Developer: TT Games, Traveller's Tales
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PC
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight – Review
It’s no secret that we’ve always had a soft spot for the LEGO games. These silly titles turn our favorite franchises into accessible gaming experiences for young and old, while almost always offering the option to play them with a buddy. We have seen The Lord of the Rings, Jurassic World, Star Wars, Marvel, and many other receive the LEGO treatment, and while some games felt a bit more polished than others, we almost always enjoyed the experience. While these aforementioned franchises certainly attracted their audience, it was LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes that was the first TT Games-developed title to receive voice acting. This is what pretty much paved the way for the quality level of many of the modern LEGO games. All of that aside, let’s finally delve into the subject of today’s review: LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, a brand new LEGO Batman adventure.
Story
Unexpectedly, Legacy of the Dark Knight tells a version of Batman’s origin story, while also making sure most of the IP’s iconic villains get their time in the limelight. You’ll start the game as a young Bruce Wayne who witnesses his parents being murdered. You’ll then fast-forward to the future, where Bruce is training to become a warrior, who then will eventually pick up the mantle as the Caped Crusader. The story is brought in an engaging way, with enough silly LEGO antics to make sure things never get too heavy.
Graphics
Legacy of the Dark Knight is an absolutely gorgeous LEGO game, where loads of LEGO assets are used in combination with realistic backdrops. We loved exploring every nook and cranny of Gotham, the Batcave, and the many different stages we could play through. There are a lot of tributes to many of the Batman movies or (animated) shows. The different character designs, be it allies or foes, were handled with care and truly respect the source material. For the most part, Legacy of the Dark Knight feels more connected to the Christopher Nolan trilogy but still has different outfits and subtle nods to other Batman iterations. The game felt bigger in scale than the previous LEGO Batman games, and might be one of the most visually impressive titles in the LEGO universe so far, even though LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga did manage to impress us a lot too.
Sadly, the game did have some performance issues. We noticed quite a few segments where stuttering kicked in, and frame drops were fairly frequent as well, especially when roaming around Gotham City. During the actual closed-off mission levels, we didn’t encounter any big issues. Other than frame dips, we didn’t notice any other visual bugs or issues, however.
Sound
In terms of sound design, Legacy of the Dark Knight knocks it out of the park as well. The voice acting was superbly handled, and the project was backed by a veteran cast. Shai Matheson was an excellent choice to voice the Caped Crusader for this LEGO-sized adventure. The supporting soundtrack also hit all the right notes, and the music was perfectly suited for the various story beats and action-packed scenes. The SFX had many iconic sounds from other LEGO games, including the satisfying clicking of LEGO studs, as well as the necessary audio feedback for the many kicks, punches, and gadgets.
Gameplay
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is a fairly traditional action-adventure title, with some platforming, puzzles, and typical LEGO game shenanigans. In the game, you’ll be able to explore a fairly large Gotham City to go from one level to another, to find collectibles, and upgrade materials. The levels to actually progress the story are a lot more enclosed, but also offer a lot of secret collectibles and upgrade materials as well. The offset here is really simple: as you’ll beat up LEGOfied baddies to play through a new Batman story. The game can be played in co-op from start to finish, which is a huge plus. We played through most of the experience solo, and we did miss a second player at times to make certain puzzles a bit smoother.
For the most part, LEGO Batman follows the same format as the other LEGO titles. You’ll go around different environments, destroy everything in sight to collect LEGO studs and (upgrade) bricks, and of course, beat a lot of bad guys. The combat mechanics have been really fleshed out here to be reminiscent of the Batman: Arkham Trilogy series, albeit a bit simplified. You’ll have different gadgets at your disposal, but you also have finishing moves, dodges, stuns, gadgets at your disposal, and so on. The main combat mechanics were similar for all the different characters, but their gadgets made the characters feel unique. We do have to mention that some battles dragged on a bit too long, becoming tedious in the process.
Legacy of the Dark Knight is fairly large in scale, even if you are not aiming for all the collectibles. The different characters all have their unlockable upgrades, there are new gadgets to find, and there’s simply a lot of story content to play through. While we enjoyed the experience from start to finish, we do find that the character roster was a massive step back from older LEGO Batman titles. Legacy of the Dark Knight only has seven playable characters, and these unlock very slowly. You’ll already be past the halfway mark when the last character joins the fray. We would have loved to have a few more characters to play with, or at least have the current ones available a bit quicker. We hope this does not become a trend for LEGO games, as LEGO Horizon Adventures also has a very small roster.
Conclusion
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is a great entry in the LEGO games series, as it expands on the tried-and-true gameplay mechanics that make the other games so much fun to play, while also presenting an engaging storyline and beautiful visuals. We were only disappointed by the fact that the character roster was so small, and some performance issues reared their ugly head. Even so, we had an absolute blast exploring Gotham City while fighting off many of the franchise’s iconic villains. If you’re looking for a great LEGO game, you will have to look no further.
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