Do you remember the joy you felt the first time you saw Batman? Can you recall the smile that stretched across your face as you read that comic book, watched the campy TV show starring Adam West, or viewed either the dark and brooding Tim Burton film, or the magnificent Batman Begins? Do you remember thinking that this superhero, flawed and fallible though he might be, was above all else, *wicked *cool?
That's how Lego Batman makes you feel.
Traveller's Tales took everything they learned making the irresistible Lego Star Wars games and cranks it up a bit for Lego Batman. The core elements such as co-op gameplay, Lego blocks, and collectible studs remain, but the rest has been refined, polished and tweaked to provide an even more satisfying and solid experience.
Anyone playing Lego Star Wars with a partner experienced the frustration of not being able to wander more than a few steps away from your playmate before being stopped by an invisible tether. Lego Batman vastly improves the distance two players can separate, making it far easier to play with a pal. The camera pans far back to allow both players to move freely while staying on the same screen; during the demo I saw at GDC, the camera panned so far back that Batman and Robin were scarcely bigger than your thumbnail on screen.
Although* Lego Star Wars* had the two trilogies to use as blueprints for the game's story, the plot of Lego Batman is entirely new. I won't provide any spoilers here (because I don't have any) but the game's 18 Hero levels alternate with 18 Villain levels, spinning out the story from both sides of the crime. The Batcave serves as the hub for the heroes, while Arkham Asylum acts as HQ for the villains.
The environments of Lego Batman are far more detailed than those of Lego Star Wars. If you were concerned that Gotham might lose some of its trademark grit after getting the Lego treatment, rest assured that it's as dark and grim as ever. Some of the areas we saw during the demonstration were clearly inspired by Tim Burton's Batman films, which makes sense as both the Joker and the Penguin are villains in the game.
Batman and Robin will each have four different suits that grant them special abilities to help them progress through levels, such as wings to help Batman glide or magnetic shoes that allow Robin to walk up walls. Collecting studs lets you to research upgrades for the suits, such as smoke bombs you can drop when wearing the glide suit.
The demo I saw was the 360 version, but Lego Batman is coming out on just about every current platform you can imagine. From what I saw, the game is shaping up brilliantly. It looks like we're finally, finally going to have a good Batman game.
