
POW! SPLAT! THWACK! And so on. Welcome to the world of Lego Batman, a trilogy which prizes Elfman & Burton’s Batman higher than the gravelly-voiced Nolan Batman we’ve come to know and love more recently. This whimsical addition to the Lego games franchise breaks quite a few precedents set by previous games, for better or worse, but overall its sense of humour, self-awareness, and general variety makes up for any shortcomings.
Villain of the year is Brainiac, and all the heroes and villains of the DC world have to team up to stop him!
Holy spoilers, Batman!

I think the simplification of the hub world is a mixed blessing – where Lego Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit had the entirety of Middle-Earth to explore, it did feel like you were actually doing something epic, trekking across the world to reach your next objective, but when you were coming back to do all the side missions and retrieve your 100% completion rating, it became a chore going everywhere.

No more are Bats and the Boy Wonder restricted to finding costume-change pods to get new gadgets – they and a few others can change costume and associated gadget by simply holding the tag button. On occasion, you can also press the action button to immediately switch to the costume necessary to solve a puzzle. Superman has ice breath and laser vision, the Flash builds things FAST, Green Lantern and the other Lanterns can use lantern-like symbols to create puzzle solutions (interestingly, each colour Lantern has a different solution for each puzzle), Martian Manhunter has mind control, Wonder Woman can deflect things with her bracers. Everyone has a place in the game, and puzzles are never too taxing or complicated, but always seem to be satisfying when solved.
As if they knew they needed a downer somewhere, annoying voice is still in play, in the form of Conan O’Brien. Sure, his witticisms are great when you come across them for the first time, but going to select a level and being told how the level select screen works for the fiftieth time is not a great experience. Like the hint system, he should be activated if needed – otherwise it’s just an exercise of injecting celebrity into the game. “Oh, hello!” calls a familiar voice. “Adam West here.”

But on the whole, DLC aside, Lego Batman 3 is a great game, one for the family, and one that definitely shows promise for more great Lego games to come. Lego Doctor Who, maybe?
To the Batmobile!

Had a chance to Play Beyond Gotham yet? Let us know in the comments below!