E3 2008: LEGO Batman Impressions

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E3 2008: LEGO Batman Impressions

Fri, Jul 18, 2008

Holy plastic shrapnel, Batman! A visit to Warner Bros. Interactive's booth at E3 gave GameCyte a guided tour, and some hands-on gameplay, with LEGO Batman. A representative of Traveller's Tales was on hand to guide us through the latest installment in the developer's surprisingly fun LEGO game series. We were able to play an entire level of LEGO Batman, guiding the caped crusader and boy wonder across the rooftops of Gotham, and we share our experiences with you after the jump.

First, some surrealism:

This is a sculpture in LEGO of something which is supposed to be a sculpture in LEGO. My mind went blank for a couple of hours after I saw this, but from there, it was time to try out LEGO Batman.

LEGO Batman is a bit of a new direction for Traveler's Tales and the LEGO games, since it's the first one with an original story sequence -- the Batman movies clearly provide inspiration for some of the visuals, but the game's plotline is a new creation, written with the complete permission and approval of DC Comics. WB is keeping mum on the full cast of characters, revealing new info in small bites as the release date grows closer, but we're promised there will be plenty -- enough of Batman's colorful gallery of rogues will be appearing as to support their own, second storyline. Traveller's Tales has promised 30 levels in all: 15 "hero" levels and 15 "villain." Batman and Robin, obviously, will be the players' characters for the former storyline, but we'll have to wait and see who shows up for the latter -- though confirmed attendees already include Catwoman, The Joker, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, The Penguin, and more.

Dynamic Duo The gameplay in LEGO Batman handles exactly like its predecessors; if you've played LEGO Star Wars and/or LEGO Indiana Jones, you'll be able to pick up the controller and handle most of what the game throws at you right away. And, like the other LEGO titles, many of the puzzles in LEGO Batman revolve around the correct use of the game's on-demand skill set. In Star Wars, this involved character swapping, and in Indy, there were various tools; this time around, Batman and Robin will be changing outfits. Each character has five different costumes they will don in order to defeat certain obstacles, such as a "Glide Suit" which enables Batman to swoop through the air, or a "Magnetic Suit" which allows Robin to walk on vertical (or upside-down) metallic surfaces. The costumes are scattered at appropriate points throughout the levels, allowing players to perform impromptu vigilante fashion shows as needed. In addition, new Batman-specific abilities are implemented, including tightrope walking, hurling Batarangs, and piloting trusty vehicles like the Batcopter.

With suits at the ready, we sent Batman and Robin leaping across the rooftops of Gotham City, in pursuit of Catwoman and a stolen jewel. Gameplay was easy to grasp, even for those of us who had never tried a LEGO title before, and we fell into the co-op routine fairly quickly. I found myself guiding the Batcopter across a large open space while my partner dangled from a rope below, and the two of us landed in a nest of generic thugs, which we proceeded to beat senseless. Combat is still a simple button-mashing affair, but it's still quite visually satisfying; Robin performed a number of acrobatic moves on his foes while Batman punched a guy clear across the screen. Soon, we had cornered Catwoman and painfully convinced her to return the stolen jewel, but she opted to pitch it off the building. Catwomen! Can't live with 'em...

I asked the TT representative about new additions for series veterans. Assuming a player has already played LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones, why should we play this game, other than "It has Batman?" He was happy to list off several reasons for us: The game is larger, comprising 30 levels, each of which is much larger in scale. The graphics are sharper and fuller (he demonstrated the Gotham skyline in the background of our level). You'll be able to play as the villains. What really caught our interest, however, was the promised bonus content: Much like Mos Eisley and Barnett College in the previous games, LEGO Batman's "hub" world will be the Batcave, which will contain a wealth of unlockable content for Batman fans, including series history, collectibles, and miscellaneous references to the comics and characters.

Lego Figures LEGO Batman, and the full cast of wonderful toys, is scheduled to launch in September.

E3, E3 2008, LEGO, LEGO Batman, LEGO Indiana Jones, LEGO Star Wars, Nintendo Wii, PS2, PS3, Traveller's Tales, TT Games, Warner Bros, Warner Bros Interactive, WBIE, Xbox 360

This post was written by:

Jesse Henning - who has written 474 posts on GameCyte.

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Interview: Traveller’s Tales on LEGO Batman and Corporate Ownership | GameCyte Says:
August 1st, 2008 at 10:54 am
[...] the games we saw at E3 in mid-July, we quite enjoyed our time with LEGO Batman — our previewconfirms as much. We’ve had our eye on LEGO Batman for a while now, although not strictly [...]

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