Lego Batman: The Video Game

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Lego Batman: The Video Game
Developer(s)	Traveller's Tales/TT Fusion(Nintendo DS)
Publisher(s)	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment[1] DC Comics
Designer(s)	Jonathan Smith
Composer(s)	Danny Elfman
Engine	Lego Star Wars I and II
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360
Release date(s)	NA September 23, 2008 EU October 10, 2008[2] AUS October 15, 2008[2]
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: E10+
Media	DVD, Blu-ray Disc, Wii Optical Disc, Universal Media Disc
Input methods	Keyboard and mouse, Gamepad, Wii Remote

Lego Batman: The Video Game is a video game developed by Traveller's Tales. It was released on September 23, 2008 for the PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable and Microsoft Windows. The game is similar to the Lego Star Wars series, in that it is both a game based on a licensed property and has environments, objects and creatures made out of Lego. Warner Bros. is handling the publishing, marketing and financing aspects. This game is made out of characters from the Lego Batman toy line.

[edit] Gameplay

The core gameplay is similar to its Lego Star Wars II counterpart.^[3] Players are able to fight on land, sea and in the air using a number of powerful Batman, Robin and villain-controlled vehicles, including the Batmobile, Batboat and Batwing. New moves featured in Lego Indiana Jones are added. New abilities include picking up and carrying enemies and walking on tightropes over the city.

The characters are able to use many unique abilities related to their comic book talents. For example, The Joker is able to attack enemies and activate machines with a hand buzzer,^[4]. Man-Bat and the Killer Moth can glide with wings and Poison Ivy, Catwoman, and Harley Quinn can seduce guards to make them open doors.^[5]

Players are able to swap Batman and Robin's costumes, called tech suits with differing ones that contain new abilities. Batman starts in a classic grey suit, he and Batgirl can wear a Glider suit (grey), a Sonic suit (blue), a Bat Bomb Detonator suit (black) and a Heat Protection suit (red).^[6][7] Robin and Nightwing can wear a Technology suit (red/grey) and a Scuba suit (red/blue), a Magnetic suit (red/grey) and an Attract suit.^[6][7] When the player finds those suits they will be linked to the characters in the Free Play mode.

As in the previous Lego games (such as Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones), once a player completes a level, that level is unlocked in the 'Free Play' mode. This mode allows the player to replay any level they've completed with any characters they've unlocked, unlike Story mode, which only allows players to switch between the characters involved in that scene. This permits access to areas containing extras the player was unable to get before.

There are 30 true levels in the game (15 for the heroes and 15 for the villains)^[8] as well as some secret levels, including Wayne Manor, villain levels are unlocked as the game progresses. The hub for the heroes, similar to the Mos Eisley Cantina in Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga and Barnett College in Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, is the Batcave, where the player can buy figures, and see the unlockables. The corresponding hub for the villains is Arkham Asylum.^[6] There are many different environments in the game, usually based upon the villains' crime style including an ice cream factory, a garden center, the Gotham sewers, and Gotham's seedy underbelly.

You can also create characters to play as, using parts of other characters from the game. You can select from a limited amount of weapons.

The PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows versions offer 720p and 1080p displays.

[edit] Nintendo DS

The Nintendo DS version was altered to accommodate the memory and size limitations of the NDS as well as include touch screen controls. Characters' special abilities, such as Batman's grappling hook (when pulling background objects) and detonation capsules, and elements such as switches can be controlled by using the touch screen. Some characters' special abilities, attack moves, and jump moves have been changed. For example, Batman can double jump in the NDS version, but not in the console versions. As well, when Batman and Robin use a suit switcher pad, they cannot switch back to the previous suit.

The Nintendo DS version also features several more characters not available in the console versions, and includes an exclusive unlockable minigame "Villain Hunt", which is used to unlock the 10 extra characters.

[edit] Plot

The game features Batman and his sidekick Robin fighting their most dangerous foes, who have all broken out of Arkham Asylum and split into three groups to wreak havoc across Gotham City. The story is split into three scenarios, one for each group whose leaders hope to achieve certain goals:

• The Riddler, his deputy Two-Face, and their group (consisting of Clayface, Mr. Freeze, and Poison Ivy) plan to stage a heist on the Gotham Gold Reserves.

• The Penguin, his deputy Catwoman, and their group (consisting of Bane, Killer Croc and Man-Bat) plan to hold up Gotham with remote-controlled penguin robots.

• The Joker, his deputy Harley Quinn, and their group (consisting of Killer Moth, Mad Hatter, and Scarecrow) intend to destroy a cathedral and spread his deadly laughing gas across Gotham.

In each scenario, the player controls Batman and Robin as they fight through hordes of goons and henchmen to reach and defeat each villain, foil their plans, and send them back to Arkham.

After clearing one story, the player is able to play it through the villains' perspective, controlling them and carrying out their individual plans up to before being stopped by the Dynamic Duo. In each of the villain's missions there will be the team leader and a member of their group. The deputy of each group has two missions with their leader (the final mission and another). Man-Bat does not get a mission because of Killer Croc receiving a water mission as well as an ordinary mission. Mad Hatter does not get a mission also because of Scarecrow receiving an air mission as well as an ordinary mission. However, Man-Bat and Mad Hatter are both available to buy.

[edit] Development

An early build for the PlayStation 2 console was shown at certain conferences (such as at Game On in London) by TT Games Publishing's Head of Production Jonathan Smith, with a small playable area sporting the exact same HUD as Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy.

Developer Jonathan Smith stated that the company will be developing more Lego games in the foreseeable future.^[9]

The game's soundtrack is Danny Elfman's score from Tim Burton's Batman^[10]

[edit] Reception

IGN gave the game a 7.7 for the Wii, PS3 and 360. stating that while the game has plenty of replay value, it also retains problematic elements from the previous games in the series and doesn't necessarily add anything new to the series. GamesRadar gave it an 8 out of 10, noting that Traveller's Tales was able to be more open with the license than previous games.^[17] In a review for PC Gamer magazine, John Walker noted that the large number of locations in Gotham as a "welcome improvement" over Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. Combat is styled in the manner of the 1960s Batman series, and the game includes clever puzzles. The drawbacks mentioned include the fixed viewing perspective and the frequent respawning of opponents.^[15] "Iconic characters, such as Clayface and Robin, have been turned into village idiots," writes Ben of Gamer Informer who nevertheless later adds, "this game is filled with cool playable characters...Nightwing, Joker, Killer Croc, Bane, Catwoman, and Man-Bat only scratch the surface of the game's catalog of great characters."^[18] The Nintendo DS version was nominated for "Best Action Game of 2008 on the DS" by IGN.^[19] As of April 2009, the game has sold around 4.15 million copies worldwide, combining sales of all platforms.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Website
• Lego Batman: The Video Game at The Internet Movie Database
• LEGO Batman Wiki - Brick-Knight.com
• LEGO Batman Wiki, an external wiki