Lego Batman: The Videogame

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Lego Batman: The Videogame
Developer(s)	Traveller's Tales/TT Fusion (Nintendo DS)/ Feral Interactive (Mac OS X)[1]
Publisher(s)	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment[2] DC Comics
Designer(s)	Jonathan Smith
Composer(s)	Danny Elfman
Engine	Lego Star Wars I and II
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360, Mac OSX[3]
Release date(s)	NA September 23, 2008[4] EU October 10, 2008[4] AUS October 15, 2008
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer
Rating(s)	CERO: B ESRB: E10+[5] OFLC: PG[6] PEGI: 7+
Media	DVD, Blu-ray Disc, Wii Optical Disc, Universal Media Disc
Input methods	Keyboard and mouse, Gamepad, Wii Remote

Lego Batman: The Videogame is a 2008 action-adventure video game, created for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Playstation Portable, Nintendo DS, and Wii. The game is based on the comic book character Batman and the Lego Batman toy line. It was developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros., who also handled marketing and financial aspects of the game. It was released on September 23, 2008, for the PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, and Microsoft Windows. The game is similar to the Lego Star Wars series and Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, in that it is both a game based on a licensed property, and has environments, objects, and creatures made out of Lego.

[edit] Gameplay

The core gameplay of Lego Batman is similar to that of previous Lego games, such as Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures and the Lego Star Wars series.^[7] The player controls any one of a wide assortment of characters from a third-person perspective, primarily fighting enemies, solving puzzles, and collecting Lego "studs", the game's form of currency. Using attack combinations in combat will multiply the amount of studs earned.^[8] The game is set in Gotham City, with mainly realistic environments. Only interactive objects are made of Lego bricks. Occasionally, players must assemble Lego objects to proceed further in the level, cross obstacles, or unlock new suits.^[9] Players are able to fight on land, sea, and in the air, using a number of character-controlled vehicles, including the Batmobile, Batboat, and Batwing. New moves to the series first featured in Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures are featured in this game. New abilities introduced in this game include picking up and carrying enemies and walking on tightropes across buildings. Up to two players can play in co-operative mode.^[10]

There are thirty levels in the game (fifteen for the heroes and fifteen for the villains)^[11] as well as some secret levels, including Wayne Manor and Arkham Asylum. There are many different environments in the game, usually based upon the villains' crime styles, including an ice cream factory, a garden center, the Gotham sewers, and Gotham's seedy underbelly. Levels are divided into chapters, each containing five levels.^[10] Chapters are divided equally between heroes and villains.^[10] Completing a hero chapter will unlock the corresponding chapter for the villains.^[10] As in previous Lego games, levels are unlocked for "Free Play" mode once they are completed in Story Mode.^[10] "Free Play" allows the player to replay any level they have completed, but with any characters they have unlocked so far.^[10] This permits access to special areas containing additional collectables, where the player was unable to get to before. This is unlike Story mode, in which the player may only switch between the two characters involved in that scene.^[10]

The level hub for the heroes, similar to the Mos Eisley Cantina in Lego Star Wars and Barnett College in Lego Indiana Jones, is the Batcave, where the player can purchase additional characters and view unlockables. The corresponding hub for the villains is Arkham Asylum,^[12] where players can create their own character using parts from characters already unlocked, as well as a limited array of weapons.

Individual characters are able to use many unique abilities related to their comic book powers and talents. For example, the Joker is able to attack enemies and activate machines with a hand buzzer,^[13] and the Penguin can fly with his umbrella.^[9] Poison Ivy, Catwoman, and Harley Quinn can all seduce guards to make them open doors.^[9]

Players are able to swap Batman and Batgirl's; Robin and Nightwing's costumes (called "tech suits") with many differing ones, each containing unique abilities and different color schemes. Batman starts in a classic grey suit, whilst he and Batgirl can wear the Glide suit (a suit that lets Batman/Batgirl fly for a short time), the Sonic suit (a suit that can break glass), the Demolition suit (a suit that lets Batman/Batgirl set down bombs), and the Heat Protection suit (a suit that lets Batman/Batgirl survive in extremely hot temperatures).^[12] Robin and Nightwing can wear the Technology suit (a suit that can activate Tech panels), the Water suit (a suit that lets Robin/Nightwing go underwater), the Magnet suit (a suit that lets Robin/Nightwing climb up magnetic walls), and the Attract suit (a suit that can vacuum up loose Lego pieces and build something else with them).^[12] Devices providing these suits must be built with Lego bricks during Story Mode, but when the player finds those suits, they will be linked to their corresponding characters in "Free Play" mode.

The PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows versions offer 720p and 1080p displays.

[edit] Nintendo DS

The Nintendo DS version was altered to accommodate the memory and size limitations of the DS as well as include touch screen controls. Characters' special abilities, such as Batman's grappling hook (when pulling background objects) and detonation capsules, and elements such as switches can be controlled by using the touch screen. Some characters' special abilities, attack moves, and jump moves have been changed. For example, Batman can do double jump in the DS version, but not in the console versions. Also, when Batman and Robin use a suit switcher pad, they cannot switch back to the previous suit.

The Nintendo DS version also features several more characters not available in the console versions and includes an exclusive unlockable minigame "Villain Hunt", which is used to unlock the 14 extra characters.

[edit] Plot

Unlike previous Lego games, Lego Batman features an original storyline, not based on any films in particular.^[12]

Following a mass breakout at Arkham Asylum, Batman and his sidekick Robin (Bruce Wayne and Tim Drake respectively) must defeat all of their most dangerous foes, and foil their various plans. The escaped criminals have formed three groups. The story is split into three chapters, one for each group, whose leaders hope to achieve certain goals:

• The Riddler, his deputy Two-Face, and their group (consisting of Clayface, Mr. Freeze, and Poison Ivy) plan to stage a heist on the Gotham Gold Reserves.
• The Penguin, his deputy Catwoman, and their group (consisting of Bane, Killer Croc and Man-Bat (Man-Bat is with Penguin only in the console versions) plan to hold Gotham to ransom with remote-controlled penguin robots.
• The Joker, his deputy Harley Quinn, and their group (consisting of Killer Moth (Killer Moth is with Joker only in the console versions), Mad Hatter, and Scarecrow intend to destroy a cathedral and spread deadly Joker Toxin across Gotham.

In each chapter, the player controls Batman and Robin as they fight through hordes of henchmen to reach and defeat each villain, foil their plans, and send them back to Arkham. After clearing one chapter, the player is able to play it again, this time through the villains' perspective, controlling them and carrying out their individual plans up to their defeat by the Dynamic Duo. Playing through the villains' side of the story explains some of the events in the storyline, and fills certain plot holes present in the heroes' story.

[edit] Characters

• ^aExclusive to Nintendo DS
• ^bCan be built in the character creator
• ^cNot present on the Nintendo DS
• ^dExclusive to the video game and not featured in the LEGO sets

[edit] Development and release

An early build for the PlayStation 2 console was shown at certain conferences (such as at Game On in London) by TT Games Publishing's Head of Production Jonathan Smith, with a small playable area featuring exactly the same HUD as Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy.

DC Comics also had an input into the game, providing the developers with reference materials for the game's characters.^[14]

The game's soundtrack is Danny Elfman's score from Tim Burton's Batman.^[14][15] The Nintendo DS version of the game uses some music from Batman Returns.

During the 2009 holiday season, Lego Batman and Pure were bundled with select Xbox 360 packages and marketed as "free games." It's suggested reltail price is $199.

[edit] Reception

IGN gave the game a 7.7 for the Wii, PS2, PS3 and 360, stating that while the game has plenty of replay value, it also retains problematic elements from the previous games in the series and doesn't necessarily add anything new. The DS version received an 8.0 rating. GamesRadar gave it an 8 out of 10, noting that Traveller's Tales was able to be more open with the license than previous games.^[8] In a review for PC Gamer, John Walker noted that the large number of locations in Gotham as a "welcome improvement" over Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. Combat is styled in the manner of the 1960s Batman series, and the game includes clever puzzles. The drawbacks mentioned include the fixed viewing perspective and the frequent respawning of opponents.^[21] "Iconic characters, such as Clayface and Robin, have been turned into village idiots," writes Ben of Gamer Informer who nevertheless later adds, "this game is filled with cool playable characters...Nightwing, Joker, Killer Croc, Bane, Catwoman, and Man-Bat only scratch the surface of the game's catalog of great characters."^[17] The Nintendo DS version was nominated for "Best Action Game of 2008 on the DS" by IGN.^[23] As of July 2009, the game has sold around 4.15 million copies worldwide.^[24]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Website
• Lego Batman: The Videogame at the Internet Movie Database
• LEGO Batman Wiki - Brick-Knight.com
• LEGO Batman Wiki, an external wiki