It excites me today, Detructoid, to come to you talking about my recent hands-on with Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, mainly because I had such a good time playing and want to gush about it.
It’s hard to describe how well the meshing of Batman and Lego has been created here and how massive a labour of love has been made on this title to make it an authentic and probably one of the best Batman games, on top of potentially being one of the finest Lego games too. Yes, I'm that serious. The game plays incredibly well despite only having a small time to play it.
On its surface the game plays basically like an Arkham game from Rocksteady with combat being near identical but in Lego form, a multitude of Riddler trophies available to find, and the occasional puzzle to solve, This all meshes together with Lego mechanics that you would find in other titles such as a large amount of hidden collectibles to find and using specific characters to access areas, like Batman using his gadgets to pull open steel grates.
Beyond the obvious Lego humor on display, whether it’s using a pie as a finisher move on a crook or the usual gag visuals, I was surprised to learn that this game is actually co-op. You can play with two people and have to switch between characters, such as Jim Gordon. Upon looking at the character and vehicle screen, there were a bunch of question marks, hinting at more members of the Bat Family, likely with their own skills to be revealed in the future.
But even when playing co-op, if you aren't Batman, you still get access to Batman-like controls, such as everyone having a glider, being able to use the grappling hook, and other things, so that you can still feel like Mr. Wayne even if you aren't playing as him.
The game is also open world, and while there is a set mission for you to follow, it’s quite easy to jump in the Batmobile or zipline off and fly around Gotham to look for secrets and iconic areas from the comics, the films, and the games.
In a small 30-minute hands-on, I was able to both explore Gotham and also take part in a small early story mission revolving around the birth of the Joker before he fell into a vat of acid, which allowed me to try all these mechanics and get a feel for how the team was looking to shape their title. And I was very impressed. And of course, I tried looking for tons of secrets and the usual Lego hidden Collectibles and items that each level has.
Again, it was a pure delight, and while I’m not sold on Batman‘s voice so far, I’m sure it will grow on me over time. It's a great blend of Lego and the Arkham games, and I’m really excited to see more from this game in the future.
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