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If the Playstation 4 is for the players then Lego Batman 3 is definitely for the fans. There is literally so much DC universe content thrown at you I cannot even begin to imagine how a DC buff could not love this game. But not only is there a lot to do it is delivered with almost complete precision. TT Games then, it would seem, have might have finally given us the ultimate Lego game.
Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham does start a bit slow and I must admit to feeling a little disappointed to begin with. The levels felt a little samey, as if they were taken from previous iterations of the series. The suits, the characters and even the levels themselves had way too much ‘Lego Batman 2’ about them. What exactly was I playing here?
Things did start to pick up quite quickly after level Earth. There is a 2.5D side-scrolling shooter level (a simpler version of Resogun if you like) followed by a level set on a revolving platform in space. The gaming mechanics were basically the game but it was nice to see them trying something a bit different with the level designs.
Once in space, though, the levels just get visually better and better. They don’t exactly push the boundaries of the next gen platforms but there is a definite step up from even recent games such as The Hobbit and The Movie. The story itself is passable, but then once you consider its main target audience probably haven’t got as far as long division at school yet then it’s forgivable.
Strangely, though, it’s after the story when this game really comes alive. Do you remember a time when the Hub in a Lego game was nothing more than a few rooms and halls within which you could select levels and buy red bricks and a few other bits and pieces? It has evolved over the years from Mos Eisley’s Cantina from Star Wars to Gotham City in Batman to Middle Earth from The Lord of the Rings. The Hub in Lego Batman 3 is its raison d'etre.
You start off on the Watchtower; a huge satellite floating above the Earth. This area in itself is pretty huge and in it you will find all the usual gubbins we’ve come to expect of late: a level selector for those wanting Free Play, gold bricks, a place to buy extras, more gold bricks, a character creator, even more gold bricks, hidden bonus characters and even some gold bricks.
You also get access to the Bat Cave and the Hall of Justice, and within these you will find more even more of the aforementioned collectibles. But then there’s also the moon base to discover, which feels like a cross between a Lego game and Super Mario Galaxy. This little world on its own brought a huge smile to my face, but then I found I could travel from there to…
Six alien planets from the DC universe. I mean they’re not massive (think Super Mario Galaxy again) but they are beautifully detailed and there is plenty to find and do on them. Or even do what I did and just have a fly around with Superman. They truly are stunning little add-ons and left me dumbfounded at just how much Tt were giving us to play.
And that’s still not everything I feel I should mention. The level where you play as the 1966 Batman and Robin was awesome (well it was for me anyway, although some of it went above my son’s head). The VR missions are also quite fun and make a break from the norm. And those little in games jokes that are dotted all over the place (taking the mick out of Arnie’s Mr Freeze from Batman & Robin, the fact that 1966’s Batman’s Bat-sense is in black and white, that one of the levels is a reference to Star Wars and another one to Breaking Bad).
To top it all off Tt have managed to deliver it in a package nearly devoid of all my usual grumbles. The crappy camera angles seem to have disappeared completely and only once so far (in nearly 20 hours of playing) has my character become irretrievably stuck somewhere. Flicking between characters also seems smoother (I think it was the Lego Marvel game where I became frustrated with the controls getting confused between the Banner-Hulk transition and selecting a completely different character.
That said it wasn’t flawless. The beginning was quite slow and might put some off if that’s all they saw. The bulk of the game, too, is quite repetitive for the ‘maturer’ gamer. I can forgive them a little on this when I think their target audience is 30 years my junior, however I was left a bit disappointed with the complete lack of anything new in terms of controls and/or puzzles.
Overall I couldn’t help but be amazed at what Tt Games have delivered with Lego Batman 3. The sheer scale is way beyond anything I could imagine. They also seem to have invested a lot of time perfecting the core gaming experience rather than trying to innovate and deliver something that doesn’t quite work. This game is as close to a perfect Lego game that Tt have given us so far, and certainly gives me hope that there is still a future for the game genre beyond movie tie-ins.
9/10
The good:
- It’s massive
- They’ve ironed out those niggles
- My kids absolutely love it
The bad:
- Felt stale at times
Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham does start a bit slow and I must admit to feeling a little disappointed to begin with. The levels felt a little samey, as if they were taken from previous iterations of the series. The suits, the characters and even the levels themselves had way too much ‘Lego Batman 2’ about them. What exactly was I playing here?
Things did start to pick up quite quickly after level Earth. There is a 2.5D side-scrolling shooter level (a simpler version of Resogun if you like) followed by a level set on a revolving platform in space. The gaming mechanics were basically the game but it was nice to see them trying something a bit different with the level designs.
Once in space, though, the levels just get visually better and better. They don’t exactly push the boundaries of the next gen platforms but there is a definite step up from even recent games such as The Hobbit and The Movie. The story itself is passable, but then once you consider its main target audience probably haven’t got as far as long division at school yet then it’s forgivable.
Strangely, though, it’s after the story when this game really comes alive. Do you remember a time when the Hub in a Lego game was nothing more than a few rooms and halls within which you could select levels and buy red bricks and a few other bits and pieces? It has evolved over the years from Mos Eisley’s Cantina from Star Wars to Gotham City in Batman to Middle Earth from The Lord of the Rings. The Hub in Lego Batman 3 is its raison d'etre.
You start off on the Watchtower; a huge satellite floating above the Earth. This area in itself is pretty huge and in it you will find all the usual gubbins we’ve come to expect of late: a level selector for those wanting Free Play, gold bricks, a place to buy extras, more gold bricks, a character creator, even more gold bricks, hidden bonus characters and even some gold bricks.
You also get access to the Bat Cave and the Hall of Justice, and within these you will find more even more of the aforementioned collectibles. But then there’s also the moon base to discover, which feels like a cross between a Lego game and Super Mario Galaxy. This little world on its own brought a huge smile to my face, but then I found I could travel from there to…
Six alien planets from the DC universe. I mean they’re not massive (think Super Mario Galaxy again) but they are beautifully detailed and there is plenty to find and do on them. Or even do what I did and just have a fly around with Superman. They truly are stunning little add-ons and left me dumbfounded at just how much Tt were giving us to play.
And that’s still not everything I feel I should mention. The level where you play as the 1966 Batman and Robin was awesome (well it was for me anyway, although some of it went above my son’s head). The VR missions are also quite fun and make a break from the norm. And those little in games jokes that are dotted all over the place (taking the mick out of Arnie’s Mr Freeze from Batman & Robin, the fact that 1966’s Batman’s Bat-sense is in black and white, that one of the levels is a reference to Star Wars and another one to Breaking Bad).
To top it all off Tt have managed to deliver it in a package nearly devoid of all my usual grumbles. The crappy camera angles seem to have disappeared completely and only once so far (in nearly 20 hours of playing) has my character become irretrievably stuck somewhere. Flicking between characters also seems smoother (I think it was the Lego Marvel game where I became frustrated with the controls getting confused between the Banner-Hulk transition and selecting a completely different character.
That said it wasn’t flawless. The beginning was quite slow and might put some off if that’s all they saw. The bulk of the game, too, is quite repetitive for the ‘maturer’ gamer. I can forgive them a little on this when I think their target audience is 30 years my junior, however I was left a bit disappointed with the complete lack of anything new in terms of controls and/or puzzles.
Overall I couldn’t help but be amazed at what Tt Games have delivered with Lego Batman 3. The sheer scale is way beyond anything I could imagine. They also seem to have invested a lot of time perfecting the core gaming experience rather than trying to innovate and deliver something that doesn’t quite work. This game is as close to a perfect Lego game that Tt have given us so far, and certainly gives me hope that there is still a future for the game genre beyond movie tie-ins.
9/10
The good:
- It’s massive
- They’ve ironed out those niggles
- My kids absolutely love it
The bad:
- Felt stale at times
Update 3:
I figure I should add this because it does affect my overall impressions of the game.
The crappy camera angles problem has made a comeback, but it seems to be confined to the six Lantern Planets you access from the Moon base. The main story and Hub (the Watchtower, the Bat Cave and The Hall of Justice) are thankfully free of the issue as far as I'm aware, but it does crop up quite a bit while free-roaming and brick-hunting on the 'Super Mario Galaxy' style planets.
The problem seems to appear when you go underground. The camera can't seem to figure out the best angle and so ends up jumping around all over the place. Because you are usually moving when it happens it often means you end up going in the wrong direction and getting stuck.
It's a shame because this has always been one of my biggest gripes with the franchise and I thought they had sussed it. Still, 30 plus hours of gameplay before I noticed it isn't too bad.
To put this into context I was asked yesterday what I thought of the game and I still maintain it is the best Lego game to date (in my opinion). Whether this new discovery drops the score or not is a moot point really. It still is a very good game.
I figure I should add this because it does affect my overall impressions of the game.
The crappy camera angles problem has made a comeback, but it seems to be confined to the six Lantern Planets you access from the Moon base. The main story and Hub (the Watchtower, the Bat Cave and The Hall of Justice) are thankfully free of the issue as far as I'm aware, but it does crop up quite a bit while free-roaming and brick-hunting on the 'Super Mario Galaxy' style planets.
The problem seems to appear when you go underground. The camera can't seem to figure out the best angle and so ends up jumping around all over the place. Because you are usually moving when it happens it often means you end up going in the wrong direction and getting stuck.
It's a shame because this has always been one of my biggest gripes with the franchise and I thought they had sussed it. Still, 30 plus hours of gameplay before I noticed it isn't too bad.
To put this into context I was asked yesterday what I thought of the game and I still maintain it is the best Lego game to date (in my opinion). Whether this new discovery drops the score or not is a moot point really. It still is a very good game.
Update 2:
The more you play, the more you learn.
I am currently hovering around the 32.5 hours of gameplay and roughly 78% complete. How about THAT for thorough. :¬)
I have found some bugs since the last update. Nothing that's going to break your machine, but still quite frustrating when they occur.
In the Hall of Justice one of the missions is to rescue a group of tourists stuck in various places. There is one stuck is a wardrobe that, even when the door is open, cannot get out of the closet (oo-err). The only way to complete the mission is to leave the Hall completely and do the mission again.
In The Big Grapple, in free play, you fly a hover craft around and then land it next to a couple of pulleys. Each character must pull one of the pulleys down, except when they do the level freezes and you have to quit.
The good news is that they don't seem to crash the game, however they are an irritation (especially after sinking so many hours into the game). One other good thing is that the levels are now split up into two or three segments so you don't have to play all of the level if the unfortunate should happen.
Having played for so many hours and only found a couple of problems like this it's not enough to affect the score I gave it.
The more you play, the more you learn.
I am currently hovering around the 32.5 hours of gameplay and roughly 78% complete. How about THAT for thorough. :¬)
I have found some bugs since the last update. Nothing that's going to break your machine, but still quite frustrating when they occur.
In the Hall of Justice one of the missions is to rescue a group of tourists stuck in various places. There is one stuck is a wardrobe that, even when the door is open, cannot get out of the closet (oo-err). The only way to complete the mission is to leave the Hall completely and do the mission again.
In The Big Grapple, in free play, you fly a hover craft around and then land it next to a couple of pulleys. Each character must pull one of the pulleys down, except when they do the level freezes and you have to quit.
The good news is that they don't seem to crash the game, however they are an irritation (especially after sinking so many hours into the game). One other good thing is that the levels are now split up into two or three segments so you don't have to play all of the level if the unfortunate should happen.
Having played for so many hours and only found a couple of problems like this it's not enough to affect the score I gave it.
Update:
I'm still finding stuff even now. Yes there's all the usual gold bricks and characters, but ANOTHER PLANET?!?!
The VR missions are pretty cool too. I can see them popping up again in another Lego game.
Thought: Lego Tron might work.
I'm still finding stuff even now. Yes there's all the usual gold bricks and characters, but ANOTHER PLANET?!?!
The VR missions are pretty cool too. I can see them popping up again in another Lego game.
Thought: Lego Tron might work.
pb wrote:
How was Kevin Smith and did he fit in?
At the time of writing I was a little confused by all the fuss made by WB over Kevin Smith and Conan O'Brien. I still am if truth be told. They both pop up every now and again but I haven't quite figured out why they're in it as they don't really bring anything to the game.
Perhaps all will become clear if/when I unlock the characters.
Having Adam West doing some voice acting is a nice touch though.
How was Kevin Smith and did he fit in?
At the time of writing I was a little confused by all the fuss made by WB over Kevin Smith and Conan O'Brien. I still am if truth be told. They both pop up every now and again but I haven't quite figured out why they're in it as they don't really bring anything to the game.
Perhaps all will become clear if/when I unlock the characters.
Having Adam West doing some voice acting is a nice touch though.
I haven't started this, but your review makes me want to play it now (though I'm sat in a car, in th rain, without a PC or laptop so..well..I can't).
I loved LEGO Batman 2 and pre-ordered 3 on PC cheap but there have been soooo many games in the last few weeks I just haven't got around to it.
Great review, though, and love th idea of 60s Batman in it voiced by Adam West. How was Kevin Smith and did he fit in?
I loved LEGO Batman 2 and pre-ordered 3 on PC cheap but there have been soooo many games in the last few weeks I just haven't got around to it.
Great review, though, and love th idea of 60s Batman in it voiced by Adam West. How was Kevin Smith and did he fit in?
If the Playstation 4 is for the players then Lego Batman 3 is definitely for the fans. There is literally so much DC universe content thrown at you I cannot even begin to imagine how a DC buff could not love this game. But not only is there a lot to do it is delivered with almost complete precision. TT Games then, it would seem, have might have finally given us the ultimate Lego game.
Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham does start a bit slow and I must admit to feeling a little disappointed to begin with. The levels felt a little samey, as if they were taken from previous iterations of the series. The suits, the characters and even the levels themselves had way too much ‘Lego Batman 2’ about them. What exactly was I playing here?
Things did start to pick up quite quickly after level Earth. There is a 2.5D side-scrolling shooter level (a simpler version of Resogun if you like) followed by a level set on a revolving platform in space. The gaming mechanics were basically the game but it was nice to see them trying something a bit different with the level designs.
Once in space, though, the levels just get visually better and better. They don’t exactly push the boundaries of the next gen platforms but there is a definite step up from even recent games such as The Hobbit and The Movie. The story itself is passable, but then once you consider its main target audience probably haven’t got as far as long division at school yet then it’s forgivable.
Strangely, though, it’s after the story when this game really comes alive. Do you remember a time when the Hub in a Lego game was nothing more than a few rooms and halls within which you could select levels and buy red bricks and a few other bits and pieces? It has evolved over the years from Mos Eisley’s Cantina from Star Wars to Gotham City in Batman to Middle Earth from The Lord of the Rings. The Hub in Lego Batman 3 is its raison d'etre.
You start off on the Watchtower; a huge satellite floating above the Earth. This area in itself is pretty huge and in it you will find all the usual gubbins we’ve come to expect of late: a level selector for those wanting Free Play, gold bricks, a place to buy extras, more gold bricks, a character creator, even more gold bricks, hidden bonus characters and even some gold bricks.
You also get access to the Bat Cave and the Hall of Justice, and within these you will find more even more of the aforementioned collectibles. But then there’s also the moon base to discover, which feels like a cross between a Lego game and Super Mario Galaxy. This little world on its own brought a huge smile to my face, but then I found I could travel from there to…
Six alien planets from the DC universe. I mean they’re not massive (think Super Mario Galaxy again) but they are beautifully detailed and there is plenty to find and do on them. Or even do what I did and just have a fly around with Superman. They truly are stunning little add-ons and left me dumbfounded at just how much Tt were giving us to play.
And that’s still not everything I feel I should mention. The level where you play as the 1966 Batman and Robin was awesome (well it was for me anyway, although some of it went above my son’s head). The VR missions are also quite fun and make a break from the norm. And those little in games jokes that are dotted all over the place (taking the mick out of Arnie’s Mr Freeze from Batman & Robin, the fact that 1966’s Batman’s Bat-sense is in black and white, that one of the levels is a reference to Star Wars and another one to Breaking Bad).
To top it all off Tt have managed to deliver it in a package nearly devoid of all my usual grumbles. The crappy camera angles seem to have disappeared completely and only once so far (in nearly 20 hours of playing) has my character become irretrievably stuck somewhere. Flicking between characters also seems smoother (I think it was the Lego Marvel game where I became frustrated with the controls getting confused between the Banner-Hulk transition and selecting a completely different character.
That said it wasn’t flawless. The beginning was quite slow and might put some off if that’s all they saw. The bulk of the game, too, is quite repetitive for the ‘maturer’ gamer. I can forgive them a little on this when I think their target audience is 30 years my junior, however I was left a bit disappointed with the complete lack of anything new in terms of controls and/or puzzles.
Overall I couldn’t help but be amazed at what Tt Games have delivered with Lego Batman 3. The sheer scale is way beyond anything I could imagine. They also seem to have invested a lot of time perfecting the core gaming experience rather than trying to innovate and deliver something that doesn’t quite work. This game is as close to a perfect Lego game that Tt have given us so far, and certainly gives me hope that there is still a future for the game genre beyond movie tie-ins.
9/10
The good:
- It’s massive
- They’ve ironed out those niggles
- My kids absolutely love it
The bad:
- Felt stale at times
Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham does start a bit slow and I must admit to feeling a little disappointed to begin with. The levels felt a little samey, as if they were taken from previous iterations of the series. The suits, the characters and even the levels themselves had way too much ‘Lego Batman 2’ about them. What exactly was I playing here?
Things did start to pick up quite quickly after level Earth. There is a 2.5D side-scrolling shooter level (a simpler version of Resogun if you like) followed by a level set on a revolving platform in space. The gaming mechanics were basically the game but it was nice to see them trying something a bit different with the level designs.
Once in space, though, the levels just get visually better and better. They don’t exactly push the boundaries of the next gen platforms but there is a definite step up from even recent games such as The Hobbit and The Movie. The story itself is passable, but then once you consider its main target audience probably haven’t got as far as long division at school yet then it’s forgivable.
Strangely, though, it’s after the story when this game really comes alive. Do you remember a time when the Hub in a Lego game was nothing more than a few rooms and halls within which you could select levels and buy red bricks and a few other bits and pieces? It has evolved over the years from Mos Eisley’s Cantina from Star Wars to Gotham City in Batman to Middle Earth from The Lord of the Rings. The Hub in Lego Batman 3 is its raison d'etre.
You start off on the Watchtower; a huge satellite floating above the Earth. This area in itself is pretty huge and in it you will find all the usual gubbins we’ve come to expect of late: a level selector for those wanting Free Play, gold bricks, a place to buy extras, more gold bricks, a character creator, even more gold bricks, hidden bonus characters and even some gold bricks.
You also get access to the Bat Cave and the Hall of Justice, and within these you will find more even more of the aforementioned collectibles. But then there’s also the moon base to discover, which feels like a cross between a Lego game and Super Mario Galaxy. This little world on its own brought a huge smile to my face, but then I found I could travel from there to…
Six alien planets from the DC universe. I mean they’re not massive (think Super Mario Galaxy again) but they are beautifully detailed and there is plenty to find and do on them. Or even do what I did and just have a fly around with Superman. They truly are stunning little add-ons and left me dumbfounded at just how much Tt were giving us to play.
And that’s still not everything I feel I should mention. The level where you play as the 1966 Batman and Robin was awesome (well it was for me anyway, although some of it went above my son’s head). The VR missions are also quite fun and make a break from the norm. And those little in games jokes that are dotted all over the place (taking the mick out of Arnie’s Mr Freeze from Batman & Robin, the fact that 1966’s Batman’s Bat-sense is in black and white, that one of the levels is a reference to Star Wars and another one to Breaking Bad).
To top it all off Tt have managed to deliver it in a package nearly devoid of all my usual grumbles. The crappy camera angles seem to have disappeared completely and only once so far (in nearly 20 hours of playing) has my character become irretrievably stuck somewhere. Flicking between characters also seems smoother (I think it was the Lego Marvel game where I became frustrated with the controls getting confused between the Banner-Hulk transition and selecting a completely different character.
That said it wasn’t flawless. The beginning was quite slow and might put some off if that’s all they saw. The bulk of the game, too, is quite repetitive for the ‘maturer’ gamer. I can forgive them a little on this when I think their target audience is 30 years my junior, however I was left a bit disappointed with the complete lack of anything new in terms of controls and/or puzzles.
Overall I couldn’t help but be amazed at what Tt Games have delivered with Lego Batman 3. The sheer scale is way beyond anything I could imagine. They also seem to have invested a lot of time perfecting the core gaming experience rather than trying to innovate and deliver something that doesn’t quite work. This game is as close to a perfect Lego game that Tt have given us so far, and certainly gives me hope that there is still a future for the game genre beyond movie tie-ins.
9/10
The good:
- It’s massive
- They’ve ironed out those niggles
- My kids absolutely love it
The bad:
- Felt stale at times