LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham Review

The LEGO games have been around longer than I care to remember with their numbers running into the double digits. They started out quite sincere and fun, exploring the Star Wars universe in a novel way appealed to gamers of all ages.

Over the last few years the games have stuck to their tried and tested formula and as such have attracted some criticism from those wishing for a more deep and meaningful experience, pushing the LEGO games into the ‘guilty pleasure’ category.

They’re definitely my guilty pleasure, something I hide from my peers and do in the privacy of my own home, blinds closed, lights out and phone off the hook. Ok, it’s not that seedy, but it’s definitely still good fun.

Read on for the full LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham review.

Story

The stories within the LEGO games have never been the main attraction but instead it’s the stories they’ve re-told through mimed expressions and slapstick humour that keep people coming back for more.

That’s not necessarily true in the case of the LEGO Batman games, Traveller’s Tales didn’t have to follow the story of a movie and as such were given free license to create their own tales within the Dark Knights rich and colourful world.

LEGO Batman 3 is, in essence, more of the same when it comes to story, though it’s still a fun narrative to follow as you smash your way through the games lengthy levels, though it’s not going to be winning any awards based on its writing.

Characters are a plenty, as always, and better yet they’re introduced thick and fast. Where LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes took a while to bring the cast in, LEGO Batman 3 throws DC’s most memorable heroes and villains into the fray faster than you can say the Flash! Characters are all given their own voices and chatter their way through levels. It’s a nice touch giving the cast their own voices and it worked well in the last game so there’s no reason not to expect it to here.

The main campain will take you around 10 hours to get through with levels taking quite a while to plow through. Don’t expect the story to unfold throughout the gameplay, but instead it gets told through the many cut-scenes which are well designed and will keep youngsters entertained a great deal more than adults.

It’s not the strongest story you’ll play this year, but in the context of the game it works brilliantly and it’s always fun to see DC’s characters going toe-to-toe with some genuinely ‘laugh out loud’ exchanges between them.

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Gameplay

It’s the gameplay that really makes the LEGO games the success they are. If you’ve played one you’ve played them all. You’ll make your way through a ton of levels, smashing objects and collecting studs. It’s a formula that’s been going for nearly a decade and yet it’s still fun to watch LEGO studs eject from breakables and then run around picking them up before they disappear.

Something is a little different this time around in terms of level design. Instead of being given an open-world to explore you’re presented with ‘hubs’ which serve as central, well, hubs that can be explored and lead into the levels, most of which are fairly long, uncomfortably long at times.

Levels can take around 45 minutes to get through if you stop to smash everything and attempt to collect all the collectibles (of which there are many!) but sometimes checkpoints are a little too far apart. It’s not a deal-breaker but it’s a bit of a pain in the bum.

Playing through the levels are still great fun and even better with a second player - the A.I can still be a little bit dumb and cause a few problems when they’re required to move to a specific place or perform an action, thought they’re bearable for the most part.

Levels are designed well and encourage you to branch away from the set path and try to find the hidden collectibles or simply just to see what’s behind big smashable object A and object B. Traveller’s Tales haven’t changed much up and at this point they really don’t need to. The gameplay is solid and beating down on enemies is still a helluva lot of fun, especially once you’ve unlocked a few more characters and get to play around with their abilities.

Some characters are naturally more enjoyable to play as than others with those who can fly taking the top spot, mainly because flight has been reworked and as such it’s much more enjoyable with easier controls. No more accidentally floating down a pit of doom…

The LEGO games have always appealed to children as well as adults and it’s still the case with LEGO Batman 3 with easy to pickup and play controls, fun combat, lots of collectibles and some easy puzzles. It’s the same old-same old but that isn’t too bad, but a lack of innovation does make it feel a little rushed and with no open-world akin to Gotham City it feels like a step backwards for the series.

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Graphics

What do you expect from LEGO games when it comes to graphics? Probably sleek and crisp visuals that can stand the test of time. If that’s the case, then you would be correct.

The graphics aren’t the most fancy ones you’ll ever see on consoles (and definitely not on PC,) but they’re perfectly serviceable and the game is a genuine pleasure to observe. Characters are all lovingly detailed and the environments pop out of the screen with their bright and bold contrasting colours.

The game performs admirably too with very little in the way of slow-downs or stutters, though there are the occasional frame-rate dips when there’s a ton of fun happening on screen, but it’s barely noticeable and doesn’t affect the game at all.

All in all, it’s just what you’d expect from a LEGO game, nothing more and nothing less and that’s probably for the best. The day the LEGO games go for photo-realism will be the day the series dies. The cartoonish design is all part of the games appeal.

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To summarise, LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham is an entertaining romp with DC’s most memorable characters from both sides of the moral fence. Gameplay is fun, the visuals are superb but the story isn’t the strongest and it’s a genuine shame that a more engaging tale couldn’t be told, there’s a vast history behind the characters that could be explored. Kids will love it and adults will still find enjoyment with all the familiars.

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LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham is out from November 14th for the PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, PC, PS Vita, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and iOS. You can get your copy from Amazon and get the Rainbow Raider DLC.

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Review copy bought at the expense of the reviewer. Primary version tested: PS4.