Review: Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes

At first sight, the Lego universe seems like an idyllic destination to live. Smiling yellow Lego men begin their lives cracking jokes and living blissfully unacquainted with the troubles of reality. But after working a lot more than 10 mins on the globe of Lego, I've realised how terrifying it might be. As the best way to complete a Wii Controllers would be to smash every object in every single room (for the precious Lego studs that spill over), a few maniacal Lego people would blast right room, destroy almost every object therein, and shoot their way to avoid it again, causing you to be sitting on to the ground with a dazed repute your Lego face. The Lego police can't do one thing because they're cracking jokes within their station and anyway, someone punched your phone into tiny bits.

Playing as being the protagonist of any Lego game is, thankfully, much less expensive terrifying than playing as being a Lego pleb. The series has highlighted plenty of different universes thus far. The Star Wars, Harry Potter and Indiana Jones worlds have all had liberal Lego treatment plus the series only has improved with each iteration. The last Lego Batman was obviously a tantalising taste of that of a block Gotham city may very well be though the concept deserved an increasingly rounded experience, that is what Lego Batman 2 provides.

Although Wii Accessories will always be beautifully made with children in your mind, and Traveller's Tales (the developer) unashamedly plays to the demographic, this may not be to convey older gamers won't have a great time. The various puzzles are firmly geared towards youngsters as well as the difficulty curve is more of the difficulty plane. Though there are plenty of saving graces for adults who like a sense of simple unadulterated fun.

First inside series, a totally realised Lego city (a condensed Gotham, in cases like this) is waiting for one to smash into pieces. Previously the levels were linear as well as the vehicles you unlocked were merely for show. Who knows why it's taken Traveller's Tales that long to implement such a seemingly obvious feature, though the wii gun controllers is far better because of its inclusion. The other long missing, last but not least included, feature is fully voiced Lego characters. Previously the mini-figures were all mute along with the jokes would have to be mimed, however that this Lego men can speak in their own business the plot and humour are worlds better. There's obviously still the innocent slapstick though the banter between Batman, Robin and Superman is genuinely funny for adults and youngsters alike.
Thankfully this entry also adds a range of new characters from the DC comics universe to keep you entertained as you obliterate what isn't bolted down. Superman, Green Lantern, the Flash and also a good variety of Justice league of america heroes and villains (Bizarro, Sinestro and General Zod to offer a concept) round off the 50 individual strong roster. All the characters have variations on existing Lego powers but the fun of discovering them all and hovering the free-roaming city as Man-Bat or blasting throughout the streets like a tiny Lego Flash may be valued at the price tag on admission alone. Still a few of the characters, for instance Lois Lane and Vicki Vale, are essentially useless. It's interesting that we now have numerous characters with little to no powers considering the quantity of personalities within the DC universe that could suit the sport perfectly (was Deadman busy?).