LEGO Batman: The Videogame (Xbox 360)

9/26/2008 6:20 PM | 0 Comments | Page 3 of 3

LEGO Batman: The Videogame is not a perfect game, and it's not completely new, either. There's very little online functionality at all -- only Achievements for you via Xbox Live. It's essentially just you and the game, or you and a pal and the game in cooperative mode. That's certainly a negative if you're the sort to socialize online: Even if they added a fighting Versus mode for consoles, the game would be cooler. Add a few power fighting moves to each character and you'd have something that'd rival Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. I know why they didn't add online functionality: They think that the majority of folk who will buy the game are tweens who don't care about it playing online. But they do. And since a fair amount of adults will play the game, too, there's no reason not to add it. If the next LEGO game has no online functionality, critics generally will not be kind.

But there are more than enough thoughtful additions to excite and occasionally amaze, especially when you don the various costumes of super-villains. The background graphics are as detailed as those in just about any Xbox 360 game, and the game makes you feel privileged to live in this cartoony world that's at once gritty and cute.

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.