only use Batman and Robin but acquire different suits in the levels which have different powers. Batman has a demolition suit, glide suit, and a heat resistant suit. Robin has a magnetic suit (walk up magnetic tracks), Attraction suit (hoovers up loose objects to place in a specific machine) and Scuba suit (allows you to walk on the floor whilst underwater).
In free play, you can choose a main character then get a random assignment of several other characters, as well as Batman and Robin or equivalent characters (eg Batgirl and Nightwing). Batman and Robin have all their suits. So when you are switching in game, there are loads to cycle through and you should be able to find someone with the ability you want.
Each character basically has a couple of traits. This can include: gliding, double jump, super strength, different charm skills, toxic resistance, gun, batarangs, explosives. Mr Freeze has freezing powers and he seemed pretty unique from the characters I used.
The gameplay is basic. You smash as much as possible, collect studs, build structures (hold a button down next to the appropriate blocks), fight enemies and utilise abilities to proceed through the levels. Most of the time, there's no real thought needed for the puzzles, you just smash objects then if they drop buildable pieces, then you build it to progress. A bit of thought is required when you have to realise a certain character cannot progress, so you switch characters, navigate the area, then look for something to remove/remedy the obstacle.
Your AI controlled allies are quite passive and often stupid. They often fall off ledges or run into danger. It's not a huge problem since there's no direct penalty for their behaviour, although it can be an annoyance if you want to switch to their character. If they are required to jump on a switch or stand in a lift, they generally respond quickly to not be a hindrance. Sometimes you do have to switch to get them over to the other side. They also don't collect studs either, so there is a bit of tedium to collect them quickly before they disappear. Co-op will be a much smoother experience.
In terms of combat, you press the attack button until enemies are defeated. There's no block button, and when you lose your hearts, your characters explode and drop some of your collected studs. You are thrown straight back into the action and can recollect your studs if you are quick. These aspects mean there's no real skill or urgency to the combat system.
The game feels quite clunky overall. Climbing ladders seems awkward when your character has a tendency to leap off early. Some controls are problematic like you hold B to build, but you also press B for other abilities. You press Y for character switching, but also Y to get in vehicles.
Some levels are purely vehicle levels, taking place on land, sea or air. These often seem much shorter, and can be a bit more mindless as you generally can move in an arena whilst holding down the attack button. You often have objectives like carrying explosives to a certain target.
Finding the secret Red Block gives you access to the 'cheats'. Once the cheats are unlocked, they can be purchased using the studs you have collected. Some can be pricey, but if you acquire the stud multiplier cheat first, you can rack up a large stockpile. Some other secret items are upgrades such as faster Batarangs. Then some are silly cosmetics or gimmicks like characters appearing as Silhouettes, or the ground behaving like ice.
I think with most Lego games, your amount of fun probably comes down to how many of these you have played, how much you like the licence, and then if you intend to play it in multiplayer. It's decent enough but has its flaws like most of these games do.
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