For years, fans of the Batman: Arkham series have been waiting in vain for a proper sequel, including MeinMMO editor Niko. At gamescom, he checked out Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight and was thrilled: Arkham is back – at least in some way.
What kind of game is this? At this year’s Opening Night Live, Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight was presented for the first time. As a big fan of the Lego Batman series, I had to race straight to the demo station after all my appointments at gamescom to see for myself, because the first trailer already showed: something is different.
So I waited in line and watched the trailer countless times as it flickered on a large screen in a loop. After about 40 minutes, I had the controller in my hand, soaring over Gotham in the gamescom demo. And I was suprised: Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight has a lot of Arkham DNA, even if you can tell it’s targeting a slightly different audience.
Charming, Dark, and Family-Friendly
What could be seen in the demo? In the playable demo, you could travel through a small part of Gotham and beat up some thugs along with Jim Gordon. You have a Batmobile, glide wings, and the iconic grappling hook at your disposal.
The atmosphere already put a smile on my face. It can best be compared to a family-friendly version of the Burton films. The laid-back (and sometimes dull) Lego humor reminded me of the 1992 Batman animated series.
Upon first using the grappling hook, I let out a “Huh?”. You could boost like in Arkham City. The combat felt right. I could perform combos, counter attacks at the right moment, and execute a dodge roll.
The Lego animations looked good, and completely destroying enemies into their Lego parts lightens up the gameplay anyway.
A Shallow Demo with Potential. Don’t get me wrong. The gameplay does seem to take inspiration from the Arkham games, but the demo lacked the depth of previous experiences. The combos were incredibly simple, but a selectable “Hard Mode” at least gave me the feeling that I had to pay a little more attention.
It felt like Lego Arkham, but that’s not a bad thing. Even though the Lego games are “for kids”, I still have a lot of fun with them. They are my cozy games, and even a bit of Arkham makes me very happy.
Like the Lego Batman movie, such a game that seemingly recounts elements from the many films has great potential to respect the character while still poking fun at it.
I can only recommend to anyone missing Arkham but who also enjoys the lighter side of Batman to keep an eye on Lego Batman: Legacy of The Dark Knight, because this first demo showed me how good the game can be and how the Lego games can evolve beyond their established patterns. I am not the only one who misses the Arkham titles: The new Batman game is the sweetest disappointment in 10 years: A great trailer for nothing
