Developer: Travelers' Tales

Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive

Release Date: Sept. 23, 2008

Systems: PS3 (reviewed), PS2, PSP, Wii, DS, Xbox 360, PC

ESRB Rating: E10+

Official Web site

0:00 I enjoyed the little I've played of LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones, and I'm expecting largely the same carefree run-and-jump-and-punch experience out of this one. I wish I had a second player to putter around with, but I'll make do solo.

0:01 The preview screen is all kinds of awesome, with the Batman movie theme and scenes of all sorts of LEGO destruction. There's a mini-figure version of the Riddler! And Harley Quinn! And Poison Ivy! And Bane! And the Joker! And Robin! Oh man, this is gonna be fun.

0:02 Two LEGO robbers run across a rooftop, stopping cold when seeing LEGO Batman, who sends some LEGO batarangs to knock away their LEGO guns. Then LEGO Batman leaps in for some PUNCHING ACTION! AWESOME!

0:03 LEGO Batman looks grim and serious and, most of all, CUTE on the title screen, looking down over the city he is sworn to protect. LEGO versions of Joker, Penguin and Riddler are in a jail cell. The LEGO clock strikes midnight, there's a LEGO explosion, and they bust out of LEGO Arkham Asylum, along with LEGO Croc, Catwoman, Scarecrow, Two-Face, Clayface, Man-bat ... good god, it's every Batman villain ever! They hijack a couple of LEGO vans and drive through the LEGO streets, unleashing LEGO laughing gas, whipping LEGO whips, floating on LEGO umbrellas, drawing "?" graffiti with LEGO spray paint, etc. LEGO Commissioner Gordon hits the LEGO bright red button to activate the LEGO bat signal, prompting triumphant cries from the LEGO cops. Oh, there's LEGO Mr. Freeze too! He's with LEGO Clayface, Riddler and Poison Ivy now in an underground lair. They're silently planning to rob a LEGO bank.

0:06 Some loading then another cut scene showing LEGO Riddler and Clayface blowing a hole in the side of the LEGO bank. LEGO Batman and Robin view the action from a LEGO rooftop. LEGO Robin jumps down with a CRASH while LEGO Batman traipses gently down to the ground. Then I'm in control. "You Can Bank on Batman," is the level title. You sure can!

0:07 I just used my LEGO fist to send a LEGO henchman flying the equivalent of 10 or 20 LEGO feet! Awesome! The computer is doing a pretty decent job helping out with Robin, surprisingly.

0:08 You can tell these are gritty LEGO streets because of the presence of brown LEGO rats. Eminently punchable LEGO rats, I should say.

0:11 I could run around collecting these little LEGO studs all day. It really appeals to my anal-retentive side.

0:12 Pardon me for saying so, but LEGO Batman's jumping punch looks kind of lame. Where's the awesome drop kick?

0:13 Introducing the suit swapper, which lets me switch from the boring grey Batman outfit to an all-black "Demolition Suit," giving me the ability to lay LEGO explosives. I accidentally blow up LEGO Robin with my first set. Yeah ... accidentally ... that's it.

0:15 OK, LEGO Robin is an idiot. He seems to consistently stand right next to the bombs right before they explode. It's funny but also a little depressing.

0:18 I'm guessing I'm no fun to play LEGO games with, what with my penchant for backtracking to collect every last LEGO stud possible.

0:19 A slippery piece of LEGO pavement sends me into some muddy water, killing me and losing me some hard-earned LEGO studs. Since when is LEGO Batman soluble in water?

0:20 I love the lime-green-suited LEGO henchmen that just floated in on umbrellas. LEGO people just don't dress with that kind of style anymore...

0:22 Beating up these LEGO henchmen is mindless, but also strangely satisfying. In other games it would just be annoyingly simple. I think it's due to the responsive controls that don't get caught in wild animations. Also, the satisfying THWACK sound effects. And the way the enemies go flying after a good punch, of course.

0:25 Note to self ... do not walk into the glowing, green radioactive waste.

0:26 Batman just demolished a LEGO tree four times his size with ONE PUNCH. I bet the real Batman could do this as well. What? HE IS SO REAL!

0:27 Apparently you can play as LEGO Robin, as I find out when I need to use his LEGO Tech Suit. Every second I'm not controlling LEGO Batman, feels like a tiny piece of me is dying...

0:29 LEGO Robin lets me operate a LEGO tech panel and drive a little LEGO RC car into LEGO Clayface's LEGO hideout. His LEGO henchmen don't seem to notice or care much about this.

0:30 LEGO Clayface battle time. He hides behind an impassable jail-style gate, but then stands on shiny silver LEGO blocks that that I can explode with my LEGO bombs to hurt him. Hey, no one said LEGO Clayface was bright...

0:31 I use my LEGO batarang to activate some LEGO switches and blow LEGO Clayface into a cage. In a cut scene, LEGO Riddler has a large gold key and makes off in a getaway car with LEGO Two-Face driving. I put a LEGO homing device on the back of the car. The LEGO Riddler left a box with a LEGO puzzle in it. My stud total for the level is over 39,000, because I'm such a stud. I only found two of ten minikits, though. Aww.

0:34 In a cut scene and in the LEGO Batmobile, tracking the car. LEGO Robin is showboating on his LEGO Robin-cycle. The LEGO Police are frozen in some LEGO ice, which can only mean one thing ... LEGO Joker! Wait, I mean LEGO Mr. Freeze! "An Icy Reception" is the name of the level. Groan...

0:36 This entire minute spent happily busting up LEGO crates to pad that LEGO stud total. Oh yeah! Studly!

0:37 So I built these cannon things from LEGO pieces I found lying around, but I can't figure out how to use them...

0:38 Running over LEGO villains with a LEGO ice cream truck is surprisingly not as satisfying as simply punching them.

0:39 A LEGO batarang breaks down the hinges on a LEGO fence holder. LEGO Robin gets a new LEGO Magnetic Suit to walk on magnetic surfaces (duh!). Meanwhile, LEGO eskimos ATTACK!

0:41 We're in LEGO Freeze's lair, where LEGO Batman gets an awesome LEGO Glide Suit allowing him to ... glide across long gaps. Robin can't follow until I give him a LEGO bridge. I consider not doing it, but that would be mean...

0:44 It seems every other LEGO crate I bust open has a health-restoring heart inside it. I don't need most of them. Where's this adaptive difficulty I heard about on the options menu? Stop trying to help me so much, game!

0:45 Some slippery goop sends me off the side of a LEGO platform. This seems to have little to do with LEGO and/or Mr. Freeze.

0:47 Damn, LEGO Robin, why you gotta be so slow when walking up this LEGO snaking pipe thing? I swear...

0:49 Lots of teamwork needed in this section ... one LEGO character has to stand on a LEGO switch while the other goes up some just-created LEGO stairs. I wonder why LEGO Mr. Freeze designed such a complex hideout. What does he do when he's alone?

0:50 Wow ... some semi-difficult platforming on narrow, hovering LEGO discs. My LEGO stud total keeps going down with each fall into the void.

0:51 I jump into a LEGO freeze ray turret, which turns the slippery goop into walkable frozen platforms. It also turns LEGO Robin into a block of LEGO ice. Bwahaha. I mean, er, sorry Robin.

0:53 These puzzles are almost offensively simple, so far... pull a switch and voil?, you're done! I know this game is designed for the kiddies, but jeez.

0:54 In a cut scene, LEGO Riddler trips us up; then LEGO Mr. Freeze and his eskimos ATTACK!

0:55 My LEGO Bat-punch and LEGO batarang seem ineffective against LEGO Mr. Freeze. Meanwhile, Robin is losing tons of studs trying to get to a switch across some radioactive goop. If only there were some way to freeze it...

0:58 OK, I know intellectually that I have to get LEGO Mr. Freeze to freeze this goop, but I have no idea HOW to get him to do that. Aiming for the open LEGO vent below the vat doesn't seem to work. Remember what I said about offensively simple puzzles? I take it back.

1:00 My LEGO stud count is down to zero. ZERO! I'm crying a pool of LEGOs here.

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.


Why? I feel it's one of the rare games my LEGO wife will play with me.

This column is based on a LEGO retail version of the game rented from GameFly.

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