LEGO Batman: Legacy Of The Dark Knight PS5 Review. Longtime LEGO video game lovers will no doubt realize it has been twelve years since the last LEGO Batman adventure, Beyond Gotham. Seeing as there’s no way to go bigger than beyond, the latest LEGO Batman celebrates the illustrious crime-fighting caped crusader’s career from obsessive orphan to the shadow lurking Dark Knight he evolved into. This latest adventure coalesces Batman’s finest moments into one LEGO-sized adventure. Should you go and hit the Batman bricks or will you engage a bat blocker?
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight Review-A Bricking Beautiful Batman
Legacy of the Dark Knight tells the origin stories of Batman in a quasi-similar vein to Batman Arkham Origins, as it focuses on Bruce Wayne’s early days before he became Arkham’s ultimate crime-fighter. You start the game off exploring the gardens of Wayne Manor when Bruce was a nipper, and eventually you are let loose in Arkham to fight crime and take down the corruptive villains of Arkham. The villains sharing the spotlight on the opposing side to Batman like Bane, The Penguin, The Riddler and Two-Face show up to cause anarchy and chaos, and it is up you to pacify them, just a shame you can’t stick dummies in their mouths!
Where Legacy of the Dark Knight differs obvious is that it is a LEGO-fied experience with cutesy humour and whimsy replacing the gritty violence you’d have been accustomed to in the Batman Arkham games. In fact, Legacy of the Dark Knight is essentially a kid-friendly LEGO version of a Batman Arkham game, which may not be original but it works so pristinely, and will likely teach youngsters about Batman before they reach the age of acne and grumpy mood swings.
Don’t start believing Legacy of the Dark Knight is just for the kiddos because the jokiness and light-hearted tone is designed for players who want a laid-back form of Batman experience. Be prepared for photobombing rubber duckies and Ra’s Al Ghul pondering about Pineapple on pizza and socks with sandals. Legacy of the Dark Knight is consistently amusing due to its playful jokes and unexpected moments, which provide levity in a way that is delightfully ingrained in the spirit of a LEGO adventure, one adults will get a kick out of as well as children.
A LEGO-fied Arkham Adventure
At first, progress in Legacy of the Dark Knight is linear as you’re introduced to the nuances of combat and stealth during a prologue jaunt in a mountain, where Ra’s Al Ghul is hanging out with his goons. Upon completion, you’re thrown into Gotham City, where you can beat back criminals attempting to steal handbags from LEGO lasses, or give chase to joyriders in the Batmobile you come across throughout the city and crash into them until their car blows up in flames. Most of the time though, your focus will be geared towards the main story path and undertaking missions to topple the crime kingpins bringing turbulence to Gotham.
Missions are sizable affairs that are usually broken up into manageable chunks, so you can go and explore instead of being shoehorned into the next part of the story. Many of these missions include classic LEGO videogame fare such as building impressive contraptions out of LEGO bricks, using an analyzer to match identical shapes, and the run of the mill fisticuffs and platforming we’re all very used to by now, regardless of the flourishes.
The Beauty of Brutal Batman Battles
Though there is a good amount of variety going on, playing Legacy of the Dark Knight can feel like eating confectionary, it’s satisfying and you’ll want more of it, but after some time you may feel quite tired of the overload. The reason for this is despite the variety on display, it all configures together in a way that becomes overly mundane. This can be forgiven thanks to the game’s beautiful accessibility and the handful of exciting moments and whimsy along the way, but this one appears to be best played in controlled bursts.
As for the combat and stealth, Batman Arkham aficionados will feel very comfortable, as Legacy of the Dark Knight’s punch-ups are energised by counters and unique takedowns that are an evolution of the typical LEGO formula of merely mashing face buttons to wipe out enemies. Sure, it’s unusual to see Batman utilizing a judo throw to dispatch of his foes, but when you’re surrounded by packs of fiends and you land stylish manoeuvres like that, you’re going to feel unstoppable. Well, you are unstoppable because unless you play on the Dark Knight difficulty.
Skulking in the shadows works wonderfully as well. Whether you’re lurking in vents beneath the floor, or perched up high ready to strike, stealth is effortless, swift and rewardingly exacting. Though the game encourages you to destroy them, surveillance cameras aren’t a big deal, much like all of this Bat title’s inconsequential gameplay.
Thankfully, the assistance you garner from your gadgets and your partners with theirs can help you solve environmental puzzles to move on. Batman has his trusty Batarang he can throw to break simple exposed objects, as well as his Batclaw to pull away obstructions. such as Detective Gordon’s gummy gun, which overwhelms pipes running with liquid goop. Nightwing has great electrical capabilities with his electro-rangs and cables, which are capable of keeping swarms of enemies at bay. Catwoman is also nifty with her wall climbing and stealthy acumen, making her an ideal partner in crime.
Batman’s Gadget And Perk Reli-abilities
Abilities can be upgraded from the Batcave workbench and the Bat-Mite Store. In addition, gadget upgrades can be instantly purchased provided you have the required WayneTech chips to purchase them, which is a good way to feel empowered quickly as opposed to waiting to complete story missions for upgrades. This all means that no matter what character you play as, they can be upgraded in ways that make them more powerful, rather than simplistic counterparts who can only solve environmental conundrums like in previous LEGO Batman outings.
Collectibles are amply in Legacy of the Dark Knight too, which pad out the game unnecessarily and make the game seem bigger than it actually is. With 124 collectibles spread across the open-world, you’ll find yourself busy collecting WayneTech Caches, Red Bricks, 70 themed decorative items, and additional secrets courtesy of Bat Symbols. Legacy of the Dark Knight is certainly a toybox, even if all of this surplus is superfluous.
Applause should be given Traveller’s Tales, as they’ve conjured up the ultimate LEGO Batman game in the series’ fourth outing. Retelling the origins of Bruce Wayne as Batman has been well-trodden ground, but witnessing his storied history play out with LEGO’s joyful jokiness and whimsy is exceptionally pleasing. The combat is a gratifyingly simple version of the Batman Arkham games, cohering very nicely with the accessibility of LEGO video games in general.
Furthermore, the bosses, numerous upgrades and collectibles, as well as the laid-back appeal of it all ensures Legacy of the Dark Knight is the most welcoming Batman videogame bonanza you can imagine……Just don’t go overboard on this sugar!
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is available now on PS5, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.
Review copy was kindly provided by the publisher.