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Lego Batman: The Videogame

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Lego Batman: The Video Game
Developer(s)Traveller's Tales/TT Fusion(Nintendo DS)
Publisher(s)Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment[2]
Designer(s)Jonathan Smith
EngineLEGO Star Wars I and II
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player, Multiplayer

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.

A demo for the PC was released on October 17, 2008

Plot

The game stars Batman and his sidekick Robin fighting crime and villainy in Gotham City. Batman's most dangerous and murderous foes have all escaped from Arkham Asylum and divided themselves into three groups, each led by a "clever" and well-known villain. The three villain groups are led by the Joker, the Penguin and the Riddler. Each leader has made plans to accomplish a personal goal. Each group is accompanied by hundreds of thugs and small timers who murder and steal under their orders. Each group member also has a specific set of goons that are tailored to their crimes.

The Riddler is after the entire savings of the city from the Gold Reserve and has made plans to obtain key items to help him accomplish the heist. He enlists the likes of Two-Face, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Clayface. He and Clayface steal a key to the Reserve (Clayface is left for Batman after he spots a pile of gold), he and Mr. Freeze visit Freeze's old ice cream factory to get a giant Freeze ray, Freeze releasing his 'Freeze Girls' from cryogenic freezing (Freeze is then captured by Batman), he and Poison Ivy steal instantly growing seeds from a green center (after Ivy saves him from Batman, she is left at the center for the Dynamic Duo), and finally he and Two-Face steal a Super Laser which they think will break into the Reserve. This does not work as the beam is reflected back onto the laser, but the two find their way to the gold.

The Penguin in the meantime plans to seize control of the city by using robot penguins armed with guns to hold the city and is setting up a satellite to control all of them remotely. He leads Catwoman, Bane, Killer Croc and Man-Bat with this plan. The group sets up the penguins all over the city. Penguin and Bane steal a satellite dish (Penguin then leaves Bane for the police), he and Catwoman steal a jewel to power the machine (Catwoman is then captured by Batman, giving the jewel to one of her cats), he and Killer Croc rescue Catwoman and, with Man-Bat, kill the employees of a zoo. (Killer Croc stays to guard the sewers from Batman, he is captured, while Man-Bat is separated from Catwoman and Penguin as soon as they enter the zoo, and is captured) Catwoman and Penguin set up the Penguin's machine, activating the killer penguins all over the city, who immediately begin murdering Gotham's population.

Last, the Joker plans to blow up a cathedral in a virtual suicide mission and release his laughing gas, soon to be contained within the aged building, all over the city. The group of villains under his leadership are Harley Quinn, the Scarecrow, the Mad Hatter and Killer Moth. The Joker amuses himself before beginning his plans by murdering some of the Gotham Police force to begin his game of catch with Batman. After several murders, the Joker starts his plans when he and Mad Hatter raid the chemical factory to get all the right materials to make his Joker Juice. He and Harley Quinn then lure and take Commissioner James Gordon hostage in an Amusement Park they took over to use as a distraction for Batman while Joker begins numerous mass murders with the aid of Scarecrow and Killer Moth while en route to the cathedral. Once at the cathedral the Joker rigs bombs throughout it and loads up the tower with barrels of his toxin along with the detonator for the bombs. The Joker leaves a trail of death and destruction for Batman so he would follow him to the cathedral to meet his demise at Joker's hands. Once everything is set in place, the Joker plans to detonate the bombs to destroy the city regardless if he has enough time to escape or not.

The villain missions mainly show how the villains set up their plans, while the heroes show the fates and outcome of the villains and their sadistic plots. The general pattern in each story is that the leaders often leave their associates at the hands of Batman or the police once their use is over. Eventually, Batman disrupts all their plans and sends all the villains back to Arkham. The Riddler is captured due to his own clues, Penguin's robots and equipment are destroyed, and the Joker fails to detonate the bombs. The last scenes show most of the villains being oddly content being back in Arkham, except for the Joker, the Penguin, and the Riddler, as their plans failed.

As with the other Lego games, there is no dialogue; the story is told through the body language of their characters, with slapstick humor, although many reviews have commented, while some have complained, that the game is more dark and serious toned than its predecessors. Unlike previous Lego games, Lego Batman is based on original stories and not based on any of the films. Although the films have inspired many locations and proved to be a rough layout for the Penguin and Joker story plots. Two examples of this is the final fight against the Joker at the top of the Gotham City Cathedral and the fact that Riddler and Penguin's apparent sidekicks are Two-Face and Catwoman.

Gameplay

The core gameplay is similar to its Lego Star Wars II counterpart.[3] Players will be 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.[citation needed] 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: the Joker is able to attack enemies and activate machines with a hand buzzer,[4] the Penguin is able to glide over gaps with his umbrella and release exploding penguin goons, the Riddler can take control of certain characters and open secret doors by convincing guards, Catwoman can double-jump, seduce guards to make them open doors and attack foes with a whip in a similar fashion to Indy from Lego Indiana Jones and Killer Croc can lift and push objects with orange handles and punch enemies with such force that they fly off-screen.[5]

Both Batman and Robin have their comic-book costumes, but players are able to swap Batman and Robin's costumes, called tech suits. 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 (red/grey) suit 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 'Freeplay Mode'. Freeplay 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, will be the Batcave, where you can buy figures, and see the unlockables. Alternatively, the 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. A total of 50 characters are playable, such as Batman, Robin, The Joker, Two Face, Hush, Penguin, Catwoman, The Riddler, Nightwing, Bane, Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, Killer Moth, Batgirl, Clayface, Man-Bat, Mad Hatter, Harley Quinn, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Ra's Al Ghul, Bruce Wayne, Alfred and various henchmen.

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

Nintendo DS gameplay

The Nintendo DS version was altered to accommodate the memory and size limitations of the DS 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 DS version, but not in the console versions.

Even though up to eight characters can be in the player's party, only two are visible at the screen at any one time.

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 these extra characters.

There are suit switcher pads in the DS version. When Batman or Robin stands on one, that character can put on a suit that allow him to use its special ability, including detonating red and black objects, climbing metallic walls, gliding for a short distance, or bypassing toxic areas. They last until the level is complete.

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]

Soundtrack

The game's soundtrack is Danny Elfman's score from Tim Burton's Batman as stated in the credits.

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.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b Release Date and Info
  2. ^ "Lego Batman: The Video Game Page". GamePro. Retrieved 2008-09-24.
  3. ^ IGN
  4. ^ 1UP
  5. ^ IGN
  6. ^ a b c MTV
  7. ^ a b IGN: LEGO Batman: The Videogame Screenshots (PS2)
  8. ^ "The Dark Knight snaps into his LEGO debut". Game Daily. AOL. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  9. ^ Andy Robinson. "Holy LEGO Batman!". Computer and Video Games. Future. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  10. ^ IGN Review
  11. ^ 1up review
  12. ^ Gamespot Review
  13. ^ OXM Review
  14. ^ X-Play Review
  15. ^ GamesRadar review
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