LEGO Batman: The Videogame Preview

By William Barker

When the British digital artists formerly known as Travellers Tales, TT Games, released the LEGO Star Wars games back in 2005, no really knew if it would be a success.

A videogame based on LEGO building blocks? Sounds about as exciting as being dashed in the face with hydrochloric acid.

In 2005 we asked a number of movers and shakers about the LEGO title's future. Donald Trump incisively spat: "I don't eat cranberries any more, dammit!" and proceeded to destroy our meagre office so we didn't ask anyone else.

Nevertheless, LEGO Star Wars was a success. People loved it - even the hard-to-please, easy-to-confuse people at the Games Channel.

But how will Batman fare?

We recently tested an almost-finished version of the LEGO Batman Videogame before its October 2008 release date, and this much we know: it's frivolous fun.

If you liked the previous LEGO action adventure games, you'll need no convincing of the new game's worth. 

You know the drill: jump around, beat up a few bad guys, build a vehicle or two, solve a puzzle in a vibrant and often action-packed game world, then get rewarded with some of the best (and most amusing) cut-scenes ever created.

Weekends were tailor made for these sorts of games, and the new LEGO Batman game looks like improving the formula.

The first thing that jumps out about this new title are the visuals. 

LEGO Star Wars looked slick, LEGO Indiana Jones was neat, but LEGO Batman delivers a much richer, more detailed gameworld.

TT Games has again used the same game engine to drive the new Batman game, but has revamped it to include new features and of course improve the eye candy.

Though it's no Grand Theft Auto, there is a seaminess to some of the levels we played through that give the game a more sinister feel than previous LEGO titles, and it's quite cool exploring a dark and stylised version of Gotham City.

The attention to detail is impressive, with sharper particle effects and improved texture mapping, but fans of the previous LEGO action games will be right at home regardless of the aesthetic improvements.

Controlling Batman and Robin, and the countless other heroes and villains from the classic Batman universe, is a piece of cake. That's always been one of the hooks of the LEGO games - accessibility.

These sorts games are easy to get into - the controls are fairly straightforward and you can button mash to your hearts content - which opens up the game to a wider range of players. 

The controls are not what you'd call complicated, but at the same time experienced gamers will have more fun too, as there are many more combos, throws, grapples and special moves than in previous games.

But it also suits beginners and casual gamers as it's very difficult to fail. If your blocky little Bat-character dies, you simply respawn a short time later. It's kind of like using an online dating service. If one lady knocks you back, you just try again with another (until you get blocked from the website).

This system of never failing is great until you come across a puzzle that you cannot solve. 

One of criticisms levelled at the LEGO Indiana Jones game was that the puzzles were a bit obscure and instead of trying to figure them out a lot of players either used cheats to pass levels or abandoned the game altogether.

As I discovered, the difficulty level has been increased somewhat in LEGO Batman, with more challenging puzzles and more variables this time around, but unlike the previous games there's more reason and rationale to the puzzles. 

Simply put, the frustration factor has been considerably reduced.

From my game time I found the puzzles were generally a bit longer and more in-depth, but not as perplexing. There's more logic to them and not quite as much running around, and I got the impression that there'll be less 'searching' for buttons and levers than in past games.

As was explained by Warner Bros. Interactive, there are 30 levels in total, 15 hero and 15 villain levels. 

The story is classic Batman stuff, not to confused with the ultra-dark and foreboding Dark Knight universe, and begins as an army of criminals escape from Arkham Asylum. You have been enlisted to put an end to their freedom. 

You've got Batman and Robin, who are in the business of doing good, who must stop enemies like The Joker, Mr Freeze, Two-Face, Clay-Face, Killer Moth and The Riddler from stirring up trouble.

There's the bat boat, batmobile, even a bat glider and various other vehicles you can pilot, which adds greatly to games variety. 

In fact pretty much every vehicle you come across can be commandeered; cruising around in a LEGO ice-cream truck was a cathartic experience for this fellow (it's a long story...).

Each character has a special attack/move, and there are also a large number of 'suits' that Batman and Robin can don in order to look sharp and kick butt.

There's a cool magnetised-boots costume for Robin that allows him to walk vertically and upside-down along metal surfaces to reach hard-to-get places, while one of Batman's many garbs allows him to place remote detonation packs.

While we did get to play as Mr Freeze, The Riddler, and a range of other super villains, Batman and Robin were easily the most fun.

Because this is a Batman game, he and his sidekick get the lions share of the attention and can use very cool bat-arang weapons. You can actually target individual enemies - more than one at a time if you desire - and let rip and it's very effective weapon.

If you've ever played Zelda on the Nintendo DS, it's like the boomerang weapon; very cool.

One of the other criticisms of the previous LEGO videogames was that individual targetting was pretty much impossible, but the bat-arang gadget helps mollify this issue.

Like past LEGO games, collecting studs and bricks unlocks a range of content, such as new levels and "special power-ups" which will add to the game's shelf life.

All told, the huge amount of characters, the diverse levels and the increased variety that extra vehicles and logical puzzles brings are helping to shape LEGO Batman: The Videogame into the best title in the LEGO videogame franchise.

Like Donald Trump's famous catch-cry, "You're ugly!" the new LEGO Batman game will be dead and buried in 2032.

But in late 2008 it will fresh news, and with an intuitive multiplayer co-op mode bringing people together, it could be bat-tastic. Okay, that's not a word, but I think you get the idea.

Game: LEGO Batman: The Videogame
System: Every System!
Players: 1-2
Online: Maybe
Developer: TT Games
Distributor: Warner Bros. Interactive