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FEBRUARY 22, 2008
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HOLY BIRTHDAY CAKE BATMAN! THE CAKE IS A LIE!
The Lego series takes on the Dynamic Duo!
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by Brian Ekberg, GameSpot
The Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder will once again be stalking the Gotham
skyline, only this time they've got blocky feet and an obsessive desire to build things
out of colorful blocks. Yes, the Lego game series, first begun with the Lego: Star
Wars series is now taking on Batman and his rogue's gallery of villains in the
upcoming Lego Batman from developer TT Games. We got a chance to check out
this highly anticipated game for the first time during a tour of a few levels of the game
hosted by a TT Games producer.
As in the Lego Star Wars games, Lego Batman features cooperative play for two
players (both online and off) but the level structure of this game is a bit different than
in previous Lego games. Each level first begins with the hero's perspective, letting
you play as Batman and Robin as you take on bad guys and track down one of the
Dynamic Duo's well-known enemies such as Catwoman, The Joker, and the
just-announced Harley Quinn, among many others. After you beat a level as the
heroes, however, you'll unlock the corresponding "villain" level, which will be a new
take on the mission told from the villian's point of view.
The first level we saw featured Batman and Robin chasing down Catwoman, who
had just stolen a huge pink diamond ring from a building and then scampered
across rooftops. Once Batman and Robin gave chase, they were immediately set
upon by a multitude of bad guys. It didn't take long for the pair to clean house, and it
served as a good opportunity to talk about the slightly revamped combat system in
the game. Unlike in Lego Star Wars, neither Batman or Robin have light sabers at
their disposal, so the development team have had to strive to make sure that combat
is effective, even with the reduced reach of the heroes.
One new feature that helps is the batarang, which both Batman and Robin can throw
first by aiming a bat-signal-shaped icon at the object you wish to hit and then
pressing a button. The batarang can be used both in combat and to help the heroes
reach objects that they might not able to reach otherwise which makes it a handy tool
for solving puzzles.
A Batman game without plenty of high-tech gizmos at your disposal wouldn't be
much of a Batman game so it's nice to see, then, that Lego Batman is dealing out
the gadgets liberally throughout the game. For example, in certain areas of a level,
you'll be able to change suits from your regular Batman or Robin get-up to a
specialized costume that will grant the wearer special powers. We saw several
examples during the demo including a magnetic-shoed suit for Robin that allowed
him to climb up the sheer face of a building, or indeed upside down in certain spots;
a glide suit that let Batman glide across rooftops to access areas he couldn't make
on a regular jump; a demolition suit for Batman that let him set mines and detonate
them remotely; and a tech suit that let Robin take control of remote controlled
airplanes, cars, and robots (made out of Legos, naturally).
Proving the Lego series still has its sense of humor well intact in Lego Batman, the
chase for the Catwoman ended with the sultry feline thief planting an extended kiss
on Batman (much to the chagrin of Robin), before tossing the pink diamond over the
roof of the building (only to be picked up by an umbrella-gliding Penguin). From there
we were taken to a different level, focusing on two of Batman's most notorious foes.
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Harley Quinn and the Joker are just two of the many villains making trouble in Lego Batman.
We're speaking, of course, of The Joker and his sidekick Harley Quinn. In this level,
the pair was navigating through an amusement park--which acted as a colorful
visual counterpoint to the grim and gritty streets of Gotham during the Batman level
we saw. Like Batman and Robin, The Joker and Quinn have their own special
abilities; we especially enjoyed The Joker's hand buzzer, which can be used to
electrocute opponents or charge up unpowered objects. While watching the two
villains navigate the level, we got a nice taste of the amount of animation work the
team at TT Games has put into these characters; from The Joker's strut to Harley
Quinn's lithe and agile jumping, it's amazing to see how dexterous these blocky little
characters can be.
Quinn and The Joker cooperated to solve several puzzles, including setting off a
roller coaster to break through a cave wall blocked by boulders, before ending with a
confrontation with the end-boss: Commissioner Jim Gordon and a bevy of Gotham's
finest that ended with Gordon getting locked in a cage and awaiting rescue from you
know who. Commissioner Gordon as a boss battle? Yeah, count us in.
The folks at TT Games must be having a ball twisting up expectations for the Batman
formula with this game, and it shows. With a lighthearted tone and plenty of iconic
characters in the mix (in addition to the above villains, we also briefly saw King Croc
and the Sandman in action), this looks to be like another fun-filled adventure for the
Caped Crusader. The game is due for release this fall on practically every major
platform and we'll have more on the game in the coming months.
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