Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is the Batman: Arkham successor I wasn’t expecting. I didn’t pay much attention when Traveller’s Tales announced the upcoming game during Gamescom, thinking it was another of the developer’s standard Lego titles. Now, after having played for an hour, I have my Bat-Signal firmly aimed at this game.
Like Batman: Arkham City, Legacy of the Dark Knight is set in an open world, albeit a Lego version of the infamous Gotham City. It even features a simpler version of Arkham’s combat and gliding mechanics. However, this isn’t just Lego Arkham, as this game also takes inspiration from Batman movies and comics. This is a huge love letter to the Caped Crusader and his crime-ridden metropolis.
I recently got to play Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, and I'm confident in saying that it will be one of 2026’s best games. If you’re a fan of Batman or TT’s Lego games, there’s a lot to like. Here’s what I got to see during my one-hour play session.
What wonderful toys
The demo I played featured Batman and Jim Gordon as they searched warehouses for teddy bears filled with toxic chemicals. As you’d expect, numerous enemies patrolled said warehouses and needed to be cleared out. These foes belong to the Red Hood gang, who are the main villains you’re attempting to stop in this level.
Melee combat is extremely reminiscent of the Batman: Arkham games, where you balance deftly attacking foes while dodging or countering their attacks. Instead of an alert going above Batman’s head to warn of an attack, this game displays which button to press. For instance, pressing the circle button on a PlayStation controller makes you dodge, while pressing triangle lets you counter or deflect.
As in the Arkham games, you can also use various weapons. In this case, Batman had his trusty batarangs and a grappling hook, while Gordon had something resembling a pop gun and a foam gun. The latter is particularly good at trapping foes and putting out fires. Switching between the characters and their respective weapons simply requires you to press the corresponding directions on the D-pad.
Since this is a Lego game, almost everything around you, characters included, is made of Legos. Defeated foes explode into literal pieces, and you can also use random pieces in the environment to build structures (when prompted). There are also a slew of Lego studs, which act as the game’s currency for unlocking characters, weapons, vehicles, and more. All of this will be familiar to anyone who has played a Lego game before.
As a fan of Batman across all media, I love the references this game sprinkles throughout. For example, the level has you facing the Red Hood at Ace Chemicals, which is something readers of Batman: The Killing Joke will recognize. And no spoilers for those who’ve never read that graphic novel, but Red Hood tosses out some lines of dialogue that give clues about who he will become, such as: “Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?”
The Dark Knight rises
Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is a perfect example of a game I didn’t know I wanted, but now I can’t wait for. Based on my hands-on time, I can already tell it’s going to be a nice mix of Lego games’ charm with the engaging gameplay of the Batman: Arkham titles.
I try to tailor my game recommendations for specific people, but I can see this being one that I recommend to anyone. It’s just a lot of fun.
Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight will release sometime in 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series X, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2.
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