Lego Batman 2: DC Heroes is another solid hit in the Lego video game. My son and I have played through almost every title on the Xbox 360 since Lego Star Wars was first released. I’ve selected some of the few titles out there that hit the right note between family-friendly and fun adult/kids co-op stories. I just played the story and completed a little over 50% of everything Batman 2 has to offer. The experience is as good as any other Lego game, but there is a huge problem in the game. Even with a few new elements to the Lego game experience, the game is simply on par with other Lego games.
Batman 2 follows the standard Lego game formula of smashing objects, solving puzzles, finding hidden crates, and using Lego buttons to purchase characters and vehicles. There’s nothing really new in Batman 2 in terms of gameplay, graphics, or music that sets it apart from previous Lego titles. New hooks in the latest Lego installment include the world of Gotham City and the addition of actual dialogue in cut-scenes.
A story about the pitfall of Batman and especially Superman in the world’s best fight against the Joker and the law Luthor. Play other DC Universe heroes (Green Lantern, Cyborg, Wonder-woman”>Wonder-woman and Flash) later on story mode. You might think this is going to be a letdown, but the other heroes’ special abilities are nothing that really makes them feel special. Wonder Woman is basically a hybrid of other characters powers that are only good for drawing the wands of Green Lantern Due to the Justice League, the hero wearing the Ring can construct, by guessing it, the green objects that make up the game’s environment.
Batman 2 is set in the vaguely open world of Gotham. Players run around the city, looking for the beginning of the story of the chapter, while there are so many expectations of what adventures await in the streets of Gotham. Unfortunately, most of what Gotham has to offer is set aside until someone completes the story mode. Batman II’s open world execution is handled infinitely better than Lego Indiana Jones 2 head scratching layout, but Gotham leaves a lot to be desired. Hidden in the streets and buildings of Gotham are character/vehicle unlocks and gold/red bricks. There are some challenges to getting into looting, but most of the 250 plus things in Gotham are pretty static. Most of the gold/red in Gotham can be obtained by doing mundane tasks such as filling barrels of different colored liquids or having a specific character open a box. The new range of open gold/ruby side hunting was the first 50’s focus, but the variation of duties 150th leaves the gold feeling side as day in office.
Topping off the list of problems with Batman 2 is that there are an unusually high amount of glitches. I found the worst game frozen in sca final in Cap. 12. This would not have been fatal unless I could continue in the next chapter. A call to the server’s support line resulted in, “Yes, we know it’s a problem and we don’t know when the patch will be.” Thanks guys. Fortunately, after searching the forum, I found that if you turn off the music, picture, and animation, Chapter 12 will end correctly. The other glitches I experienced were simply problems and not changing the playing games.
Super Batman II’s story mode is fun and has great replay value as a free play. However, Batman 2 doesn’t give me much in the way of a “gee-whiz this is fresh” feeling. There is always hope on the horizon. I read Lord of the Rings in my precious works…
