Lego Batman: The Videogame

Lego Batman: The Videogame
Developer(s)	Traveller's Tales/TT Fusion (Nintendo DS)/ Robosoft Technologies (Mac OS X)[1]
Publisher(s)	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment[2] DC Comics Feral Interactive(Mac OS X)[3]
Designer(s)	Jonathan Smith
Composer(s)	Danny Elfman
Engine	Lego Star Wars I and II
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360, Mac OS X,[4] Mobile Phones
Release date(s)	NA September 23, 2008[5] EU October 10, 2008[5] AUS October 15, 2008
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player Multiplayer
Rating(s)	CERO: B ESRB: E10+[6] OFLC: PG[7] PEGI: 7+
Media/distribution	DVD, Blu-ray Disc, Wii Optical Disc, Universal Media Disc, Cloud Computing

Lego Batman: The Videogame is a 2008 action-adventure video game, created for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, Mac OS X and Wii. The game is based on the comic book character Batman and the Lego Batman toy line. It was developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros., who also handled marketing and financial aspects of the game. It was released on September 23, 2008, for the PlayStation 2, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, and PC. The game is similar to the Lego Star Wars series and Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, in that it is both a game based on a licensed property, and has environments, objects, and creatures made out of Lego. The Mac OS X version of the game was released in April 2009 by Feral Interactive.^[8]

Gameplay

The core gameplay of Lego Batman is similar to that of previous Lego games, such as Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures and the Lego Star Wars series.^[9] The player controls any one of a wide assortment of characters from a third-person perspective, primarily fighting enemies, solving puzzles, and collecting Lego "studs", the game's form of currency. Using attack combinations in combat will multiply the amount of studs earned.^[10] The game is set in Gotham City, with mainly realistic environments. Only interactive objects are made of Lego bricks. Occasionally, players must assemble Lego objects to proceed further in the level, cross obstacles, or unlock new suits.^[11] Players are able to fight on land, sea, and in the air, using a number of character-controlled vehicles, including the Batmobile, Batboat, and Batwing. New moves to the series first featured in Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures are featured in this game. New abilities introduced in this game include picking up and carrying enemies and walking on tightropes across buildings. Up to two players can play in co-operative mode.^[12]

There are thirty levels in the game (fifteen for the heroes and fifteen for the villains)^[13] as well as some secret levels, including Wayne Manor and Arkham Asylum. There are many different environments in the game, usually based upon the villains' crime styles, including an ice cream factory, a garden center, the Gotham sewers, and Gotham's seedy underbelly. The game is divided into chapters, each containing five levels.^[12] Chapters are divided equally between heroes and villains.^[12] Completing a hero chapter will unlock the corresponding chapter for the villains.^[12] As in previous Lego games, levels are unlocked for "Free Play" mode once they are completed in Story Mode.^[12] "Free Play" allows the player to replay any level they have completed, but with any characters they have unlocked so far.^[12] This permits access to special areas containing additional collectables, where the player was unable to get to before. This is unlike Story mode, in which the player may only switch between the two characters involved in that scene.^[12]

The level hub for the heroes, similar to the Mos Eisley Cantina in Lego Star Wars and Barnett College in Lego Indiana Jones, is the Batcave, where the player can purchase additional characters and view unlockables. The corresponding hub for the villains is Arkham Asylum,^[14] where players can create their own character using parts from characters already unlocked, as well as a limited array of weapons.

Individual characters are able to use many unique abilities related to their comic book powers and talents. For example, the Joker is able to attack enemies and activate machines with a hand buzzer,^[15] and the Penguin can glide with his umbrella.^[11] Poison Ivy, Catwoman, and Harley Quinn can all seduce guards to make them open doors.^[11]

Players are able to swap the costumes of each of the main heroes (Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing) with many differing ones, each containing unique abilities and different color schemes. Batman starts in a classic grey suit, while he and Batgirl can wear the Glide suit (a suit that lets Batman/Batgirl fly for a short time), the Sonic suit (a suit that can break glass), the Demolition suit (a suit that lets Batman/Batgirl set down bombs), and the Heat Protection suit (a suit that lets Batman/Batgirl survive in extremely hot temperatures).^[14] Robin and Nightwing can wear the Technology suit (a suit that can activate Tech panels), the Water suit (a suit that lets Robin/Nightwing go underwater), the Magnet suit (a suit that lets Robin/Nightwing climb up magnetic walls), and the Attract suit (a suit that can vacuum up loose Lego pieces and turn them in for bonuses).^[14] Devices providing these suits must be built with Lego bricks during Story Mode, but when the player finds those suits, they will be linked to their corresponding characters in "Free Play" mode.

The Hush character can be unlocked after finding all 25 hostages in the villain and hero levels (excluding the Vehicle Levels). Once the game reaches 100%, the Ra's al Ghul character can be purchased and used as a playable character; and the Azrael, Huntress, Black Mask and Spoiler characters can be created in the character creator.^[16]

The PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows versions offer 720p and 1080p displays.

Nintendo DS

An in-game screenshot of Lego Batman: The Videogame, on the Nintendo DS.

The Nintendo DS version was altered to accommodate the memory and size limitations of the DS as well as include touch screen controls. Characters' special abilities, such as Batman's grappling hook (when pulling background objects) and detonation capsules, and elements such as switches can be controlled by using the touch screen. Some characters' special abilities, attack moves, and jump moves have been changed. For example, Batman can do double-jumps in the DS version, but not in the console versions. Also, when Batman and Robin use a suit switcher pad, they cannot switch back to the previous suit. There are no cinematics, just slideshows featuring comic book-style panels.

The Nintendo DS version also features several more characters not available in the console versions and includes an exclusive unlockable minigame called "Villain Hunt", which is used to unlock 10 of the extra characters: Killer Moth (classic version), Man-Bat, Dr. Hugo Strange, Mr. Zsasz, Black Mask, Firefly, Ventriloquist and Scarface, Ra's Al Ghul, Hush, and the Joker (Tropical suit). Some other characters did not make it into the Story Levels, but can be unlocked in different ways than in the console versions. They include: Talia al Ghul, Azrael, Huntress, and Killer Moth (alternate version as depicted from the Teen Titans TV series).

Mobile phone

A mobile phone version of the game was also released. However, this plays much more like a straightforward platformer with scrolling beat 'em up elements, removing key gameplay features such as the ability to switch between characters with different abilities. The game is single-player only and players can only play as Batman.

Plot

LEGO Batman: The Videogame is notable for being the first Traveler's Tales LEGO game to have an original plot. Unlike previous Traveler's Tales LEGO games, it's based more on the concept of a franchise, rather than following the plot of a particular movie or other story from it. The game features Batman and Robin fighting crime and villainy in Gotham City. Batman's most dangerous and murderous foes have all escaped from Arkham Asylum and divided themselves into three groups of five, each led by a "clever" and well-known villain with plans to achieve a personal goal:

• Riddler is after the city savings in the Gotham Gold Reserves.
• Penguin plans to seize control of Gotham using remote-controlled penguin robots.
• Joker intends to blow up the cathedral and spread his deadly laughing gas across Gotham.

Each group is accompanied by hundreds of thugs and small timers who murder and steal under their orders. Each group member also has a specific set of goons that are tailored to their crimes.

The villain missions mainly show how the villains set up their plans, while the heroes show the fates and outcome of the villains and their sadistic plots. The general pattern in each story is that the leaders often leave their associates at the hands of Batman or the police once their use is over. Eventually, Batman & Robin disrupt all their plans and send all the villains back to Arkham. The Riddler is captured due to the clues he leaves behind, Penguin's robots and equipment are destroyed, and the Joker fails to detonate the bombs. The last scenes show most of the villains being oddly content to be back in Arkham except for the Joker, the Penguin, and the Riddler as their plans have failed.

Development and release

An early build for the PlayStation 2 console was shown at certain conferences (such as at Game On in London) by TT Games Publishing's Head of Production Jonathan Smith, with a small playable area featuring exactly the same HUD as Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy.

DC Comics also had an input into the game, providing the developers with reference materials for the game's characters.^[17]

The game's soundtrack is Danny Elfman's score from Tim Burton's first 1989 film about Batman.^[17][18] The Nintendo DS version of the game uses some music from Batman Returns.

Characters's vocal effects were provided by Tom Kenny (as Riddler and Penguin), Steve Blum (as Batman, Joker, Killer Moth, Killer Croc and Two-Face), James Arnold Taylor (as Robin and Nightwing), Fred Tatasciore (as Bane), Grey DeLisle (as Harley Quinn), Dave Wittenberg (as Scarecrow), Ogie Banks (as Mr. Freeze and Clayface), Vanessa Marshall (as Poison Ivy and Catwoman) Tara Strong as (Batgirl) with Chris Edgerly and Keith Ferguson as various.

A special bundle features the PlayStation 2 Slim with Lego Batman was offered for $129.

During the 2009 holiday season, Lego Batman and Pure were bundled with select Xbox 360 packages as a bonus, in a double-sided box.

Reception

Reviews
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	81.42% (PC)[19] 76.79% (Xbox 360)[20] 75.96% (PS3)[21] 75% (PS2)[22] 73.58% (Wii)[23] 72.64% (DS)[24] 72.25% (PSP)[25]
Metacritic	80/100 (PC)[26] 76/100 (Xbox 360)[27] 75/100 (PS3)[28] 74/100 (Wii)[29] 73/100 (PSP)[30] 72/100 (DS)[31]
Review scores
Publication	Score
1UP.com	C[32]
Game Informer	7.5/10[33]
GameSpot	6.5/10[34]
IGN	7.7/10[35]
Official Xbox Magazine	7.0/10[36]
PC Gamer US	88%[37]
X-Play	4/5[38]

IGN gave the game a 7.7 for the Wii, PS2, PS3 and 360^[35], stating that while the game has plenty of replay value, it also retains problematic elements from the previous games in the series and does not necessarily add anything new. The DS version received an 8.0 rating. GamesRadar gave it an 8 out of 10, noting that Traveller's Tales was able to be more open with the license than previous games.^[10] In a review for PC Gamer, John Walker noted that the large number of locations in Gotham as a "welcome improvement" over Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. Combat is styled in the manner of the 1960s Batman series, and the game includes clever puzzles. The drawbacks mentioned include the fixed viewing perspective and the frequent respawning of opponents.^[37] "Iconic characters, such as Clayface and Robin, have been turned into village idiots," writes Ben of Game Informer who nevertheless later adds, "this game is filled with cool playable characters...Nightwing, Harley Quinn, Joker, Killer Croc, Bane, Catwoman, and Man-Bat only scratch the surface of the game's catalog of great characters."^[33] The Nintendo DS version was nominated for "Best Action Game of 2008 on the DS" by IGN.^[39] As of August 2010, the game has sold over 7 million copies worldwide.^[40]

Sequel

The sequel, Lego Batman 2 was announced by Warner Bros to be in development by Traveller's Tales. The characters are inspired by the Lego Superheroes set while the game itself is set to be released to tie-in with the Dark Knight Rises film.

References

1. ^ Kruse, Cord (April 10, 2009). "Feral Releases LEGO Batman And Adds New Game Demos To Site". Inside Mac Games. http://www.insidemacgames.com/news/story.php?ArticleID=17668. Retrieved 2009-10-21. 
2. ^ "Lego Batman: The Video Game Page". GamePro. http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/207218/lego-batman-the-videogame-360/. Retrieved 2008-09-24. 
3. ^ "Feral Interactive: Lego: Batman". http://www.feralinteractive.com/game/legobatman. 
4. ^ Cohen, Peter (2009-04-09). "Mac Version Released april 9th 2009". Macworld.com. http://www.macworld.com/article/139629/2009/03/legobatman.html. Retrieved 2010-12-30. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "LEGO BATMAN RELEASE DATE". GamesTracker. http://www.gamestracker.com/lego-batman-release-date.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-11. 
6. ^ "Lego Batman: The Videogame Rating Information". Entertainment Software Rating Board. http://www.esrb.org/ratings/synopsis.jsp?Certificate=25414. Retrieved 2009-09-11. 
7. ^ "LEGO BATMAN Computer Games (Multi Platform)". Australian Government Classification Database. Commonwealth of Australia. http://www.classification.gov.au/www/cob/find.nsf/5c2433d416948a0bca25759f00820d25/d0b92f6fa155bd42ca2575a900275abb!OpenDocument. Retrieved 2009-09-11. 
8. ^ "Feral Interactive: Lego: Batman". http://www.feralinteractive.com/game/legobatman. 
9. ^ Ahearn, Nate (July 16, 2008). "E3 2008: LEGO Batman Hands-on". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/891/891215p1.html. 
10. ^ ^{a b} "LEGO Batman: The Videogame: Gotham's worst will brick themselves". GamesRadar. September 23, 2008. http://www.gamesradar.com/ps2/lego-batman-the-videogame/review/lego-batman-the-videogame/a-2008092316211352883912/g-20070330111556448046. 
11. ^ ^{a b c} Ahearn, Nate (February 20, 2008). "GDC 2008: LEGO Batman First Look". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/853/853525p1.html. 
12. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Lego Batman: The Videogame Playstation 3 Instruction Manual. Sony Computer Entertainment. p. 37. 
13. ^ "The Dark Knight snaps into his LEGO debut". Game Daily. AOL. http://www.gamedaily.com/games/lego-batman-the-videogame/playstation-2/game-features/handson-lego-batman/. Retrieved August 10, 2008. 
14. ^ ^{a b c} John, Tracey (March 3, 2008). "LEGO Batman Features Better Camera, Original Story And Villains' Point Of View". MTV. http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/03/03/lego-batman-features-better-camera-original-story-and-villains-point-of-view/. 
15. ^ Donahoe, Michael (February 20, 2008). "Lego Batman: The Videogame (PS3)". 1UP. http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3166451&p=37. 
16. ^ "LEGO Batman: The Videogame Guide/Walkthrough - PS2, PlayStation 2 Walkthrough - IGN". Guides.ign.com. http://guides.ign.com/guides/896272/. Retrieved 2010-12-30. 
17. ^ ^{a b} Cook, Brad. "Your LEGO Shall Have No Other Wings But That of a Bat". Apple. http://www.apple.com/games/articles/2009/04/legobatman/. Retrieved 2009-09-13. 
18. ^ "LEGO Batman: THE VIDEOGAME Credits". Lego Batman.com. http://www.legobatmangame.com/credits/. Retrieved 2009-09-10. 
19. ^ "Lego Batman: The Videogame Review Scores for PC". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/pc/938770-lego-batman-the-videogame/index.html. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
20. ^ "Lego Batman: The Videogame Review Scores for Xbox 360". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/xbox360/943952-lego-batman-the-videogame/index.html. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
21. ^ "Lego Batman: The Videogame Review Scores for PlayStation 3". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/ps3/943951-lego-batman-the-videogame/index.html. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
22. ^ "Lego Batman: The Videogame Review Scores for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/ps2/943956-lego-batman-the-videogame/index.html. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
23. ^ "Lego Batman: The Videogame Review Scores for Wii". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/wii/943954-lego-batman-the-videogame/index.html. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
24. ^ "Lego Batman: The Videogame Review Scores for DS". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/ds/943953-lego-batman-the-videogame/index.html. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
25. ^ "Lego Batman: The Videogame Review Scores for PSP". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/psp/945914-lego-batman-the-videogame/index.html. Retrieved July 11, 2011. 
26. ^ "Lego Batman: The Videogame Reviews for PC at Metacritic". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/lego-batman-the-videogame. Retrieved October 05, 2011. 
27. ^ "Lego Batman: The Videogame Reviews for Xbox 360 at Metacritic". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/lego-batman-the-videogame. Retrieved October 05, 2011. 
28. ^ "Lego Batman: The Videogame Reviews for PS3 at Metacritic". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/lego-batman-the-videogame. Retrieved October 05, 2011. 
29. ^ "Lego Batman: The Videogame Reviews for Wii at Metacritic". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/game/wii/lego-batman-the-videogame. Retrieved October 05, 2011. 
30. ^ "Lego Batman: The Videogame Reviews for PSP at Metacritic". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/game/psp/lego-batman-the-videogame. Retrieved October 05, 2011. 
31. ^ "Lego Batman: The Videogame Reviews for DS at Metacritic". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/game/ds/lego-batman-the-videogame. Retrieved October 05, 2011. 
32. ^ Philip Kollar (September 25, 2009). "Lego Batman: The Videogame (Xbox 360)". 1up. http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3170169&p=4. 
33. ^ ^{a b} Ben, "LEGO Batman: Time to build something new," Game Informer 187 (November 2008): 116.
34. ^ Tom Mc Shea (September 27, 2008). "Lego Batman Review". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/adventure/legobatman/review.html. 
35. ^ ^{a b} Hilary Goldstein (September 23, 2008). "LEGO Batman Review". IGN Review. http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/912/912708p1.html. 
36. ^ Chuck Osborn (September 24, 2008). "Lego Batman". Official Xbox Magazine Online. http://oxmonline.com/article/reviews/xbox-360/g-l/lego-batman. 
37. ^ ^{a b} Walker, John (2008). "Lego Batman: The best Batman game ever?". PC Gamer (182): 72. ISSN 1080-4471. 
38. ^ Jonathan Hunt (September 29, 2008). "LEGO Batman: The Videogame Review". XPlay. g4tv.com. http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/reviews/1844/LEGO_Batman_The_Videogame.html. 
39. ^ "IGN DS: Best Action Game 2008". IGN.com. 2008-12-15. http://bestof.ign.com/2008/ds/1.html. Retrieved 2008-12-19. 
40. ^ "Lego Harry Potter ships 2.7M, Lego Batman hits 7M". http://www.gamespot.com/news/6272282.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=morenews&tag=morenews;title;14. 

External links

• Official Website
• LEGO.com Video Games: Batman Home
• LEGO Batman at Feral Interactive