LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight Review

Justice comes in many forms, but with regards to LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight from TT Games, it has been served. The character of Batman is not only celebrated but placed onto a float with a giant cake behind him, and paraded around the city. There have been LEGO Batman games before, but they were weighted down by too many characters that muddied the enjoyment of the experience. Legacy of the Dark Knight is much more focused, and more accurately, focused on the fun. LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is the definitive Batman experience, and the first LEGO game in years I simply could not stop playing.

Starting at the start, you witness Bruce Wayne’s tragic backstory, his training that covers “Batman: Year One”, and everything that comes after. The game heavily relies on the “Batman” films to tell the story, from “The Batman” to “Batman ’89” and even “The Dark Knight Rises”. This means that the game ignores the wider DC Universe, unlike the prior games. Surprisingly, the game even takes inspiration from Rocksteady’s Arkham trilogy to not only influence the combat, but some of the story beats. That wonderful TT Games charm and humor that carries things, where the darker moments are lightened to let levity reign supreme and offer twists on the unexpected for a truly fantastic history lesson on all things Batman.

Lots of clever writing and thought went into crafting the game’s story, as it mimics and merges all film and game franchises together into something cohesive. Perhaps the best thing about it, as that this takes place in an open-world with linear missions that’s like Batman: Arkham Knight LITE. Across six chapters, I was able to complete the game in 15 hours where I stuck to the story missions, and spend a good amount of time going after collectibles, completing Riddler challenges, and exploring with all of the different eras of Batmobiles.

There’s a healthy amount of driving, gliding, combat, and stealth. Combat derives from the Arkham games most notably, where X is attack, Y is parry, and B is dodge. It’s formulaic, but trustworthy and still so satisfying all these years later. It even has the system where if an enemy is stunned, you can perform a fast flurry of punches that can wear a boss down or completely decimate a thug. I do wish the combat was a bit snappier or faster, but never is brought down by it – although I will note there is a “game speed” setting that applies to everything, but does satisfy the request of making combat faster. Stealth is very streamlined and simplified, and allows you to get away with so much where you drop down right in front of a henchman, but are still able to knock out them out with a simple button press. It’s all in service of feeling like Batman, and this game has that in spades.

It’s not all punches and kicks, there’s some mild puzzle solving to do, as well. You are the World’s Greatest Detective after all. You’ll scan pipes with thermal vision, follow footsteps with UV vision, hack cameras, send cats through vents, pull items, and so much more. If at any point you can’t figure it out, the game will show an icon as to who is the right person for the job. The culmination of every puzzle is breaking apart objects in the nearby environment to assemble a contraption that will take you to the next area, and so fun to watch as over the course of the game the builds get longer and more complex in hilarious fashion.

Eschewing literally hundreds of characters to accompany Batman, Legacy of the Dark Knight is strictly centered on seven playable characters, to include the titular Batman. Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Catwoman are all the closest to Batman, and are great selections that fit with all of the adaptations of the stories throughout the campaign. When you narrow down the playable characters, means you can make these characters meaningful to play as. The aforementioned puzzle solving often utilizes gadgets from the other characters in order to progress for great flexibility.

At first the map seems small and not much going on, but new areas open up frequently. There’s areas that are often inaccessible until progress the story further and unlock new characters, like once Batgirl joins the team and is able hack towers and other areas. Very quickly the game demonstrates that there’s so much to do and see.

Getting into the Batmobile is so fun across all of its iterations, but you have to remember this is a kids game at times, especially when you see the speeds that it goes. It’s not very fast, but allows for it to be very controllable. There are several Batman games that you get to visit the batcave, but here you get to improve and customize the batcave with props you unlock or buy with the in-game shop. Having the ability to customize the batcave and showcase all of the costumes you’ve unlocked. While batcaves won’t vary that much from person to person, it’s something you can call your own.

As with any LEGO game, you’ll collect studs by breaking objects apart, taking down enemies, and more. Collecting a lot of studs at once will increase a multiplier, and once banked these can be used to purchase props, costumes, and more from the in-game shop. As you collect gold bricks from completing missions, these bricks can be used to unlock perks such as increasing the range of absorbing studs or increasing the multiplier. This is all to unlock everything and acquire achievements.

The entirety of LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight takes places during a rainy night, and it just looks incredible. I was able to get the game running at over 100fps at all times with everything maxed out. The way that the rain drips off of the LEGO minifigs, the way the capes look like the cloth capes you get on the toys, and so much more. There’s incredible detail of what it would be like to play with a LEGO set of Gotham, and is such a great looking game.

The LEGO Batman games have generally been good, but LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight takes things in a familiar yet new direction I hope we see more of, and across different properties. The improved combat feels weighty and impactful, yet whimsy as “CRACK!” and “POW!” pops up on-screen. The reverence for Batman by TT Games is truly felt, and is such a celebration of the character for nearly 90 years across comics, TV, and film. Legacy of the Dark Knight is the best LEGO Batman game to-date, but is also the best Batman game yet.