LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes

Blog Post: 5 Minute Review: Lego Batman 2

rons_mkay — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 15:57:00 GMT

Pros: This game brings the entire DC Universe into the Lego Sandbox to create one of their most entertaining universes yet. The graphics are outstanding for a Lego game, and the gameplay and mission structure avoids a lot of the frustration found in the earlier games and Lego Pirate. The characters are fully voiced as well, which was a shock at first but really brought the humor of the storylines to the forefront. All the time I spent playing this game was with my 6 and 4 year old boys. It easily passes the family test in both content and difficulty level.

Negatives: I have a hard time spending $50 on a game that will primarily be played by my kids. It's hard to have a desire to play as a Lego Batman after doing two runs as the Dark Knight in Batman: AC. Finally, it is still a Lego game, so even with some of the structural improvements the game still feels the same as all 8 that have come before it.

Verdict: If you are not allowed to play rated M games this is a must buy. It will provide hours of gameplay and entertainment with some of the subtle and less subtle changes that have been made. It will also be a great gateway for family gaming as well. Otherwise pocket that $50 and wait for the price drop or save it for the huge slate of games coming out this Holiday season.

Blog Post: A Fun But Flawed Experience

Chris Mrkvicka — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Lego games have always stuck to a specific formula. Take one part platformer, two parts comedy, add some collectables for length, a bevy of unlockables, and tie it all together with a a series of levels that can be accessed from a home location of sorts. Lego Batman attempts to take this tried and true formula to new heights by creating a vast and very busy open world for the player to explore. While the concept is a great one in theory, the game is weighted down by a slew of technical issues that hold back an otherwise solid game.

The game opens with with Gotham City's "Man of the Year" award presentation. The competition is narrowed down to just Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor . As the award is given out, the Joker attacks along with a rogues' gallery of other villains. It is up to Batman to save the day (and by no means does he need Superman's help). The story plays out over a series of fifteen levels and builds from Batman & Robin in the early stages to a who's who of Justice League members by the end.

The story for this game is vastly more complex than the first Lego Batman game, and because of this, Telltale Games elected to use a voice cast to convey the story, rather than utilize the typical silent, purely physical acting of other Lego games. This works to the games favor in some aspects while at the same time making you wish that they might have just taken away some of the complexity to maintain that silent flair. When the dialogue hits on all cylinders it is both fun and coherent, but at times, it misses the mark. I particularly found myself missing Mark Hamill within 5 minutes of hearing the Joker speak.

The campaign levels contain every bit as much puzzle and problem solving gameplay as you may have come to expect with these games. Both Batman and Robin have at least one suit return from the previous game, but add a few others that mix up the gameplay and made the experience feel fresh and different. The puzzle solving particularly stood out with the addition of the JLA members, who have many of the same abilities as Batman and Robin's suits, but have better accessibility to those abilities. Combat is fairly straight forward, and at times can be a bit chaotic with up to 10 enemies on the screen at once, but the game is not difficult by any stretch of the imagination; seeking more to work the brain than the combat reflexes.

The game can be played either solo, with a computer controlling your partner(s), or with split screen co-op. I was disappointed to find that I completely despised the manner in which split screen was incorporated with this game. I have granded three Lego games at this point (Batman, Star Wars: The Complete Saga, and Indiana Jones, and have nearly granded Lego Star Wars 2), and with each of the previous games, I always found that the co-op experience was the best way to experience the game. However, this is the first Lego game I have played where the players are allowed to move in separate directions from one another, with the screen splitting into two views, rather than expanding the camera view to the point where it is difficult to ascertain direction.

My problem is not with the splitting of the screen, as I feel this is a genuinely good direction for these games to head in. However, the view that is provided can be severely limiting. On more than one occasion, I found myself in a platforming situation, where the camera angle provided to me by the split screen cut off at my waist. This made more than one platforming sequence a rage inducing affair. The other issue with the splitting of the camera views is the distance at which it splits. As my friend and I played, we found a number of instances where we were less than half a screen's distance apart, but rather than take the easier to process full view of what we were doing, the game split the the screen with the individual camera views literally overlapping. This can be downright obnoxious in some areas as you try to process and solve puzzles and problems within a level. So, while I feel moving to a split screen was a good move for these games, they definitely have a lot of work ahead to make the views more functional and to the advantage of the player, rather than the detriment. Solo play was the vastly better experience with this game.

As I stated before, the game does not stick to the same formula of having a central home location for the game to progress from. The game takes place on three different islands that make up Gotham City, and you must travel to each new mission (these missions can then be accessed on the Bat Computer for free play). Rather than have vehicles, characters and red bricks for sale at a centralized store, the player must find them throughout the city and purchase them. In the case of super villains, the player must defeat the villain and then purchase them. The city is fairly large, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the number of puzzles spread out throughout the world for the player to find and collect gold bricks. Only 61 of the game's 250 gold bricks are within levels, while the rest are spread across the rooftops and alleyways of Gotham.

While the open world provides some very cool changes to the gameplay formula, it also shows the some of the more severe technical issues. Vehicles and other items that show up on the map will not spawn when you arrive, while other times, they will suddenly pop into existence after a few seconds of being there. Additionally, everytime that you collect a gold brick the game saves and during this time you cannot move. This is particularly bad when playing splitscreen, as both may be attempting to get gold bricks which can involve very intricate platforming. Should a player collect a gold brick while the other player is in the middle of a jump, the jumping player will fall straight down, and not be able to move unto the save process is complete. On more than one occasion my friend and I miscommunicated and accidentally lost a few minutes of progress. This made the collect-a-thon mechanic tedious at best.

Beyond that, I experienced a bevy of glitches and bugs; from enemies running in and out of walls, to collectable enemies randomly disappearing in the middle of combat. The game just seems to lack a sense of being fine tuned, and some design choices were mind boggling. For example, the islands are set up, so as to prevent the player from advancing to other sections too soon. To do this, one island is blocked off by gates that require Superman's heat vision to open. However, I found a building with a gold block right next to one of these gates that you can use the bat suit to glide over the wall (you need the suit to get the gold block) and open a passage to the island at a very early stage.

The best example I can give to emphasize this feeling of lack of polish is the the last level of the game. The first two times I played it, the level ended prematurely as I attempted to collect a mini-kit up in the air. My friend and I thought that Lex Luthor had been up in the helicopter above, somehow. However, as I was doing my freeplay runs to clear the game 100%, I found that the game had simply glitched and skipped two whole boss battles. Twice this happened, so it wasn't an anomalous occurrence.

All in all, I found the game to be a fun game, but its technical issues serve as major detractors. With more polish, this could have been a fun and memorable experience, but its problems relegate it to being noting more than an average game.

Blog Post: Lego Batman 2 Review: The Justice League Unites to Make a Great Game

Still_Insane22 — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 22:26:00 GMT

Lego games are my guilty pleasure. They give me something to do to pass the time till other games come out. Until just recently, that's about as far as my love of Lego games went. But now, after two above average games, it's clear that the genre of Lego games has grown up. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes is more of a game in three (short) parts. First it's a regular Batman and Robin adventure, then a Batman/ Superman collaboration, then a Justice League adventure. TT Games successfully took three cartoon ideas and mashed them into one fight against a common threat: The Joker and Lex Luthor, and for that I say bravo and well done.

This is the first (well one of the) Lego games to feature voice acting, and it's not bad. Not bad at all. Batman and Superman are constantly quipping against the other, and Robin thinks Superman is the coolest guy ever. There's a few nods to other universes and I won't say which, and the Joker is still funny. That's about as far as I can go without spoiling anything, so I'll just move on...

Gameplay and Graphics:

I don't think I'm mincing words by saying this game is purty lookin. HD isn't mandatory, although I suggest getting an HDMI cable if you want to read some of those tool tips. Everything is incredibly detailed, which is great considering the size of the world. There may be a couple seconds for the vehicle spawner to appear, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem. Gameplay wise it's your standard platforming/ puzzle model for your average Lego games. Batman and Robin still have a wide variety of suits, which will be handy when getting Gold Bricks in the hub world. There are some unlockable characters that can use some of the abilities of their suits, but mostly you find out that you'll need either Batman or Robin. The thing with that is the suits you'll need are on a "Gold Brick" trail that spans buildings, so it'll take awhile to go down a err path to find one. The puzzles aren't that gripping, but hey, it's a game centered towards a kid audience, so why should they be? Because some of the earlier ones were more challenging. There's also the ability to fly in the hub world, but it's a bit clunky.

Is It Worth Getting 100%?:

Depends on your patience. There are 250 gold bricks to be found. I know, right? There is some incentive to get all of them, because getting to a certain landmark of bricks enables you to unlock a character gate for someone you don't meet during the story. Like Aquaman, for example. There's still red bricks to collect to give you an edge and three types of vehicles; cars, air vehicles and boats. There's also more emphasis on citizens in peril than in the first Lego Batman, so don't pass them by.

In short, Traveler's Tales have crafted an excellent Lego game though not as good as Lego Star Wars III IMO. While there are some kinks in it, it shouldn't be enough to warrant passing it by.

Wiki: LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes Guides

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 09:50:00 GMT

Guides for LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes

Blog Post: Bigger and better with Batman!

Bluecoat09 — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 01:43:00 GMT

Lego Batman 2 is the perfect example of expanding on a solid franchise and adding new and exciting elements. This game represents two major changes in the Lego series: voice acting and an open world. These two items also represent a great and not so great change to the series. The script for this game is pretty hysterical especially the relationship between Batman and Superman. Fanboy Robin adds a lot of comedic relief in the early parts of the game. The open world premise is nice but I'm not sold that it's completely necessary. It is a little more difficult to navigate to the next mission but it does allow for a great way to lengthen the experience. My girlfriend and I played for an hour in Gotham before starting another mission. There were a couple of glitches that made for some frustrating moments during the game. For example. there were time when characters would get stuck behind indestructible objects or would freeze in place and refuse to move. The only fixes for these problems were to exit out of the mission and start from the checkpoint. Another issue were the unbelievably long load screens when starting or finishing missions. I would imagine this problem could be caused from the scale of the open world. Overall Lego Batman 2 is fantastic game that is best played with a friend!

POSITIVES:
-Great script and voice acting
-play as Batman, Superman, and the rest of the DC heroes
-very fun and colorful gameplay

NEGATIVES:
-very long load screens
-random character glitches
-not a lot of puzzle diversity

Blog Post: Lego Batman 2 DC Super Heroes - Video Review

Brokensteel1228 — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 21:25:00 GMT

DC definately knows what there doing when it comes to evreyones favorite dark knight, and with Arkham City having been the last Game for Dc, and Christopher Nolans Dark knight rises

soon to be released in theaters, What Epic New Take on Batman will Dc unveil Next? Find out by Watching my Full Video Review by clicking the link here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-1qIXbeyPc

Blog Post: A Bigger And Better Lego Gotham

Andrew Reiner — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 17:30:00 GMT

The days of Batman mutely stalking Arkham Asylum’s escapees are behind us; the Caped Crusader finds his voice in Lego Batman 2. Despite being made entirely out of plastic pieces, this version of the character closely mimics the Batman from the animated shows. He speaks in deep tones, is cold and calculating, and above all, reminds us how he hates Superman. This is the first time characters speak in a Traveller’s Tales Lego game. The series’ brilliant use of pantomiming to deliver story will certainly be missed, but don’t think for a second that the humor is gone. The banter between characters is funny, and the animators are responsible for a handful of great sight gags. The dialogue exchanged between Batman and Superman is the highpoint, and nearly worth the price of admission alone.[Excerpt]

Switching to spoken dialogue helps deliver a coherent narrative, something the first Lego Batman didn’t do. The story once again draws parallels to Batman’s animated shows; the Joker rudely interrupts Gotham City’s swank “Man of the Year” award ceremony, and Bruce Wayne, who is a candidate, ducks out to change into his Batman costume. From here on, the plot centers around the ensuing chase.

As Joker rampages across Gotham and more villains are thrust into the spotlight, Batman eventually calls upon Superman and his Watchtower-based friends for help. This escalation of events is divided into three acts (although the game doesn’t label them as such). The game starts with Batman and Robin working together for a few levels, shifts to Batman and Superman (the World’s Finest) for a few stages, and then concludes with a small group of DC’s mightiest heroes (the Justice League) working together.

Although Lego Batman 2 still drops players into linear levels filled with construction-based puzzles, 10 hidden Minikits, and rooms filled with Lego objects that can be smashed, this is the first Lego title set within an open world. Lego Indiana Jones 2 explored the idea to a degree, but this game represents the full realization of that concept. The entire city can be explored from the outset, and is loaded with hundreds of secrets.

Soaring across Gotham’s skyline as Superman is a real treat, especially since the Superman movie theme kicks in as soon as he takes flight. The flight controls work well in open spaces, but can be troublesome near buildings or in tight areas. Screaming down Gotham’s streets in the Batmobile (a thrill I hope to experience in a Rocksteady Batman game someday) is equally exciting, but is rarely used for anything other than driving from the Batcave to your mission.

As beautiful as Gotham’s architecture is (much of it including giant, metal Lego titans), the activities in the overworld are repetitive and lacking the creative spark Traveller’s Tales has shown in its Lego games. If one gold brick is found behind a steel plate only Superman can remove, you should be on the lookout for a dozen more. Many of the gold bricks are hidden in the same ways, and it becomes a laborious task to hunt them all down. Don’t worry, this isn’t Grand Theft Auto – you don’t need to search high and low without guidance. All of the hidden bricks, unlockable characters, and citizens in need of help are highlighted on the map. Traveller’s Tales has even included a handy marker that will lead you to your desired location.

The most enjoyable secrets to track down are tied to Batman and Robin’s different suits – which often require a platform-heavy ascent up a skyscraper. The suits in the first Lego Batman game clashed with the Batman mythos. In this sequel, Robin’s hamster ball power is a head scratcher, and I don’t know why Batman would ever engage any villain without invisibility on, but for the most part, the new multi-purpose suits are a better fit for this universe. Robin wears a hazmat suit to clean up Joker’s chemicals. He also wields Mr. Freeze’s ice gun. Batman once again has his heavy armor and makes good use of his cape for gliding.

Playing as the different Bat-types is fun, but their usage for puzzles and secrets is repeated far too often. The Justice League characters bring a wealth of new powers, but they are mainly used in the final stages and for the post-story secret hunting. These god-like characters are great additions – I just wish they were a larger part of the game. Flash’s speed is harnessed beautifully, and Superman is the unstoppable juggernaut we’ve always wanted him to be in video games. This isn’t saying much, but Lego Batman 2 is the best Superman game yet.

Traveller’s Tales took some chances with Lego Batman 2. The addition of spoken dialogue paid off well, and I hope it becomes a standard for all of this developer’s games moving forward. Transferring the classic Lego gameplay into a vast overworld is also a success, but the redundancy in secret solutions in this play space hurts the experience, almost turning it into a mundane collect-a-thon. Thankfully, the classic Lego gameplay dominates the main game, making Lego Batman 2 another goofy brick-building blast to play.

File: legobatman7.jpg